Legacies by F. Paul Wilson brings Repairman Jack officially to the forefront of the Secret Histories series. Although he was a key player in The Tomb, Legacies stands up and says that Jack is here to stay. Well established in his persona and methods we find Jack in action several years after the Tomb. In the Tomb it was quite obvious that Jack was a man of methods and the right man to fix it. Now we get to see his sense of humor, a darker side and a close up of just how efficient he is at fixing things. Legacies does not solely rely on Jack to push it along. To fill out the plot we have global machinations from the Middle East and Japan along with a female who at first strikes the reader as a stone. As usual Wilson brings subjects to the reader which have some taught emotion tied to them.
A Doctor specializing in HIV/AIDs pediatrics is in a struggle for a house that holds more than a few secrets. What is in the house has the attention of entities far and abroad and has the ability to change the face of the world forever. Legacies is another great addition to the Repairman Jack/Adversary Cycle cannon and ends with the promise of much more to come. ( )

Really entertaining thriller, reminiscent of the Reacher books. I was surprised (and a little disappointed) that this didn't have any of the supernatural elements of the first book, but it was still a lot of fun. ( )

Dr. Alicia Clayton hires Jack to find the thief who stole the Christmas gifts for her AIDS clinic in Greenwich Village, but then decides she needs his help to figure out why her estranged brother is forcing her to sell her inheritance to a particular buyer (even though she wants nothing to do with the townhouse, which holds horrific memories.) Several competing forces are vying for something in the townhouse. Jack solves the mystery and saves the day/girl, while getting involved on several levels. ( )

If you were expecting something more in the horror line, you might be a little disappointed. This is definitely a more conventional mystery-thriller. ( )

I'm dipping my toes back in this series.

The first was okay. I mean, it had great elements of libertarianism, staying off the grid, being a vigilante, and also having all the rough and tumble elements of a detective novel with some outright horror, so by all rights I should have fallen head over heels for it.

A little while later, I found that it was slightly too tame for my tastes. Traditional stuff mixed together didn't quite come off as a genre mash, just an interesting pastiche. Fine. Let's pick up the second.

I didn't love this. But I didn't hate it, either. The villains were super prejudiced and/or traditionally nasty. You would know what I mean after reading it but no spoilers here. How it all ties back into the MCs is properly horrific and Repairman Jack does what he does best. Investigate, kick the crap out of people, and do a lot of illegal things for good reasons. Breaking in, threatening, dressing up as Santa Claus to kick the crap out of a guy who stole toys reserved for AIDS babies.

You know, the standard stuff.

So what's my problem with this one?

It's kinda... boring. Too many detective novels and mysteries. Nothing really stands out except the FACT of all these interesting elements being meshed together. The rest of the time, I'm like... well Spencer at least talks about books... :)

This one just talks about the gold standard and how bitchy his ex is being. Funny, interesting on the surface, maybe, but it doesn't delve deep enough for me.

Still, I'm a bit curious to see how he stays off the grid in the future books with the world changing around us so much. Am I curious enough? Maybe. ( )

Pretty good second book of the series. Although I confess to being unhappy with some aspects of how the author presented the main female protag. It gets better later on, but I was almost ready to stop reading at one point.

I've read other books by Wilson and never before felt that way about his writing. Hopefully, this will be the last time I have that issue with Wilson. ( )

No.2 in the Repairman Jack series is the most "normal" of the stories in that it's a straight goodguy/badguy adventure with your basic "find the hidden scientific discovery that will change the world". This is also the funniest of them all--I'll not spoil the fun for you, but will predict that you'll have to be a real hardball if you can merely chuckle at the escapades in this book. And it's not just a one-story plot line: Jack takes on a side job against a greedy housing developer...also with a lot of fun. ( )

This one was a page turner. I read most of it in one weekend. Repairman Jack returns to do what he does best! ( )

This is the 2nd repairman Jack novel I've listened to with a different narrator. At first I wasn't sure I liked this narrator but he soon grew on me and I really started to like his interpretation of the characters.

In this book Jack's humanity shines through. His girlfriend Gia introduces him to a house that helps children with AIDS and he finds his aversion to AIDS and those with it dwindling as he gets to know the children. He also meets Dr. Alicia Clayton and winds up helping her with a problem she seems to be having.

With themes of drug addicted and abandoned children, children whose parents don't care or want them and those adults whose parents had once used and abused them this book had the feel of an Andrew Vachss novel. Jack becomes the savior of many and his disgust of child abuse and his love of Vicki, Gia's daughter, shine throughout the book.

There is another character that plays in this book, a mysterious Japanese man who is tailing some principle players, his take on Jack and Jack's character were very intriguing to me as he called him a Ronin and a warrior. The definition really seems to fit Jack and I'm starting to enjoy this series more and more. ( )

Wilson is pretty consistent with the quality of his writing and how interesting his stories tend to be. Even when I find the characters not as interesting, the story itself is pretty darn good. In this case though, there is not any worries about that. The characters and story are quite exciting.

The story is about Repairman Jack; rather than appliances though, Jack fixes ugly situations with a unique twist on personal justice. For example, he'll help con someone who is taking advantage of migrant workers, getting back all the unpaid money and more. Think of Jack as a nicer and more altruistic Burke from Andrew Vachss' novels. This time, Jack is helping a doctor who doesn't want to sell her house for millions to her half brother. Sound too good to be true? Well, that is definitely where the mystery comes in and slowly unfolds through the novel.

I admit that I was a bit hesitant because the novel tells how this mystery will permanently change the entire world and that's why everyone seems to be after it; I thought that it was overblown and wouldn't live up to its hype. But the mystery does live up to it. The only real negative that I had about the novel was the way that it got preachy about AIDS. (The doctor works at a clinic for children that are HIV positive.) Wilson was not as preachy as Koontz tends to get but there was definitely a bit of sermonizing here. I suppose that he has the right since as a doctor, he probably deals with all the situations in the book. Overall a good solid read with lively characters and an exciting plot. Don't miss it if you are a fan of Repairman Jack. ( )

I lid this book, but if the otherworldy, apocalyptic stuff doesn't start happening, I might get bored. Except maybe I won't, because I really like Jack as a character. I like him so much that I'm thinking of forsaking my next book club book to continue the series uninterrupted.

This second book in the series starts off with Jack being hired to recover Christmas toys stolen from a children's AIDS hospital. He does this, and also kicks the guy's ass, dressed like Santa the whole time. I like Jack's style. However, I didn't like the minimum contact with Jack we got in this book. He seemed like just another character in an ensemble.

There's not a lot about this book that separates it from your run of the mill thriller, and my brother warned me about that. But I'm already onto book three with the hope that everything picks up.
I'm ready for more crazy, and more Jack.

Oh - best part of this book was Jack giving the finger to a crazed mercenary when told to drop his weapons. ( )

I enjoyed the book, but kept anticipating some sort of supernatural involvement or twist as in his other books. That anticipation made me not enjoy this quite as much--but that's what I get for trying to force a book to fit my expectations! ( )

The female lead character was just a tad too screwed up in the head to be sympathetic and realistic. ( )

Alicia Clayton, a doctor who suffered a very traumatic youth, returns to New York City to run a center for Children born with HIV. Her father passes away and leaves Alicia with everything, including a very cryptic will that alludes to secrets within her childhood home. Alicia wants nothing to do with her father or any of his possessions, but something was left behind and millions of dollars are being offered to her to sell the property. What lies in these haunted walls that a Saudi Arabian will kill countless people to retrieve? Why is a Japanese diplomat in pursuit of this same mystery? Repairman Jack is called to the case and in true "just Jack" fashion he teams up with Alicia, hunts the hunter and unravels a riddle that is literally worth billions and has the potential to change the world.

Fans of Repairman Jack will enjoy the second book in the series, Legacies. The writing is a bit more polished and the supernatural element that persisted throughout "The Tomb" is disbanded and replaced with a bit more of a realistic storyline. Legacies is an action packed thriller ripe with Repairman Jack goodness. ( )

Repairman Jack is back. After a 14 year hiatus, the series continues with its sophomore title. "Legacies", in my opinion, is a more tightly paced book, compared to "The Tomb" as the focus is on the here and now, with no flashbacks. There is also a certain lack of the supernatural (which abounded in the prequel) which should make some readers less skeptical about the story this time.

Although this book is fun in general, with Jack's usual flair for action (or reaction) and tricks, people interested in reading this book should be strongly warned about some of the subject material in this volume. Though nothing objectionable against the story, it should be warned that Jack is facing some pretty scummy antagonists. For those who have a weak stomach against childhood traumas, you should probably stay away.

For the rest of you, enjoy. ( )

I don't know if the author has HIV or knows someone close to them who contracted it around the time he started writing the book but he really didn't hold back about it to the detriment of the book.

The first quarter of the book is just him on a soapbox preaching about the evils of HIV and the suffering of the children in the clinic. He lets up on it for a while but every now and then he will bring it back up with a long passage about how awful it all is completely out of nowhere.

Now I'm all for there being a message in a book but Wilson is SO lacking in subtlety he might as well be beating us over the head with a 2x4 and it really distracts from the actual story of the book which isn't at all related to HIV or anything about it. Alicia who could just as easily have had any other job in the world and it wouldn't have changed the story in the slightest. HIV, crack babies and unwanted children have no bearing at all.

If I'm honest, if it was any other subject matter I would have come away from this book less sympathetic for the cause than I was going in just for Wilson being so obnoxiously in your face about the whole thing. ( )

I liked this one a bit better than The Tomb. It had the same interesting characters as the first book; I found the plot a bit more interesting. The biggest difference was simply that this kind of story seems to work a little better as a straight thriller rather than one having elements of the supernatural in it. ( )

Even better than book one, this is a series to really enjoy. I think they went downhill after three though, with the author's need to champion causes and be pro-lots of things that are unnecessary. Legacies is one of the best books I have ever read and I loved it. A page turner, unique, just the best. ( )

The first full Repairman Jack novel. Alicia is a doctor in a NYC pediatric AIDS clinic. She has inherited an unwanted house from her father, but doesn't want her brother to have it, either. He is pressuring her, and people are dying around her as she tries to fight him off. What is so special about that house? Why does she hate is so much? And can Jack help? ( )

The first full Repairman Jack novel. Alicia is a doctor in a NYC pediatric AIDS clinic. She has inherited an unwanted house from her father, but doesn't want her brother to have it, either. He is pressuring her, and people are dying around her as she tries to fight him off. What is so special about that house? Why does she hate is so much? And can Jack help? ( )

http://yoyogodreviews.blogspot.com/2006/10/samurai-repairman-jack.html ( )

This one was even better than The Tomb (the Repairman Jack book before this one). If you're a fan of F. Paul Wilson, OR if you want to read a book where the bad guys get their butts kicked in the end, you'll like this one. I can't help it...I'm absolutely drawn to this stuff.

F. Paul Wilson can tell a great story -- with all of the plot twists and turns, it's obvious that while this isn't a great piece of literature, this man has an incredibly good mind.

So here's a bit of the story:
If you're familiar with Repairman Jack, he's sort of like the guy on that old TV series (which I also used to love) The Equalizer...where you can call him and if he thinks you have a good case, he'll help you out. His methods are somewhat unorthodox, because Jack is a "non-person," but he does get the job done.

In this installment a doctor who heads an AIDS clinic for children gets in touch with Jack because someone has stolen a storage room full of Christmas toys from the AIDS clinic. The kids who were to get the toys were kids who were not only AIDS patients, but some of them were crack babies or born with other very sad problems, so Jack agrees to take on getting the toys back. But in the meantime, he knows that there's something the doctor (Alicia) is hiding & she finally comes out with it. It seems that she inherited her dad's house but there is some kind of secret in it that some very bad people are willing to pay millions for. While she doesn't want to necessarily live in the house, she wants to know what is going on and hires Jack. So as the story unravels, Jack is there at every turn ...and the excitement just doesn't stop.

Fun fun fun -- and worth every second I stayed up late to finish it. ( )