Forgot One: "The Tomb" by F. Paul Wilson

Forgot One: The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson, 2011 reprint of the 1984 novel, 9780765327406 (paperback).

I've had this paperback sitting around a few years. I finally read it a month or two ago and promptly forgot to type up any notes. I enjoyed the novel a fair amount. I've seen references by Internet Gun Nerds to the novels but those people are not the best advisors on reading material. Those guys enjoy the gun references.

Wilson was at Murder and Mayhem in Muskego a few years ago when i was able to attend. Lunch there was in the two large meeting rooms at Muskego PL. Your registration assigned you to a room, you got in line, waited a while, grabbed a sandwich, and picked a big round table to sit at. People would wander around a bit looking for a prime spot to sit. Wilson was at my table that day (as was Ann Voss Peterson who is a pal of his). Wilson mentioned that the only book of his that has always been in print is The Keep. I have no point to this story.

Anyhoo. This is set in the mid-'80s and Jack is way 'off the grid'. He never tells anyone his real name and uses no last name. Jack works as a fixer and has done so since he was a teenager. His reclusiveness does not seem to harm his career but the secrecy and violence of his chosen career drove away his girlfriend Gia and Jack is now seriously pining for her.

Jack gets a call from an Indian diplomat asking Jack to recover a necklace Diplomat says was stolen from his mother (grandmother?) during a mugging. The Diplomat heard of Jack at a U.N. cocktail party and will give Jack $shit-ton if Jack can recover the necklace within 24 hours. Diplomat is an imperious prick but Jack takes the case.

Meanwhile, Jack's ex-Girlfriend and her daughter are staying with an elderly step-aunt whose sister has gone missing. The police think Missing Aunt took walkabout. Everyone else sees mystery. Ex-Girlfriend is incredibly disgusted with Jack after learning of his violent business but calls him to help find Missing Aunt.

Things happen and we get action, romance, sex, violence, and some supernatural activity and real-life monsters. All of which connect back to a rogue British Army Officer who robbed a Indian temple back in the 1850s (or so).

The Ex-Girlfriend and Missing Necklace storylines converge and a couple people are eaten by the monsters. Repairman Jack prevails and has the sexy-sex with Indian Diplomat's sister and Gia.

Wilson tells a good story. I think he killed Repairman Jack off 3-4 years ago.

Comments:
1. Neat to read the 1984 references that were written in the present day for the novel.