Legacies - F. Paul Wilson

Having already read the Keep, and The Touch by Mr. Wilson, it was safe to say I was expecting a pretty decent read. Of course, the first thing that struck me was who the heck is this guy repairman Jack? Stephen King is his fan club president?! Oka---aaay, moving right along now...

Apparently, the repair type one was in the Tomb, an earlier book by the author which I had not yet had the chance, or interest, in reading. I was a little ...
...read a book about a character who had been developed a whopping 15 years before, and not been touched since. By the author that is.

But, on the basis of the Keep, and The Touch, which were both books I found to have compelling story lines and strong central characters, I was willing to give him a chance, he had held me in rapt attention before, but fat from the diet of conspiracy theories and other weird stuff(courtesy of Dean Koontz) ... more

Having already read the Keep, and The Touch by Mr. Wilson, it was safe to say I was expecting a pretty decent read. Of course, the first thing that struck me was who the heck is this guy repairman Jack? Stephen King is his fan club president?! Oka---aaay, moving right along now...

Apparently, the repair type one was in the Tomb, an earlier book by the author which I had not yet had the chance, or interest, in reading. I was a little daunted by this, wondering if I was well equipped to read a book about a character who had been developed a whopping 15 years before, and not been touched since. By the author that is.

But, on the basis of the Keep, and The Touch, which were both books I found to have compelling story lines and strong central characters, I was willing to give him a chance, he had held me in rapt attention before, but fat from the diet of conspiracy theories and other weird stuff(courtesy of Dean Koontz) I wondered slightly if I would be as impressed as I had previously been.

God, enough of my initial thoughts, you want to know if the book was good or not right? Well, put it this way, that is the fastest time I have ever read a 400 page odd novel, and the writing wasn't exactly huge either, so that has to tell you something? Right. Like, I was completely engrossed, and had to read on to know exaclty what was going on! And what was going to happen! The book is extremely gripping, well, it took me by the throat and refused to put me down(or is that the other way down), it's plot seemed to have smacks of Koontz about it, but it still makes Wilson stand out in his own right. The book is bloody brilliant, and I will be grudgingly returning it to its true owner very shortly(in exchange for the Tomb I might add).

Here's a quick run down, without to many spoilers(i hope) for those who have not been enlightened!

Main characters:

Repairman Jack AKA Just Jack: Okay, this guy is the business. Think Batman without the tights, without the cape, without the gadgets, but rather with a rather large wad of cash he can despense on the occassionally down-played bat-cave. He looks like your average Joe, but that he ain't. Hell. He's repairman Jack! He has a heart, he has a life, and he helps people in it(albeit for cash).

Alicia: The Doctor with a problemo, including a father she can't call dad, a brother who's sicker in the head than the kids in her clinic, and no life to speak of, her total resilience and hard as nails exterior makes her both endearing and likable.

Milkdud: A building hacker. He's great. He only gets a cameo, but he makes it count.

Abe: He owns a parakeet and a sports shop, and also a mini arsenal, that he's always keen to dispense to his good friend Jack, for a price.

Gia: The luscious love interest of Mr. Jack. She loves him, he loves her, but she ain't too crazy about his occupation.

Vicky: Gia's daughter, who was saved from Jack in the Nightworld novel(I think!) she loves him as a dad, just as he loves her as his own daughter.

Yoshio: Japanese agent guy who feels a kindred spirit with Jack. He's as ruthless as anyone, but you'll be rooting for him rather than the next guy...

Sam Baker: Ex-veitnam veteran, he's hired to take care of the 'problem' and scare Alicia into submission. He's good, but a little headstrong.

Thomas Clayton: The half-brother of Alicia, he's evil all right, but can a leopard change its spots?

Kemel: The arab whose company is putting up the funds for the house that was left to Alicia in her father's will. He has his own problems, greed and a theiving son being just a few.

Plot: Okay, I know you're asleep by now, but just hear me out. Then you can go buy the book. Dr. Alicia Clayton is working in an AIDS hostel for kids, and her recently deceased dad has left her his house in his will. She doesn't want it, and her brother does, but she begins to suspect that her brother must be pretty desperate when he offers her $4 million for the house. She knows he has no money, so where is it coming from, and why has anyone she employed to do with the house died in their attempts to investigate? It's time to call in repairman Jack!

There are plenty of delicate threads that tie up this story all in a fantastically wrapped package. You want to know about Alicia's dark past, of her torment, and what is the significance of the house that has been left to her by a man she hasn't spoken with for a decade or more. Intrigue, danger and suspense are all laddeled in superbly, with the odd burst of humour, instilled in all the right places, and the most sensitive of subjects are treated with utter care and delicacy. Even the ending isn't a cop out, which can often be the case in stories such as this(the secret is resolved perfectly, and is well worth reading on to find out about it). The characters are all perfect. They all punch the buttons they were surely intended to, and Repairman Jack, despite his surely god-given skill still displays human frailties that occur in more of us than we would like. The end product is not so much a product, but a true piece of fiction, that enthralled me completely to the end, resulting in an exhaustive but thoroughly draining read, which has the small problem of not only leaving me baying for more Jack action, but also of what happened to Alicia, who became a great central character in her own right. Dare I say that this book has greater character structure than any I have seen in Dean Koontz, and despite him being a firm favourite of mine he will have to write more like this to truly ever satisfy me again!

Pure Brilliance. 

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