F. Paul Wilson has written in various areas, including SF and horror, straight and medical thrillers, fantasy, and you name it. But he's probably best-loved for Repairman Jack.

Once in a while someone comes up with a great concept, turns it into a series, and makes us happy forevermore. That is what F. Paul Wilson did when he wrote THE TOMB. In Jack, he created a character who's part noir-style detective, part Zorro, part Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder (without the bleakness) and part Block's resourceful Evan Tanner. Perhaps Wilson didn't think of Jack that way, but these comparisons might give you some idea of what Jack's like, if you've never read one of the Repairman books. And if you haven't, shame on you!

In THE TOMB we met Jack (not his real name), a loner who's an independent contractor, operating so far outside the System that he doesn't even appear on tax rolls. Specialty: fixing people's problems, off the books, for cash payments. Strange situations require strange fixes, and Jack is always willing to help an underdog beat a Goliath. THE TOMB is still one of the best blends of crime and horror ever done.

Jack, a down to earth kind of guy, faces a nightmarish, indestructible demon creature out of Hindu mythology - a whole shipload of them, in fact. The "rakoshi" have been bred and imported to settle an old blood feud, and Jack finds himself squarely in the middle as people he has come to love are either on the list or in the way. It's not giving much away to reveal that Jack survives, but once touched by the rakoshi and what they represent, he can never turn back the clock.

The next Repairman Jack novels were LEGACIES and CONSPIRACIES, both solid chapters in the life of a "freelance vigilante" who's in love with someone not thrilled with his day job. The less than approving, lovely Gia and her daughter become Jack's surrogate family, but he continues to be drawn to the mysterious and bizarre. LEGACIES finds him investigating strange occurrences in a suburban house, among other things, and CONSPIRACIES takes place partly at a convention of conspiracy nuts who are being manipulated for reasons not even they could imagine.

In ALL THE RAGE, the fourth Repairman novel, Jack is hired by a recently graduated researcher who wants him to find out why a notorious Balkan drug dealing thug seems to be blackmailing her boss, a brilliant scientist she admires and whose pharmaceutical company stands on the brink of huge discoveries. Unfortunately those discoveries rest on a molecule which does not conform to our everyday rules of physics, and involve a new and horribly dangerous street drug named Berserk. Led to a traveling freak show, where he comes face to face with the worst nightmare from his past, Jack has to do the Rambo bit - and when he's done ... well, you know it's not over.

Each novel is a masterful blend of genres, including a healthy dose of humor. The criticisms that Jack's not growing much as a character, or that he's too reactive, ignore the fact that a series character is only allowed changes within tight parameters. If Jack were to stop taking bizarre cases, he'd become one of us and lose his appeal. As long as Jack's an outsider fighting for justice in his own way, and standing up for little guys who've been wronged, he approaches the level of great American folk hero. Which one would you rather read about? Exactly. I'll be over here, waiting for the next Repairman novel.