Repairman Jack

There's a lot of Jacks going around. Always have been. Jack Skellington, Jack Bauer, Jack Sparrow, Jack Sparks. Here's a new one—or more correctly, an older one: Repairman Jack (created by F. Paul Wilson). My editor recommended the Repairman Jack books around the time when I was working on my Eberron submission, but it wasn't until after I started working on my own book that I got around to reading one of them.

And I'm hooked. So I'm highly recommending these books to anyone. This isn't science-fiction and it sure isn't fantasy, but it does straddle the line between mystery and horror. They're fast paced, well-written, and tell some great stories that center around one man. Those of you who watch "24," think of Jack Bauer, only off the books, no credit cards, no social security number, doesn't work for the government at all, and replace all the high-tech CTU technology with one man's innovation and his career of "fixing" things. Prior to finding these books, I really couldn't imagine a non-fantasy book to be so engaging. But I was delightfully wrong.

If even one reader someday draws some comparison between my Eberron protagonist and Repairman Jack, I'll be honored. I'll admit the influence is there, even though I never intended it. My character has a very different background, but the end result isn't so far off from Just Jack.

If you have any interest in this at all, start with the first book that kicks off the series: The Tomb (which has nothing to do with a tomb, thanks to the original publisher's misguided marketing).