This movie stars Michael Rapaport... WAIT!! Don't leave just yet due to that. He will totally surprise you in this flick. His character is a shy fellow, a bit of an introvert but on a whim signs up for an experimental drug study on a new anti-depressant. But he develops a side-effect... super powers. At least he thinks so. It's equal parts drama and odd comedy that compliment each other very well. It's a low budget flick, but fancy FX and scenic locations were not needed since the story is contained in his own small world. I don't see this winning an Oscar in any category but it certainly is worth your time.

I see the Sci-Fi Channel has a new movie coming out called Carny about a freakshow carnival and figuring heavily in it is a Jersey Devil. Sounds a lot like a certain author's work.

I just got a newsletter from gauntlet with an update on Ground Zero. Everyone may have gotten this, but I thought I'd share:

"The latest Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson, Ground Zero, is now at the printer for a late-June/early-July release."

Can we consider late June or early July pretty concrete at this point or are they going for the whole "Under promise, over deliver" thing?

I have to say this is probably me putting two things together that I love which, like as not, have absolutely nothing to do with one another. But I couldn't resist posting here to ask FPW himself.

In the fifth book of the Repairman Jack series, Jack gives up his favourite sidearm (the infamous Semmerling) for a gun that his supplier (Abe) thinks is better for him.

In the fifth book of the James Bond series, James gives up his favourite sidearm (the beretta) for a gun that his supplier (M, or Q if you want to be specific) thinks is better for him.

Coincidence, FPW? I know a lot of people, being Bond movie buffs instead of Bond novel buffs, would miss the reference, but it's something I noticed on my most recent re-read.

I saw this yesterday with some others. I'm a bit slowed down and have a lot on my mind and maybe that's why I missed something crucial: WHY were those body parts being harvested? What experiments were those Russians doing? What was wrong with that one guy in particular (the guy with rake marks that was being "frankensteined")?

I asked a friend I saw it with yesterday, but she said she didn't know either.

I finally got around to looking it up today on wikipedia but found they didn't say. But they did mention that the guard dogs had 2 heads.

How in the heck did I miss that? Is that true, or did I catch a little wikipedia vandalism? But it would kinda make sense with some of the other stuff going on in the movie. If true, then I was more slowed down & distracted than I thought...though I can recall a lot of other details from the movie anyway.

Just saw a preview for a new made-for-tv movie on the Sci-Fi channel called "Carny". It showed brief flashes of a carnival that apparently has a real monster caged that eventually gets free, people reading about the Jersey Devil . After seeing it I immediately thought about the Last Rakosh story, and Rage. The IMDB page for it makes no mention of F.Paul Wilson or those stories... but the similarities, at least from what little I saw in the preview, seem too numerous to be a simple coincidence.

Carny

Just thought I'd drop that tidbit of info in case someone took some unwelcome liberties.


LJ Eden

Got Aftershock & Others, Barrens & Others and Ozy for my 45th. Can't think of a better gift to have received for a birthday present...unless someone gifted me with a wormhole to the future so I could read the next few Jack books NOW!

I've been on a roll with the low budget horror of late and Splinter is the best of the bunch. It features one of the most original monsters I've seen in quite some time and is a smart, fast-paced thriller.

Many of the negative, or just mediocre, reviews at Amazon for By The Sword seem to not like the new focus of the series. Many seem to feel that now that the books are focused more on the Otherness, that they are not as worthwhile.

Another common complaint is that since there are so many characters in BTS, that Jack takes a backseat too much, and Gia and Vicky are almost completely absent (vicky is actually). Also, that it was the every day fixits that people liked, and they are not as interested in the larger Cosmic battle, that it is too conventional.

Now, I am not one of those people. By The Sword was one of my favorite books of the series, and I did not really miss Gia or Vicky. I feel I would if they were gone indefinitely, but I do not mind them taking on a lesser role.

I really enjoy the Otherness, it is what drew me to the series. If not for that aspect, I do not think it would have ever appeared on my radar. The Otherness: Glaeken, The Lady, Rasolom etc, really adds something to the series, that in my mind it would lack with just the Urban Mecenary angle. Something I also enjoy about long-running series is growth. I get tired of the character doing the same old same.

If Jack just kept on doing normal fixits in the face of the end of the world and all, it wouldn't seem right with his character. Now that he knows how much is out there, and how big it all is and it isnt going away, it seems natural to me that he would do his best, in his own way, to fix things.

but between the action, the Japanese Samurai elements, and Glaeken, I just thought By The Sword was excellent. I really love Samurai stories, so it was a real crossover treat. I am encouraged by it and Bloodlines. I feel that as long as they stay this good, the big Cosmic Battle will just be awesome.

Afterall, for me Jack is it, he is the Cake. All the other characters are the icing, and I do not even like icing that much, give me extra cake any day.

New here, visited plenty of times but never posted before.

I was looking around and could not find any mention of the second Young Jack novel?

The first came out at the end of March last year, so I assumed another would be due out this Spring, but there is not even a listing for it yet at Amazon?

I have not noticed any revised news about it either, all stuff FPW said about it last year. But it sounded like he was already half done with part 2 when the first one was coming out. has it been delayed? or was it always meant to take longer than a normal RJ book?

thank you