Review of 'The Tomb (Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The first book of a long running series (12 full books and several other collections of stories) about Repairman Jack, a guy who "fixes" things, where things I guess are semi-mysterious and often occult.
In this opening book, he's called in by an ex-girlfriend to look into the disappearance of her ex-husband's aunt. This old lady lived with her sister in a New York home and just disappeared one night. Of course, the cops are all that interested, so Repairman Jack gets, reluctantly (on both sides!) called in to help.
It quickly becomes apparent that something really strange is going on and the more Jack investigates, the deeper he gets into an ancient curse and even more ancient evils from India. Eventually, it gets real personal and he needs to protect and rescue ones very near and dear to him.
What an odd book! I almost gave up, but then …
The first book of a long running series (12 full books and several other collections of stories) about Repairman Jack, a guy who "fixes" things, where things I guess are semi-mysterious and often occult.
In this opening book, he's called in by an ex-girlfriend to look into the disappearance of her ex-husband's aunt. This old lady lived with her sister in a New York home and just disappeared one night. Of course, the cops are all that interested, so Repairman Jack gets, reluctantly (on both sides!) called in to help.
It quickly becomes apparent that something really strange is going on and the more Jack investigates, the deeper he gets into an ancient curse and even more ancient evils from India. Eventually, it gets real personal and he needs to protect and rescue ones very near and dear to him.
What an odd book! I almost gave up, but then became intrigued by the character of Jack. He is desperately trying to stay off the "grid", despite the personal pains it inflicts on him. His girlfriend dumps him when she finds out about his violent profession but he still retains a flame for her and hopes to rekindled it.
So the character is interesting, with obvious flaws and some very nice traits. But I am just not a big fan of books that tell the story from all points of view. We hear from Jack mostly, but also from the girlfriend, her 7 year old(!) daughter, the villain, the villain's sister (who of course is inexorably attracted to Jack), and everyone in between. There's really no mystery to be solved and the only thing that is left "open" is whether he'll rescue those in need, which isn't really much tension, now is it?
The writing itself is a little stilted and the story moves along in fits and starts. The jump back 150 years to explain the "family curse" are no more than annoying flashbacks - really, who cares about the details. Is this supposed to make us feel some sympathy for the evil guy? I dunno.
So, in the end, I don't think I'll be reading any more Repairman Jack, unless someone can convince me the second book is far far better than this one. And given the over the top rating of this one (over 4!) and the fact the next on is about the same rating, I think I'll just let the whole thing slide along. I'll give it a 3, but only because I actually finished it. It was a close run thing though, so it is definitely a 2.5 book.
