Book Review: Dark City by F.Paul Wilson

Dark City by F.Paul Wilson

366 pages Hardcover Tor Books

The middle book in the trilogy of Repairman Jack prequel novels set in the character’s early years in NYC is about how the character became who he is. This novel is great for F.Paul Wilson nerds but it is clearly a fan service. Being that I am a serious fan of this character and world, to say I was happy with it is an understatement. I am not sure this book would have the same effect if you were not a reader with 15 Jack novels in the back of your mind.

That said Dark City is a well plotted crime novel that has lots of nasty characters getting what they deserve thanks to Jack’s well thought out plans. I enjoyed all the little tiny ways that Wilson tied the events in subtle ways to the wider plot of the Secret history of the world (The saga that plays out mostly in the six Adversary cycle and 15 Repairman Jack novels).

This novel is mostly about the jihadists and the child slavers that Jack got in the first novel (by tricking them and giving freedom to the girls). You see Jack train, and learn his revenge and fix-it craft while making the friends that become important to him in later years.

This is an easy read and a must for serious Jack fans but not where you start. It is a prequel and I think you should read the other books first.