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Epicurus.com - The Tomb (Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack)
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List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $7.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Tor Books
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780812580372
ISBN: 0812580370
Label: Tor Books
Manufacturer: Tor Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: 1998-08-15
Publisher: Tor Books
Studio: Tor Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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Much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Gia, Repairman Jack doesn't deal with electronic appliances-he fixes situations for people, often putting himself in deadly danger. His latest project is recovering a stolen necklace, which carries with it an ancient curse that may unleash a horde of Bengali demons. Jack is used to danger, but this time Gia's daughter Vicky is threatened. Can Jack overcome the curse of the yellow necklace and bring Vicky safely back home?
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Call it a guilty pleasure
Comment: What can I say? Call it a guilty pleasure. I'm a fan of Repairman Jack. This is the third novel I've read in the series and, despite its flaws, I enjoyed it.
Jack is a vigilante for hire, much like the old Equalizer TV show (not that I watched the show or anything). People who have been wronged or who have a problem that needs fixing (and have the means) can hire Jack to `repair' their problem. Jack finds things that are lost and provides `justice' when traditional legal recourse is not an option or has otherwise failed. The Tomb is the first in a series of novels that merges traditional suspense and supernatural thriller genres in much the same way that Preston and Childs do in the Agent Pendergast series. The Tomb features magic necklaces, ancient rituals, and mythical man eating creatures that feast on human flesh. What's not to like?
I have to admit that there are some flaws to The Tomb (and the rest of the series). Most notably, there is little indication that the author spends a lot of time on research. The creatures in The Tomb originate from India and the villain is Indian, but Wilson appears to have only a superficial comprehension of Indian culture and history. Maybe I'm being too PC, but there are moments when I read this novel (and the other two I've read) when I cringed at the cultural stereo-typing (not quite as bad as an old `Cowboy and Indian' movie perhaps, but not that different either).
Of course the superficial treatment of a Nation's culture has little negative impact on the entertainment value of the novel. It just contributes to the `guilty' part of the `guilty pleasure'. The other thing that I can't help but notice is that Jack's methods are embarrassingly low tech. He relies mostly on luck and silly disguises to get the information he needs.
Wilson's prose and dialogue is unexceptional but he is good at plotting his novels and keeping the reader turning pages. Yes, there are some gaps in the logic and contrivances abound, but nothing that can't be overlooked in light of the novel's overall entertainment value. Jack is one dimensional but I appreciate his cruel streak and rage issues. I haven't read any of the more recent novels in the series but, as often happens with characters like this, I understand that some of his rougher edges are getting softened over time. If that is indeed happening, it would be a shame. I prefer Jack to be merciless.
The bottom line: The Tomb (and the series in general) are enjoyable page turners that should appeal to fans of Preston / Childs (provided said fans are willing to overlook the superficial research). The Tomb is the first Repairman Jack novel and probably the best in the series, making it the best place to start if you're planning to give the series a try.
On a completely irrelevant side note: My version of this novel was an update of the original which was written in the 1980's. The end result is a little bizarre. There are references to DVD players and IPods but not a single character uses a cell phone, a personal computer or the internet. The result is a strange time-warp. It was easy to change a Walkman to an IPod and a VCR to a DVD player (although I'm not sure why the publisher would bother) but it would obviously be impossible to incorporate cell phones and the internet without re-writing the whole novel. These tools would have a huge impact on the story. It didn't detract from the novel, but it did make me scratch my head every once in a while, trying to figure out when in time this story is supposed to occur.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Comment: Someone recommended this series to me and I'm so very glad they did! Repairman Jack is a wonderful character. It doesn't take long to become sucked into his world. I found myself rooting for this rather unusual hero and was unable to put it down until the last page was devoured! I'm off to get the other books in the series now!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Concept
Comment: I really liked Wilson's "The Keep", and I also enjoyed "The Tomb". Per the back cover description, Repairman Jack fixes people's "problems". He has no Social security number, doesn't pay taxes, doesn't have a bank account. He has firearms and hand-held weapons for every occasion. He may break a few bones and may cause a few bad people to prematurely expire, but he's not a thug. He has a girlfriend (maybe future finance), and he loves her young daughter like a real dad. Repairman Jack is very much a Joe average turned super-hero, with some of the internal
Wilson's characters came alive, much like they did in The Keep. Very good character development. "The Tomb", like "The Keep", had a healthy variety of characters ranging from good to evil, each character was like a yin/yang with good and bad in them.
I also enjoyed Wilson's writing style. His stories seem to be well thought out. He's got some great twists. In addition to an obvious plot, his stories also seem to have one or more underlying themes, sub-plots, and issues through the stories.
I would venture to say that if you like Dirk Pitt stories, you would like Repairman Jack. Though "The Tomb" has a little less action than an average Pitt story, it's a meatier story (sorry, Custler).
I look forward to reading some more books by Wilson, as well as, the Repairman Jack series. I think Wilson's my newest favorite author.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Introducing Repairman Jack
Comment:
After reading CRISSCROSS, I decided to backtrack to the origin of Wilson's Repairman Jack. THE TOMB will fill in all latecomers to the party. You'll learn where this character came from and what the motivation was behind his choice of career. Combining noir with fantasy is a tough balancing act and Wilson pulls it off with some aplomb. Jack is a man of action whose life has taken a turn due to circumstances that would bring stress to anyone; the difference is how he decides to respond. Jack becomes a "fixer," outside the Law's basic structure, and he has basically erased himself from the grid. He is now anonymous and thus someone to see when all the normal channels have reached their end. THE TOMB introduces the readers to Jack's supporting cast, Abe, Gia and Vicky and his unique ways of handling problems, legally or illegally. THE TOMB is also part of Wilson's Adversary Cycle so you are guaranteed a situation that enters the realm of horror and it is intriguing to mix Jack's no nonsense approach to an otherworldly circumstance. Like many first books in a series there needs to be a great deal of exposition, but it's nice to see an author get rid of a lot of that info in the first book instead of it dragging out for numerous volumes. There are not many pure adventure characters in current literature; Repairman Jack is a worthy member of the club
Customer Rating:
Summary: Flawed hero battles strange creatures
Comment: Repairman Jack is a man who gets paid to take care of other people's problems, whether it's with his brains, fists or a weapon. He gets a call from his ex-girlfriend who left him when she found out what Jack did for a living. An elderly relative of her ex-husband has disappeared and the woman's sister wants Jack to help. He also gets contacted by an arrogant one-armed Indian man whose grandmother was beaten and robbed. He wants Jack to retrieve a necklace that was stolen because it's a priceless family heirloom. Jack doesn't realize that his two new jobs are related. He doesn't know that the family of the missing woman has been cursed and the one-armed Indian man is in New York to eliminate all remaining members of the family one at a time. To do this he is using ancient, demonic creatures that he controls. In time, Jack realizes he is fighting an enemy he knows nothing about and that has inhuman power.
The Tomb is a well written and plotted horror novel. The characters have real depth and you believe in their actions and motivations even as the circumstances around them become surreal. Wilson keeps the action moving at a fast, even pace and doesn't let the descriptions of the creatures go over the top and become cartoonish.
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