Saturday, November 24, 2012

Cold City (Repairman Jack Prequel Novel #1) by F. Paul Wilson

The first of three Repairman Jack prequels, revealing the past of one of the most popular characters in contemporary dark fantasy: a self-styled “fix-it” man who is no stranger to the macabre or the supernatural, hired by victimized people who have no one else to turn to. 
We join Jack a few months after his arrival in New York City. He doesn’t own a gun yet, though he’s already connected with Abe. Soon he’ll meet Julio and the Mikulski brothers. He runs afoul of some Dominicans, winds up at the East Side Marriott the night Meir Kahane is shot, gets on the bad side of some Arabs, starts a hot affair, and disrupts the smuggling of preteen sex slaves. And that’s just Book One.
 I actually haven't heard of this series although it is popular. I don't often read "contemporary dark fantasy" so it makes sense that I might have missed these, but the premise sounded interesting so I gave it a go. Plus, this is the first book of 3 prequels and the book guaranteed me that I need not read the other books to get into this one. It's true. I didn't need to read the others. This book is also set in 1990s.

I will say I had a problem with Jack at first. I didn't connect to him. He was cold and a bit of a jerk. When he started making friends, some you could tell would become his self-made family, I really started to connect to the character. He started to show real compassion to the "innocent" and I believed he wanted to help. He was also young and just starting to feel his way through his life and his coldness made sense since he had a hard time trusting others. When that trust started to appear, it made his character much warmer.

I also had a personal problem with the racial slurs and prejudices within the book. I want to make this clear... I'm not saying that about the author at all. It fits his "bad" characters to say those things, and wouldn't have made the bad guys as bad without them. It's a personal thing and it seemed worse before I really got to know Jack. Perhaps because if that, it seemed more pronounced but it also seemed to lessen in frequency once Jack became more interesting. However, I will say that it did make sense for the characters. Again, it's just a personal problem many others may not have.

Even with these problems, and as I said above, once Jack got involved with his new friends I found myself rooting for him and much more interested in the chaos surrounding him. The adventure did have a feel to keep you wanting to know what happened next.

The ending is odd for me. I get that this is a trilogy of prequels, but it didn't give you closure on everything that was going on. There were many (almost too many) things going on, but yet they all seemed to fit together in one way or another. I say the ending is odd because in one way it does feel complete even without the conclusions to events currently going on. It also gave me a taste of what Jack becomes and I have to say that I am curious enough to pick up one of the other Repairman Jack books. This is odd for me because I crave closure in my books but didn't seem to hate this ending.

I give this book 3 stars. I think this is perfect especially for men who enjoy dark urban books with a lot of action. It is also great for those already into the Repairman Jack series. Even if you haven't read them, I think you'll start to get a feel for the character Jack and like his growth in this book.
I was given this book by Tor for review and no compensation was given.


Oh and guess what? 
Giveaway!
I've been granted by Tor publishing a hc book to giveaway to one lucky winner! It's International! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below to enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

25 comments:

  1. Oh I do not know. He sounds like an ass, and I am not that keen on those

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    1. He was at first, but I did warm to him a bit later in the book. :)

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  2. well.. I don't know if it's for me but I love the fact that we can read it in disorder lol.

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  3. Well, I don't think this book is for me. Thanks for the review :)

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  4. Exciting cover! Looks like it convinced me!
    -Pati

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  5. I loved all of the original series. As far as Urban Fantasy heroes go, for me Jack rates up there w/ Harry Dresden.

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    1. Oh I do think I'm interested in his character much more now.

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  6. This will give you quite a bit of background on him.

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  7. Love Repairman Jack, so will be curious to see how he started out! Thanks for the great giveaway!

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  8. Hey there! I found you through Book Blogs and I'm now your newest follower! Thank you for letting me know about this giveaway. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! :)

    Leigh Ann
    MaMa's Book Corner

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  9. Dr Paul is one of my all time favorite authors! You can't go far wrong with almost anything he writes.

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  10. I'm new to this series as well, but it does look very interesting.

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  11. He sounds like a rounded character, part jerk sure, but most of us are. I'd be interested in hanging out with Jack a little more. Thanks.

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  12. I haven't read this series yet but it sounds cool so added it to my TBR list!and since it's set in the 1990s I think I might enjoy it.
    Thanks for making this giveaway International! =)

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  13. I'm new tot his series too but it looks like a cracker!

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  14. I had heard about this series and always thought it sounded interesting! Thanks for the review and giveaway!

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  15. Looking forward to reading it!

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  16. I have been a blog flake all weekend. This is definitely different. I like that it is set in the 1990's but a no closer ending, well that is not my favorite!

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  17. I haven't heard of this series yet. I do read some dark fantasy and they seem to run along the same vein. I also have a problem with racial slurs and stuff in books. Even when it fits. Its just the words make me cringe so much it just jumps me out of the story. I have read some books with male MC's that start out not being likable but redeem themselves and I guess I'm okay with it as long as he turns around a bit. I think I would want a bit more conclusion though...

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  18. I haven't read any dark fantasy genre for quite a long time, and seeing this, made me crave for one right now.

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  19. My favorite Repairman Jack book was called "Hosts"! Love Jack & F. Paul Wilson! Thanks for having this contest! :o))

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  20. I want to read this book because it sounds interesting. Thanks for the giveaway.

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Thanks for commenting! I ❤ comments!