By the Sword (A Repairman Jack Novel)

I vehemently disagree with many of the reviews on here that accuse this book being not so good or, even, as one wrote, "horrible". I think this is a first-rate Repairman Jack/Secret History entry. There seem to be two elements among the many which attract readers to this series: there are those who like the "urban mercenary" aspect of the books; and there are those who like the "Mythos" elements, the "Secret History" about the immemorial conflict between "the Ally" and "the Otherness". (A third, and major, attractant, is the wonderful delineation of the character of Jack himself, and the people in whis life-- Gia, Abe, Vicky and Julio.) People more interested in the "urban mercenary" element may not be pleased when the story highlights the "Mythos". I myself am fascinated by the mythos element, which is quite pervasive in this novel. I LOVED this book: Jack finally meets Glaeken, under the nom de guerre of "Veilleur" (in other words, "Sentinel") and they make a wonderful team. I loved how Wilson deftly has been interweaving so many aspects of his other books into the Repairman Jack/Adversary series, such as, in this installment, elements from BLACK WIND-- the horrifying "Black Wind" itself, and the katana which survived Ground Zero at Hiroshima (and which, I suspect, is made of metal like that in the necklaces of Kusum and Kolabati in THE TOMB aka RAKOSHI). It also brings in one of the most intriguing elements that Wilson has added to the Mythos during the Repairman Jack series, the "Ladies with Dogs", or rather, just "The Lady", (SPOILER ALERT) as Glaeken confirms what has been hinted at throughout, that there is "only one". (And as the Ascendancy of the Otherness due to occur in NIGHTWORLD is said only to be possible with Her death, I am sad to think She will be out of the story, though perhaps Wilson will be able to wangle a way to keep Her with us.) She has manifested already as a middle aged Russian with a malamute, an East Indian lady with a German Shepherd, an elderly Long Island Jewish lady with a Chihuahua, an elderly lady with rheumatoid arthritis with a Rottweiler, an adolescent Caribbean girl with a mastiff-like mixed breed, an elegant Audrey Hepburnesque lady with an akita, an old blind lady with a seeing-eye dog, a twentysomething Goth-type girl with a Pitt Bull, and a voluptuous "Jessica Rabbit-type" knockout with a tiny toy poodle, the latter two in this book. Most of them have occasion to confirm to Jack that "I am your mother," though this has yet to be fully explained. Jack guesses she is the "Earth Mother", to which she replies, "If only it were that simple"-- making me anticipate eagerly the publication of GROUND ZERO in September 2009. The Lady is a third Force in the struggle for Earth' humanity, and this very reality, the only one of the three who is really on the side of the human race. This novel also deals with how her accident has affected Gia, so that she has an intimation of what is coming, and plays with the

This is one of the best books in the series. Lots of classic Jack supernatural action and a nice return of Glaaken. If you haven't already read Wilson's Black Wind you should do so for a nice prequel to this story. F.Paul Wilson's ability to tie these storylines together so many years later really is amazing. The scariest part is that I'm starting to believe this stuff might be for REAL.

"By the Sword" is an exhilirating book that left me breathless after speeding through page after page of action, plot-twists, and bad guys aplenty. This book has more action by far than the last three RJ books combined, and while the supporting cast is given very little to do, Jack himself is at the center of an Elmore Leonard-like convention of bad guys that keeps this book moving along like it was on some kind of caffeinated energy drink. Like "The Empire Strikes Back" this book doesn't really end, but it does propel pieces of the plot into place for the upcoming denouement of the series. I recommend this highly, but need to warn new readers to Repairman Jack to go back to before the beginning of the series and start reading F. Paul Wilson by tackling "The Keep" first.

I must say I am surprised at the relatively negative to mediocre reviews this new RJ novel has received. For my money, this is a legit contender for the best book in the series. I would say that it is not a good time to jump aboard the RJ train, this book is really a continuation of the last few, and as the author warns, it is really a link in the chain of what is basically an Uber-arch that will take readers to the end of the RJ universe and ultimately link with the original Adversary Cycle (that The Tomb was originally a part before Jack became so popular he spawned his own series). However, for a fan who has read the other books (even the teenage Jack tale) By The Sword is very very satisfying. I have been a big fan of this series since I was turned onto Urban Fantasy a couple years back. While I have read and enjoyed all the books in the series, F Paul Wilson has a real tendency to "gut-punch" the reader. So much so that previous Jack adventures I have absolutely LOVED for 300 pages, will sour towards the end with the (usually VERY BRUTAL) death of a character you had come to like. To illustrate, I absolutely loved the first 2 hours and 10 minutes of The Departed. So much so that by the time the "shocking" finale happened, I genuinely felt betrayed and "gut-punched" by how it played out. While I still appreciate the movie as a whole and think it is very good, the ending soured me to the extent that I can never think of the movie without being slightly disappointed. Many Repairman Jack novels have a similar feel, and while I would rate them all (with the exception of The Haunted Air, which I found mediocre) at 4 stars or above, it is that tendency that prevents the whole series from being a 5 star epic masterpiece. In fact, I would say this is far and away my biggest complaint about the series as a whole, you can never really attach yourself to any character that was not established as a mainstay in The Tomb (the first book in the series). After being burned a few times liking what end up being one-book characters, it became harder to empathize with new characters, knowing they would meet some horrendous fate before the end. Not so with By The Sword. For one, there really are no new characters that you expect anything from. Most of the cast consists of carryovers and the new guys are all villains you will just be wondering "when will Jack take care of this/these fool/s"? Additionally, this has one of the most satisfying conclusions (I wont say ending, since the book admittedly closes in mid-stream, as FPW warned would be the case of the remaining Jack books) of the series. It is what separates this book from its companion and predecessor, (even if you expect the gut-punch, it still stings) Bloodlines. While I liked that book a lot, the ending was very unsatisfying . I imagine part of that has to do with the fact that the one semi-new character is just so cool and ALIVE at the end of BtS! Being a big Samurai fan, the plot of t

I think this is the best Repairman Jack Book yet. This book starts to tie in all the story lines of F.Paul Wilsons' previous RJ books. Fantastic job. If you live in NYC all the better.