Can't find an official Secret Histories discussion thread so I thought I'd start one. (Forgive me if there's one already and please point me in its direction.)

First and foremost - [SIZE="5"]THIS THREAD WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!![/SIZE]

I think this is a great book. Yes, it's written with a young adult in mind, which is apparent mostly in the characters' speech (I thought anyway) but it's a damn good read. In fact, I couldn't put it down, and rattled through it very quickly. (Of course, this could be because I'm older and wiser than a young adult.... maybe.... or it could be that it's a great story. I lke to think the latter is the case!)
I loved reading how Jack set out on his path, and finding out more about his family. Not too much about his mother though, which was a bit disappointing, but there are another two books to go...
Of course, being a seasoned Repairman Jacker, I knew exactly where the pistachio nut thing was going but reading about the whole build up to it and fallout from it was great.
And meeting some important characters of the future was great too. Some nice foreshadowing to be found in this book.
I also spotted this:

(From FPW's foreword to Rakoshi)
...I bought an Apple II+ with... 48K of RAM. (I could have opted for a 64K upgrade, but I couldn't see how I'd ever need that much RAM.)

(From Secret Histories, when Jack, Tom and Kate's Dad is showing them the new computer)
"Here's the future, kids. I've got forty-eight K of RAM - could have gotten sixty-four, but I can't imagine ever needing that much memory."

I guess some things are just too good to waste on a foreword!
Great book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great Book! I couldn’t put it down…literally; I read it in one sitting. It brought back a lot of memories for me. Ridding banana a seat bike, hunting artifacts in the woods(for me it was Indian artifacts), sitting in a tree and just thinking, Hardy Boys books, old comics, and pulp fiction magazines. Spending all of my time outdoors with my friends (chums, lol). After I finished it, I was walking to the bookshelf already starting to feel the pains of sadness of having to wait for my next RJ fix when I heard someone honking the horn outside. I walked out to find the mail lady with a large package with my mail. I opened it to find a signed copy of The Christmas Thingy! Although it is not RJ it IS FPW and it doesn’t get any better than that!

In short, I LOVED IT!

S P O I L E R S . . . A H E A D ! !

Weezy was such a great character, and I loved Kate...which made me sad. Tom was a wonderfully-illustrated asshole brother (SO perfectly written, and I don't even have a brother!), and all the cameos were just terrific! Mrs. Clevinger and her DOG, eh...? ...and a certain alcoholic who always kept his gloves on... Oh, but damn if I didn't get chills when that fellow in the white suit with black, slicked-back hair came by the Lodge at the end. I have an inkling about who THAT was...

Some of my most immediately highlighted favorite scenes:

• The aforementioned cameos.
  
• The pistachios. Enough said.
  
• Jack's "unusual" feelings toward Weezy. They were...well, "sweet," to use a word that'll probably make FPW squirm.
  
• The guy in the suit and the trooper who got, well, "trapped" - WONDERFUL!
  
• The mysterious, dark, smelly "thing" in the Barrens...whatever the hell THAT was! The Pine Lights' appearance was a nice touch, also.
  
• All these whispered hints of things to come and what things mean...especially Jack being the "Miracle Boy," as Tom kept putting it, and his ability to open the black box, and Mrs. Clevenger's not being "surprised" about that... Oy, and just when I was coming down from my rush of the revelations in Bloodline!

As if I weren't already, now I'm really looking forward to Secret Vengeance, and the third book...aaaaand anything else you might have in store for young Jack *cough*short stories, please?*cough* And not to mention, of course, By the Sword.

I loved it. FPW, thank you, THANK you, for so boldly (and yet easily) taking Jack into such a new and enjoyable direction, and for erecting the first tentpole of my favorite books of the year!

Weezy was such a great character

[SIZE="3"]I fell in love with her. She started taking over scenes that should have been Jack's. I finally banished her to Baltimore for the weekend so she wouldn't get in the way.[/SIZE]

Great Book! I couldn’t put it down…literally; I read it in one sitting.

Also!

I didn't even stop to eat.

Ken V.

Oh, but damn if I didn't get chills when that fellow in the white suit with black, slicked-back hair came by the Lodge at the end. I have an inkling about who THAT was...

[SIZE="3"]No, it's not him.

But you might want to read "Aryans and Absinthe" before By the Sword and Secret Vengeance.[/SIZE]

No, it's not him.

But you might want to read "Aryans and Absinthe" before By the Sword and Secret Vengeance.

And I was so sure it was!!!

I got the chills too


THANK YOU FPW

This is a wonderful book, I love it's connections and foreshadowing of events and characters to come. I am lending it to my 13 year old son next. He has never read any FPW so I will let you know what an RJ virgin thinks of it as a pure YA novel.

I am intrigued to know how a YA who knows nothing about RJ (and doesn't get the nostalgia buzz) will receive the book.

Weezy is wonderful, really takes me back, black clothes Cure & Bauhaus. If you want any more obscure 80's goth references for the 80's I'm your man

I love the reference to Bela Lugosi's Dead. This is actually one of my favorite songs, not quite in my desert island disk list but not far off. I'm the proud owner of an original 12" version on a good old 45

I assume the trapper is one of those in Pelts (pa?), after all he is on Foster's land and the lady tells us one day he will trap something he shouldn't.

And I was so sure it was!!!

[SIZE="3"]Couldn't be. If you extrapolate from the Secret History timeline, Jack was born about a year after Reborn. He and the one you're thinking of are contemporaries. [/SIZE]

Couldn't be. If you extrapolate from the Secret History timeline, Jack was born about a year after Reborn. He and the one you're thinking of are contemporaries.

I was trying to work the timeline out this morning, but was a bit hungover & couldn't get my head around it.

I need to track down a copy of the Absinthe story - I was holding out for a third "others" collection.

Once again thanks for a great book

What a wonderful addition to the series!
I read the book in one day.....I couldn't put it down.

[SIZE="5"]SPOILERS BELOW[/SIZE]





First, the memories this story brought back were many. Playing in the woods, searching for "whatever" with your friends. My mother, playing South Pacific so many times I memorized the words whether I wanted to or not! Being that girl in black all the time, ah the phases we go through!
The references to other stories, the trapper and Pelts. The use of the word "Reprisal" by Tom several times. A certain "tortured" Vietnam Vet that has to wear gloves and drink to help manage his powers.
Now to my mind 's wonder....
Are the ladies with dogs stronger in this time? It seemed to me she could almost tele-port where she needed to be. Jack's dad being asked to join the lodge, are these men protectors of the good....or the otherness?
What is that watcher in the woods ? The black mist, it must be waiting for the right time to test Jack. The tall man in the white suit, I don't think he'll like Jack and his friends. And most of all, Jack being one that could open the box as the head of the lodge could. Smacks of otherness to me.

Thank you FPW, another gem of a read. Dan has the book now, he'll pass it on to his girl friend's younger sister. I'm very protective of my collection, but I know she'll enjoy the story and the mystery.