The Repairman Jack Series

"The Repairman Jack Series" is the name given to eleven (as of 2007) horror/thriller novels written by American author F. Paul Wilson, as well as several standalone short stories.

Story

The series revolves around the adventures of a Manhattan-based "urban mercenary" who calls himself Repairman Jack. Jack is a man with no last name or legal status who makes his living "fixing" situations for people who cannot find help elsewhere. His work has not only led him into violent encounters with the criminal underworld, but also into the midst of a behind-the-scenes cosmic battle for Earth between two supernatural forces: one known as the Ally, which is benign towards humanity, and one as the Otherness, which is hostile towards it and generally considered "evil".

Timeline

The series proper begins with "The Tomb" and ends with "Nightworld". However, these books are also part of another series of novels by Wilson known as The Adversary Cycle. The Repairman Jack series was restarted with "Legacies" in 1998. This newer series is following chronologically from the events of "The Tomb" to the events immediately preceding "Nightworld".

Cover Art

Most of the mass market editions of the series feature a uniform cover design. The title and Wilson's name appear in a black box across the middle, with a circle jutting out of the top containing an obscured figure apparently meant to be Jack himself. The top photo is of, in almost every case, skyscrapers or the NYC skyline, while the bottom is usually an image of a place or object integral to the novel's plot; for instance, a subway station for "Hosts" or a sunken ship for "Infernal". See below for an example.

Novels

*"The Tomb" (1984)
*"Legacies" (1998)
*"Conspiracies" (1999)
*"All the Rage" (2000)
*"Hosts" (2001)
*"The Haunted Air" (2002)
*"Gateways" (2003)
*"Crisscross" (2004)
*"Infernal" (2005)
*"Harbingers" (2006)
*"Bloodline" (2007)
*"By the Sword" (2008)
*"Nightworld" (1992)

Short Fiction

*"The Wringer" (in "Night Screams")
*"A Day in the Life" (in "Stalkers" + "The Barren & Others")
*"The Last Rakosh" (in "The World Fantasy Convention 1990 Program Book", integrated into "All The Rage")
*"Home Repairs" (in "Cold Blood" (Ziesing 6/91), integrated into "Conspiracies")
*"The Long Way Home" (in "Dark at Heart" (Dark Harvest 1992), now available as a digital download from Amazon.com)
*"Interlude at Duane's" (in "Thriller" anthology, 2006)

External links