A doozie of an ending, to be sure. I thought of it but rejected it. Actually, thought of something even darker: Vicky as the shoten. Couldn't go there, couldn't make Jack go there. It would destroy him, leave him a basket case -- and he's still got lots of work to do.

We had a panel at Bouchercon that drifted into lines you will not cross as a writer. Reprisal is about as dark as I want to go with a child. I had to get up and walk away from the keyboard numerous times when writing those scenes.

I'm waiting to read Reprisal (and Nightworld) in the proper order, but hints like this make it sooooo hard to wait.

Vicky's been through enough! Thank heavens that she wasn't the shoten.

Perhaps one of Kate's children? They're probably too old to fit the pattern in Black Wind.

I would vote for someone totally unrelated to Jack, since he said "No more more pruning branches!" in Harbingers.

One of Naka Slater's grand-kids (history repeats itself).

Weezy's daughter (assuming Weezy survives the YA series, that is)?

Whatever. I respect your decision FPW. Keep the chills coming.

-Wapitikev

Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph...

Vicky as a shoten...

While you certainly know Jack better than any of us, Paul, I wonder if that would "destroy him, leave him a basket case..."

I think maybe the darkness he fights down when he gets pushed might not be surpressed any longer.

I think he'd become a kamikaze.

The way he was in ALL THE RAGE, on bezerk, only more "rational".

I'm still upset with the level of darkness Jack went to in Harbingers. I feel almost cheated. Seriously, I would have expected him to ALOT darker than that. I was really hoping to see how sick he has the ability to get. Like in Bloodlines with the tractor trailer. That's what I'm talking about.

There was a scene in Nightworld where the thugs had a gun to Gia's head outside of Abe's truck. That scene was the one that made me realize how much I have come to love these characters. Even thinking about it now I can feel it creeping back. I got MAD, and I mean body going cold mad, as I'm sure Jack felt in the book. That is the kind of darkness I like to see him vent every now and then.

I'm still upset with the level of darkness Jack went to in Harbingers. I feel almost cheated. Seriously, I would have expected him to ALOT darker than that. I was really hoping to see how sick he has the ability to get. Like in Bloodlines with the tractor trailer. That's what I'm talking about.

There was a scene in Nightworld where the thugs had a gun to Gia's head outside of Abe's truck. That scene was the one that made me realize how much I have come to love these characters. Even thinking about it now I can feel it creeping back. I got MAD, and I mean body going cold mad, as I'm sure Jack felt in the book. That is the kind of darkness I like to see him vent every now and then.

Is "sickness" the word, Steve? Jack's a =good= guy! And that scene in NIGHTWORLD, sure. But Jack played a very cool hand, and vanquished. There's a time for berserkerness (new word trademarked, MJLindner, 2008), like when he fought Scarlip in THE TOMB to protect Vicky, but there's also a time to wait for your moment.

Is "sickness" the word, Steve? Jack's a =good= guy! And that scene in NIGHTWORLD, sure. But Jack played a very cool hand, and vanquished. There's a time for berserkerness (new word trademarked, MJLindner, 2008), like when he fought Scarlip in THE TOMB to protect Vicky, but there's also a time to wait for your moment.

I don't know. with the ammount of ODNA jack has i would expect that when he opens the vault his darkness could make Richard Laymon cringe

I don't know. with the ammount of ODNA jack has i would expect that when he opens the vault his darkness could make Richard Laymon cringe

But the oDNA doesn't rule him, as it does those with more of it. He can cage his darkness.

But the oDNA doesn't rule him, as it does those with more of it. He can cage his darkness.

I get your point Bluesman, but if memory serves, there are few out there with as much or more ODNA as Jack has...he just has the rare and unusual ability to compartmentalize it when required...lock it away, as it were.

Personally, I believe we first saw this ability back in All the Rage when he was able to stop himself from attacking Vicks and Gia after he was mickied with Berzerk.

-Wapitikev

[SIZE="3"]A doozie of an ending, to be sure. I thought of it but rejected it. Actually, thought of something even darker: Vicky as the shoten. Couldn't go there, couldn't make Jack go there. It would destroy him, leave him a basket case -- and he's still got lots of work to do.[/SIZE]

Plus, that would force yet another rewrite of Nightworld, since Vicky is still alive in the current release.