Cold City:
A Repairman Jack Novel: The Early Years Trilogy: Book One
F. Paul Wilson. Tor, $25.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-7653-3014-7

In Wilson’s lively first in a projected trilogy of prequels to his Repairman Jack saga (Nightworld, etc.), Jack, newly arrived in Manhattan, begins honing the skills that will eventually make him a formidable urban mercenary who operates off the grid. Jack’s talent for finding trouble is already well developed, as becomes clear when his job smuggling cigarettes runs him afoul of Arab jihadists, the mob, and a ring of sex slavers. Wilson expertly evokes Manhattan in all its gritty glory in the early ’90s and introduces series regulars Abe Grossman, Jack’s gunrunner and surrogate father, and Julio, the hard-working barkeep at Jack’s preferred watering hole, the Spot. Though preachy in spots and devoid of the supernatural subtext that invigorates the later novels, this valentine to Jack’s legion of fans still packs a wallop that whets the appetite for his next early adventure. Agent, Al Zuckerman, Writers House. (Nov.)

A friend of mine recommended the Repairman Jack books to me, I'd not heard of them before but thought they sounded really interesting so I immediately got stuck in and then completely and utterly addicted to this frankly phenomenal series of books. I read somewhere that the book order is a bit tricky but most people seemed to recommend reading the Jack books first and then reading the Adversary series. I have just finished reading the Dark at the End after reading the 15 Jack books one after the other over the past few weeks and now I'm completely at a loss as to where to go next to find out what happens at the end with the Otherness. Should I go back and read the Adversary series from the start or move on to Nightworld or something else? Very confused and a little distraught at having finished this amazing series...or have I?! I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask about this, but please help and point me in the right direction.

A British publication called SFX often does special editions of its magazine, picking a specific subject to concentrate a full magazine to. This time around they've decided on an A to Z of Horror.

Included in the magazine is a bunch of freebies, including a DVD with two episodes of the TV show Masters Of Horror. One of the two is the Pelts adaptation by Dario Argento, starring Meat Loaf.

[URL="http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/09/18/sfx-horror-issue/"]http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/09/18/sfx-horror-issue/
[/URL]
Should be available in all good UK newsagents and supermarkets. Rest of the world may find it in a Borders, Barnes and Noble, or equivalent, if they have a non-US publication rack (may take a couple of weeks to get there).

Cheers

Dave

We saw Lawless over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Guy Pearce was incredible as Rakes. It's definitely entertaining to watch, especially if you like Prohibition era films.

I've told one of my friends that I want to start a smuggling ring. I get to carry a gun.

I don't have the time I used to to read. So I've been gobbling up all the books I could get on audio. I just listened to the last 2 Dark Tower books and a bunch of shorts of King's. I also listened to Neal Stephenson's "Reamde" (excellent) and a bunch of other novels. But I just checked to see if my library has any FPW on audio, specifically Repairman Jack. Nada. So I figured I could request my library to order it. I hopped on Amazon and looked up the only RJ book I haven't read, (that's currently sitting in a box since I moved) The Dark at the End, and guess what? Not available on audio. So my question to you, Dr. Wilson is, whaddupwitdat?

As a fan of Darwyn Cooke's Graphic Novel adaptations of the great Richard Stark's Parker novels, I was curious to know why there hasn't been any Repairman Jack Graphic Novels? It seems like a no-brainer. RJ's Universe is seemingly a perfect fit for the medium. I could think of a host of great comic artists who could do justice to Jack's world.

It would be a huge treat for us already familiar with Jack, and it'd also bring a lot of comic fans who weren't familiar with FPW or Jack into the mix. Win-win situation, no?

Any opinions, for those familiar with the medium, of what comic artists you would most like to see tackle Jack?

Hiya! So, i've just gotten my ipad and was hoping to get all the RJ and AC novels into it for reading. But when i browse the site i only find them in certain formats (kindle, nook, sony, etc). So is there a way or anywhere i can get relevant formats (i believe for ipads it should be epub) to satisfy my desire of collecting them all?

This may have been covered in one of the numerous threads in the forum -- I searched, but could find no hits on Borderlands Press (which surprised me) -- so sorry if this is a repeat question.

I have the Adversary Cycle in this edition. What I'd like to know is the LATEST versions of any of these six books are different than the Borderlands' versions.

Thanks,

John

So on Saturday I'm bitching about the celebrity culture and how I couldn't think of anyone I'd cross the street to meet. Comes Sunday I'm sitting in the hotel bar and in walks Shelly Berman (apparently he's in a 5-0 episode) whose comedy records I listened to as a kid. I can still quote passages. So who must, simply MUST get his photo with the man? He's still funny. Tugs on his toupe and tells Dennis he should think about getting one, looks at me and says, "Yours is pretty good - almost looks real." http://twitpic.com/aqr8br

7/28-8/4 - reading in Nantucket:
HUNTRESS MOON by Alexandra Sokoloff - excellent thriller. Highly recommended [URL="http://tinyurl.com/brlo4h9;"]http://tinyurl.com/brlo4h9;
[/URL] CLOVENHOOF - a very funny novel by Heide Goody and Iain Grant: Satan trying to adjust to suburbia. Hilarious. http://tinyurl.com/c2h639w

7/28-8/4 - eating in Nantucket: lobster tails, grilled shrimp, crab legs, salad, and local corn in nantucket http://twitpic.com/aer69e; and where's the beef? twitpic.com/adybp2

8/4 - received payment for my contribution to BOOKS TO DIE FOR http://twitpic.com/afrn6u - haven't opened it yet. Will probably wait till Half St. Patrick's Day in mid-Sept.

8/5 - had an unwanted epiphany that showed me a whole new way to start DARK CITY. Gonna cause all sorts of ripples but I can't ignore it.

8/7 - this ‘Best Olympic Commentary Ever’ is pretty foony - http://tinyurl.com/9shkfg8

8/8 - a super overview of my 3rd collection (no I didn't write it): http://tinyurl.com/8c8tu5l

8/8 - triffid alert: http://tinyurl.com/8arbp3t ...but I have special glasses to protect me: http://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/25348

8/9 - this Mars panorama is very trippy - get it started and leave it going http://panoramas.dk/mars/greeley-haven.html

8/10 - finished DARE ME by Megan Abbott. Beth is one of the most complex, fascinating, and scary characters I've encountered in a long time.

8/11 - you need to see this pic.twitter.com/7bFh82Yv

8/12 - yay! Coffee drinkers live longer: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1112010

8/15 - RIP Harry Harrison. Very sorry to hear this. We met only a few times in person, but I read him extensively and there’s a bit of Slippery Jim DiGriz in Repairman Jack.

8/17 - Sharks edit "Jaws" (they cut the last 3 minutes) http://tinyurl.com/9te5pov

8/19 - Hey, folks, take a sec to contribute to the Tesla Museum. I did. You're in for as little as $3 http://www.indiegogo.com/teslamuseum

8/20 - um, does this spider remind you of something? http://tinyurl.com/9xtcohu

8/22 - BOOKS TO DIE FOR - This could get crowded fast, so you might want to RSVP early: http://tinyurl.com/8he6twv

8/23 - if you think ebooks have shaken things up, wait till you see e-guns http://tinyurl.com/9ja58mw

8/24 Great news! "Monsters Inc." prequel! Teaser trailer here: http://tinyurl.com/8fsmdjx

8/25 - very annoying because my story "The Barrens" is in development, now this junk thing comes along. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2050633/ Now we need a new title.

8/27 - early review of COLD CITY - http://www.countgore.com/Tomb.htm

8/29 - has China found the future of publishing? http://gu.com/p/3365b/tw

8/30 - heading for Hawaii to speak at the Spellbinders Conference http://www.spellbindersconference.com/

8/30 - amazing what you can accomplish writing-wise during 11 hours on a plane with no phone or Internet

8/31 - from my hotel room’s lanai: you can juuuust see Diamond Head peeking over at that building http://twitpic.com/apkpqo