by F. Paul Wilson
The first novel of Repairman Jack — a New Yorker who lives outside the system: without taxes, a SSN, or any other traceable ID. Posing as an appliance repairman, he actually does violent revenge work for those who pay him. When the elderly aunts of his estranged girlfriend Gia are kidnapped, she reluctantly comes to him for aid. Jack is then drawn into a crime based on a century-old supernatural curse involving Kali worship, rakoshi, and two proud Indians with magic necklaces.
Part of the book relies on a very wildly improbable coincidence (Jack is hired by the aunts' kidnapper on an unrelated matter the same day he's hired by Gia), though that hardly signifies in a book that deals with demons and magic. And the surprises (such as what the magic necklace's power is) are surprises only to Jack, but that's okay too. Jack is a very likeable driven anti-hero, and Wilson is adept at pulling the reader in with drama and suspense. And even though the horrors Jack faces are real evil, Wilson’s characters are not cardboard; the villain has his own doubts, fears and credible motivations. A terrific page-turner, even at 440 pages.
four stars
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