Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92088 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

A fitting sequel to THE TOMB
I never thought Wilson could equal THE TOMB, but LEGACIES comes awfully close. In some ways it's even better. The prose is leaner and meaner, and the tone is lighter. Some parts even gave me grins. Jack has lightened up some, but he's still a dude full of contradictions. He can be such a softie with Gia and Vicky, then go out and cold-bloodedly kill somebody, and I believe him both ways.

The plot in LEGACIES is more along the lines of a mystery than THE TOMB, and it kept me guessing all the way. The heroine, Alicia, is a real tough cookie, but you eventually come to know why, and you really feel for her. (As a bonus, I think I found a link to SIBS, one of Wilson's other novels.)

If I have a quibble, I'd say I would have preferred a supernatural element in the story, but that's just a personal thing. All in all, I haven't enjoyed a novel this much in a long time. Highly recommended.

The working man's super-mercenary is back!
My first real exposure to Repairman Jack (apart from Nightworld). Wilson reprises the theme of the lone vigilante for hire extremely well and, as with most of his characters, Jack's character appears to have some credibility (i.e. when he chooses a creative approach to pacifying some car thieves rather than direct violence). The story line is tense and well-paced but, unusually for Wilson, the ending is strangely unsatisfactory. Whether this is more to do with wishful thinking concerning what I thought the outcome of the plot should have been rather than any deficiencies with the story is, perhaps, for others to consider. Suffice it to say that I'm hoping the less than neatly tied ends of the plot indicate a (welcome) sequel. I was also sorry to see the character of Yoshi was not as well developed as was warranted. The level of humour and creativity imbued in the character was almost reminiscent of RJ himself! I also caught the reference to the Gates house, which was featured in Sister Night ("Sibs" in the USA) . Wilson's penchant for dropping characters and places from old novels into current works provides some comforting familiarity between his stories (ref Kaze Glom in "Masque") and is a facet I particularly enjoy. Leaving all this apart, I can highly recommend Legacies on its own merits.

A great book for those already familiar with Repairman Jack
BEWARE! THE KIRKUS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

As Wilson mentions in the book's introduction, Legacies marks the second 'Repairman Jack' novel in roughly 15 years. Those who read and loved Jack in 'The Tomb' will find 'Legacies' no disappointment, although not quite as tightly written as his first novel. While 'The Tomb' relied on the occult as a backdrop, the mysteries in 'Legacies' are somewhat more mundane in nature. Who are the secret organizations after Jack's clients' house? Why do those powers find the house so important? What happened in the house to cause Jack's client to refuse to step foot inside even decades later?

As enjoyable as 'Legacies' was for the R.J. fan, I would imagine that readers new to the character would find him a little too 2-dimensional for comfort. Although Wilson attempts to walk a fine line between repeating character development covered in the first book and keeping the current plot moving forward, I think he tended to short-change rea! ders new to the character. While he makes an admirable effort at recapping points from 'The Tomb', a more subtle-yet-detailed approach may have proved more effective. The element most notably lacking for readers new to Repairman Jack is motive. Although we get a small taste of why RJ is the way he is, it's not enough to help the reader appreciate the character the same way we did in the first book. A stronger explaination of Jack's background and motives could have made a good book even better. In short, although this book is highly enjoyable on its own merits, readers unfamiliar with the Repairman Jack character will get much more from 'Legacies' if they read 'The Tomb' first.