When the vultures were circling over the carcass of Borders Bookstores, I swooped down on one of the clearance sales and picked up this book. Then I found out it was the sixth installment in the Repairman Jack series. It has perched ruefully on my bookcase since then, waiting for the day when I finally read the five books before it. Getting there has been a challenge. Some of the earlier volumes in the series are growing hard to find. I used cards in three different library systems to find them, some in Audiobook format, others in print. But it has been worth it. The narrative arc of a New York City dwelling, legally nonexistent, average looking tough guy who fixes problems for a living, continues to bend toward darker and stranger regions of fantasy and horror. Certainly by this book, if you haven't picked up the vibe before now, you must be aware that the series is headed toward a final battle over the fate of the world, a battle in which Jack may stand alone between the human race and the ultimate darkness. So, good times.In his previous case, Jack encountered a strange lady with a Russian accent and a large dog. She told him about his role in the coming apocalypse, adding that there would be no more coincidences for him. Not coincidentally, therefore, his two seemingly unconnected fix-it jobs in this book turn out to be connected in a really dark way. He stumbles on the first job when friends of his girlfriend Gia drag them to Astoria, Queens, to consult a spiritualist medium calling himself Ifasen. This supposedly African ghost-whisperer turns out to be one Lyle Kenton, lately of Dearborn, Michigan. Lyle and his hip-hop-speaking brother Charlie have pulled themselves up from impoverished orphanhood by conning the rich and gullible. Now they have a problem. Their flourishing new practice in Queens has threatened the success of other fake mediums, such as a certain Madame Pomerol and her thuggish husband. These competitors have been hitting back, firing bullets through their front window and attempting to set fire to their house. Lyle suspects them of still other acts of sabotage. He hires Jack to put a stop to it.Meanwhile, a mysterious character named Edward has hired Jack to keep an eye on his brother Eli, who he fears may hurt someone within the next few days. So, between stages of an elaborate sting to expose the crooked Madame Pomerol, Jack stakes out Eli's apartment and the curio shop he owns. His surveillance enables him to save a small child from being kidnapped and used for some unthinkable purpose. He puts Eli and one of his accomplices in the hospital. But his job is far from finished. As the ghostly disturbances at Lyle's house continue to grow in nastiness, and as Gia—now pregnant with Jack's child—feels herself drawn toward the nameless evil that dwells in Menelaus Manor, Eli and his Circle prepare to snatch another child. Their purpose is far darker than the sexual perversion Jack suspects. And their next target is Vicky, Gia's little girl who is all but a daughter to Jack.I don't have the qualifications to say that this book is unique in the fantasy-horror genre. Frankly, I haven't read enough of the genre to weigh in on that. But Repairman Jack is definitely an outstanding specimen of the recurring hero type. He's a cool customer, tough as nails, deadly when he has to be. Without mask or cape or any desire for publicity, he carries out a dark superhero's quest for justice, though usually he is paid well for it. He lives behind false identities, championing the citizen's right to bear arms and carrying on a silent, one-man tax revolt. And though he doesn't personally believe in God or ghosts or things that go bump in the night, he is increasingly forced to recognize that unexplainable things exist and that he, whether he will or no, has a particular calling to bump back at them. This is to say, he finds that he has been drafted as his generation's champion warrior against the encroaching Otherness that wants to swallow up all existence. This means his work will grow more and more dangerous and disturbing, will continually threaten the people he cares about, and will probably not pay very well, if he survives. Jack's unbelief, shared with other key characters in this book, may challenge readers with religious convictions to serious and articulate thought. Particularly around page 400 in the Tor edition is material for Christians to reflect on and discuss, not only as to how to hit back but to recognize that they may need deeper answers. Taken with the violence and brutality depicted in this book, and its aspects of occult ritual, spiritualistic chicanery, and ghostly apparitions, it makes a pretty thorough case for an Occult Content Advisory and an Adult ditto. Readers undisturbed by all this, or who enjoy being disturbed, will be happy to know that Repairman Jack has many adventures to go before he must face the final darkness. Among the sequels to this book are Gateways, Crisscross, Infernal, and Harbingers, plus six more novels and a collection of short stories.
5 StarsThe Haunted Air by F Paul Wilson is the 6th book in The Repairman Jack Series and to me they keep getting better and better. Wilson has done things the smart way in that he has taken the slow approach to the development of our main character and his underlying main story. The Haunted Air is a book that centers on Jack, his family, and the Otherness. The haunted house story along with the creative con artists make this a very fun read. I have found that I cannot seem to get enough of this character, his story, and Wilson's amazing writing.If you are reading this review then you already know what to expect from Jack's latest adventure. Action, Anger, Strangeness, and Kick Ass resolutions. If you haven't read these book let me point out some things about Jack as pointed out in this book:“That talent had found the visitor named Jack a hard read. Bland-looking guy: nothing-special clothes, brown hair, mild brown eyes, not handsome, not ugly, just… there. But he'd moved with a secret grace inside a damn near impenetrable shield. The only thing Lyle had sensed about him besides the steer-clear warning was a deep melancholy.”“But strangely he was the most moral man—her father aside—that she'd ever met. He was like an elemental force. She knew he would never break faith with her, never leave her in the lurch, never allow her to come to harm. She knew that if it ever came down to it, he'd give his life for her. She felt safe with Jack, as if surrounded by an impenetrable shield.”This is such an amazing series that should have a huge audience. These books make amazing beach reads. Jack is awesome and so is F Paul Wilson. A must read series...go get it.
What do You think about The Haunted Air (2004)?
The Haunted Air is installment #6 in the Repairman Jack series, and while it's a bit different than the others, it's still a great read. For anyone who's not aware of Repairman Jack, think about the old television show called "The Equalizer," add in a bit of HP Lovecraft and you're pretty much there. He's a man who lays low, under the radar, and wants to keep it that way. But you definitely want him on your side. In this episode, Jack makes the acquaintance of two brothers who are psychics (or at least claim to be), and is drawn into the world of psychic phenomena, the occult and the Otherness (a force which is his sworn enemy) all rolled into one. This is much like the classic haunted house slash ghost story, but with a few twists unique to Jack. Repairman Jack is one of my favorite good guys, and this series has never let me down. If you want a fun read, you may wish to try this book -- but I would definitely not start the series here. It's a great book for escape reading -- nothing serious, nothing profound, not great literature. It's a bit of fast-action horror, verging into occult territory, along with a side trip through pulp. I would recommend this book to anyone who is reading the series and to others who may be thinking about it. Horror fans who like it light may also enjoy this one.
—Nancy Oakes
Repairman Jack is put on the trail of a child-killing ring just as he and Gia come into contact with a pair of fraudulent psychics who live in a house where one of the children the ring killed is buried. As a force representing the Here and Now told Jack in an earlier volume, “No more coincidences for you.” Over 400 pages of the usual page-turning supernatural suspense. Lyle and Charlie are sympathetic characters, and as I’ve come to expect, Wilson gives every character a history and motive that make their actions seem real despite the very mystical setting. My only complaint with this series is that Jack still completely dismisses claims such as the immortality of his antagonist totally out of hand, despite having witnessed like things himself in the past.
—Ensiform
Things are changing for Jack as he comes out of his mourning for his sister Kate. He starts out bored at a party and then he is led to a house of a medium where strange things happen immediately after walking over the threshold. This is a very good continuation of the Repairman Jack series, though it is less of a standalone than previous books. There is a major callback to The Tomb, and now Jack's past fixes are tying more and more into current events so the reader will need to read the past books or at least get familiar with the universe.There is more character development of Gia in this book and it takes an interesting turn. She is more involved with a fix than in previous books, and we find that she is less content with sitting on the sidelines waiting for Jack. I don't know if this will continue or if she would rather stay out after what happens here. Overall this stands strong, but there is also setup for potential events in the next book as there are a few major loose threads for Jack that will need to be resolved. Then again, Wilson has set up this series to have the larger story arc which shows no signs of finishing just yet.
—Michael
