Gateways (Repairman Jack Novels) [Hardcover]

News of an accident involving his estranged father sends the self-styled Mr. Fix-it to a creepy retirement community in Florida, where longevity is a theory, not a practice.

If the culture shock isn't hard enough for NY's native son, a string of unsolved murders and some very creepy locals alert Jack to the fact that the supernatural Otherness, which has been plaguing him since Wilson's THE TOMB, is back for another helping.

With enough action, firepower, one-liners, and wicked monsters for a a dozen novels, GATEWAYS showcases F. Paul Wilson and Jack in top form-- kicking bum and taking names.

See for yourself why Repairman Jack is the greatest series hero in modern genre fiction!

With Gateways, it seems our illustrious author is leading us back to another cataclysmic clash with this maleficent character, a reprise of sorts or maybe even a reissue of Nightworld, in which Repairman Jack played a significant part. That would explain why Jack seems to have no recollection of major events that happened in a novel written ten years ago. I suppose we will have to wait and see what Wilson has in mind, so let's get to the story at hand.

Background on Repairman Jack

This is the seventh book involving, the very popular fictional character, Repairman Jack, a character that has become one of the most beloved literary creations since James Bond.

Repairman Jack is an unobtrusive looking guy who has slipped in under the government radar. He doesn't exist as far as the government knows. He has no social security number, no credit cards, pays no taxes, pays cash for everything always keeps a low profile.

Jack "The Equalizer". If you remember the TV show of that name from several years ago, that is what Jack does. No he's not "The Equalizer" but if you've been wronged and you've got the money, Jacks available and Jack can be deadly. He can be your worst nightmare but as nightmares go everything is relative and Jack takes second fiddle in this book as he fights for his and his father's life

Plot

Jack's seventy year old father, was involved in a hit and run accident and is comatose in the hospital. Jack flies down to be with him and as well as to nose around to see if he can find out what happened.

Well the more he finds out, the stranger things get, as Jack seems to have gotten himself involved in yet another supernatural incident involving a young woman who can control animals and older woman with somewhat magical powers.

When Jack finally gets to his fathers hospital room he runs into his father's neighbor, the enigmatic Anya, a mysterious seventy-something lady of surprises. She insists that Jack stay in his dad's house so they in effect are neighbors as well. While there Jack discovers that Anya is indeed more than meets the eye.

As Jack tries to investigate, his fathers accident many things don't add up, such as the anonymous call about the accident preceding the accident by twenty minutes. He also discovers there have been three unnatural deaths among Gateways residents about three months apart and Jacks dad may fit that pattern.

Eventually Jack runs into a white haired girl named Semelee, the defacto leader of a strange group of misshapen young adults called the Clan, that live in the Everglades. Semelee seems to have some advanced knowledge of Jack and also seems to be smitten with Jack, much to the chagrin of Luke, Semelee's wannabe boyfriend.

The next day Jack runs into a gardener named Carl who has a lazy eye and apparently no left arm. He later discovers that Carl used to be a member of the deformed group and gets him to lead Jack to the clan's secret lagoon.

After a couple days in Florida, with the ostensible help of Anya, Jack's father comes out of the coma and that's when things get really interesting.

Conclusion

This is a fun read. A fast moving story of about 370 pages, it may be the most interesting of the Repairman Jack novels since he debuted with the Tomb. The writing is fluid and compelling and we finally get to meet Tom, Repairman Jack's father who is quite a guy himself. You remember him, he's the guy in previous novels that thought Jack repaired appliances.

And don't go away folks. The way the book ends is definitely setting up at least one sequel and when it comes to Repairman Jack, that's good news!

Final rating 4.6 stars

Jack heads down to Florida after his father is involved in an auto-accident. There are no more coincidences for Jack, of course, and he finds more going on with his dad than he would ever have expected.

The repairs in Gateways are personal and not as layered as those in The Haunted Air or Hosts (for example), but the personal information on Jack's life and the much-needed reconnection with his father make this a more-than-worthwhile read. And, afterall, it is Repairman Jack, and F. Paul Wilson doesn't disappoint here. It'll keep you going from start to finish.