XamberB Wrote: Welcome to the board, Shmoolie. I do have to disagree though. I think Jack's relationships humanize him - he could have become a shallow two-dimensional character. His interactions with Abe, Gia and Vicky allow Jack to show human weaknesses. Therefore when he overcomes evil, he is doing it as a human not as a superhero action figure.
Kenji Wrote:Welcome to the board, shmoolie.
Hmm.....you couldn't get into "Infernal"? Well,then, you should read next RJ book, "Harbingers". Very shocking but that's first style. You'll get Jack's excellent fix-it job, ultimate terror(almost gory), Adversary vs. Ally, etc etc...
shmoolie Wrote:I don't mind a little humanizing - most good authors will flesh out their characters over time - but I'm seeing a pattern that is making me uncomfortable. Have you ever read any of the Richard Stark series (aka Donald Westlake)? His character is a lone criminal who isn't afraid to resort to violence and over the years has stayed very much in character (although I admit to reading only the first half dozen or so novels as the rest are out of print).There is a place between Patricia Cromwell and Donald Westlake. Cromwell was great to begin with, then Kay got way to moody. Westlake's character's to me are a little too two-dimentional, but then that's just me. Thankfully, everyone likes something a little different, otherwise there'd be no copies of Robert Crais's latest Elvis Cole novels and no one would have written Water for Elephants.
shmoolie Wrote:Thanks for the welcome XamberB. I don't mind a little humanizing - most good authors will flesh out their characters over time - but I'm seeing a pattern that is making me uncomfortable. Have you ever read any of the Richard Stark series (aka Donald Westlake)? His character is a lone criminal who isn't afraid to resort to violence and over the years has stayed very much in character (although I admit to reading only the first half dozen or so novels as the rest are out of print).
I think Abe is a pretty good character that can be used more often and I like the fact that Jack and Gia really have a thing going (I'm not that crazy about Vicki as a character though) but I'm uneasy with the way that she is forcing him to accede to her kind of "normality" just so they can be a couple. Maybe now that the rest of his family has been killed off it will put more action back into his life.
One odd thing is that the entire series is pulled by the fact that the ending was written before the rest. I'm just now reading Nightworld and I realize this for the first time. BTW, the introduction of Repairman Jack in Nightworld is to me the absolute reason of his being. The first few pages discussing his attitudes towards muggers, criminals, and even parents is the very essence of what made him such a strong character and why I want to see this brought back so badly.
webby Wrote:This may already be a thread somewhere but the search won't look for the word "first", so what the heck, I'll start a fresh thread even if there is one out there in the past. I've thought of doing this before but tonight I was inspired by the stories on the Keep Game thread, so...
What was your first FPW or Repairman Jack? How did it all start for you?
My story is that I was in a "dollar" store - the modern equivalent of the five and dime - picking up some odds & ends and I saw a book rack, which will always make me pause. I looked at what was there and much of it looked like pure drivel, but one paperback caught my eye and the description sounded pretty interesting. Yep - it was Repairman Jack, specifically The Tomb. I bought it for $1.00.
After reading it and absolutely loving it, I started looking specifically for Repairman Jack books. Once I'd caught up with those, I hunted online until I found copies of the whole AC. Then other FPW books.
I still have a few non-AC books to find, but what a great adventure it has been so far -- and what a thrill to find all the great people on this board too!
sigokat Wrote:Ok, i'm totally confused now about the timeline of the RJ books.
What I've read is:
The Tomb (which I thought was the first)
Legacies
Conspiracies
I'm currently reading All the Rage.
I'm I going in the right order? I haven't read Nightworld, but I thought that Jack was just a minor character in that one.
Help??