Reborn by F. Paul Wilson

I have to admit, the first time I ever laid eyes on Reborn by F Paul Wilson I grew confused and had to jump onto the Internet to figure a few things out. The reason for this confusion was simple, the inner pages of his more recent novels stated the title order of the Adversary Cycle series as being The Keep, The Tomb, The Touch, Reborn, Reprisal, and Nightworld, yet the cover of the old battered Jove Horror edition of Reborn that I had just received stated it was the ‘long-awaited sequel’ to The Keep. Having read all the novels that were available within the Repairman Jack series I knew that The Tomb had been listed within the Adversary Cycle because the two series eventually became intertwined, but that it wasn’t necessary a sequel to The Keep. The question was, did The Touch (which I had ordered with Reborn) fall into the same category as The Tomb -- tied to the Adversary Cycle but not necessarily a sequel -- or was it truly the next step in the unfolding saga that began with The Keep and therefore needed to be read before Reborn? In the end the Internet wasn’t much help in figuring this out (today it would be, but back then it wasn’t) and I decided to play it safe and go with the order that the inner covers of the more recent novels stated. Like The Tomb, The Touch was an excellent read, one that I completed in two days, but ultimately it didn’t further the tale that had been introduced within The Keep, thus confirming the sequel statement on the cover of Reborn. Confused? I was too, but it really is quite simple. Though listed as the forth book in the Adversary Cycle Reborn is actually the second book in terms of telling the story of the two forces introduced in The Keep, followed by Reprisal, and thus, can be enjoyed and understood without having read The Tomb or The Touch (though reading those as well is highly recommended).

Jim Stevens, a struggling horror writer in the late sixties, has always wanted to know where he came from, but continuously hits a brick wall every time he tries to find out who his biological birth parents were. The problem stems from the fact that he was left at an orphanage shortly after his birth in 1942 without any identification, thereby making it almost impossible to retrace the steps that led to that particular moment. Then, out of the blue, Jim receives word that he has been named the heir to the estate of a Nobel Prize winning genetic researcher who died in a plane crash. Nothing is said about him being the son of this wealthy man, but Jim suspects this to be the case and once again begins his search, this time with the aid of a name. Unfortunately this doesn’t uncover any solid evidence either, but that doesn’t stop him, and with the help of a reporter colleague, Jim eventually uncovers a safe in the mansion he has inherited, one which holds the keys to his past. The question is, should Jim really be digging into his past, or would it better if he just left everything alone, especially considering the extent his biological father went in covering up his origins? Even worse, what if the information isn’t just troubling to him, but to others as well?

While all this is going on another tale begins to unfold, one that sees several religious people coming together into a group that calls itself The Chosen. Each one of these members, most of whom are strangers to each other until merging into this group, feels as if a power has guided them toward this moment, a power that occasionally has them speaking in tongues. They also have an intense feeling that an evil presence is about to emerge upon the world, one that is being guided by Satan’s hand. Is Satan really behind this, or is something else at work here that they can’t even begin to comprehend? Gaston Veilleur, who once battled this evil, knows it is the latter, and that any religious significance the group attaches to it is simply due to their minds attempting to reason everything out into something they understand. Whatever they decide to call it doesn’t really matter in the end. What does, and what concerns him the most, is how it will be dealt with. His time of fighting is over. Someone else needs to be chosen. Who will it be? Even more important will they be strong enough to defeat this evil once and for all, or will it gain the power it needs to fulfill its own destiny, one that doesn’t spell out good things for mankind?

The first time I ever read this novel I didn’t really enjoy it the way I had F. Paul Wilson’s other works, and would have been able to identify with many of the negative reviews. Having read the book a second time, however, my opinion has completely changed, and now I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Reprisal so I can see what happens next. I’m not sure why this book read so much better the second time around, but have a feeling it has something to do with my having gotten further along within the Repairman Jack saga. In earlier works the connections between the Repairman Jack novels and the Adversary Cycle novels were noted, but not fully explored, so when reading Reborn the first time I had been hoping to learn more than I did, which led me to feel a bit let down. In the more recently published Repairman Jack novels many of these connections have been fleshed out, so when I went back and read Reborn again I seemed to have a better understanding of where things were headed even though they weren’t full explained within, which made it more enjoyable. It has also made me anxious to see what happens in Reprisal which continues the story where Reborn left off. This is where I run into a dilemma though. F Paul Wilson is re-releasing the novel Reprisal in a ‘slightly revised’ edition this December (2011). Do I wait for it, or do I grab a used copy now? Actually the question on whether or not I get a used copy isn’t the issue since I want one for myself; instead it is whether or not I read the used copy first or wait. I honestly can’t decide. I do, however, know that if I buy the used copy now I will break down and read it before the new one comes out, so I don’t dare make up my mind until I know for sure what I want to do.

Note on the Cover Picture: In reading the biographical sections of F. Paul Wilson’s short story collections The Barrens and Others and Aftershock and Others, I have learned that he despises the cover art that Jove Horror put on Reborn and later Reprisal. What do you all think? A part of me kind of likes it because it reminds me of the artwork I used to see on the covers of the horror novels my Mother and Grandmother were always reading.

For further viewings of amazing pieces of horror fiction cover art check out the Too Much Horror Fiction blog. It is a great site that I check daily, often followed by a trip to Amazon to purchase books I never heard about before.