Conspiracies by F. Paul Wilson

Repairman Jack at a conspiracy convention. Given his distrust of the government and his determination to live off the grid of society, one would think that Jack would be at home with the people attending and setting up booths and panels at the convention, but this isn’t the case. In fact, Jack’s paranoia toward the government seems pretty sane when compared with the thoughts and theories presented to him within the convention. Even his good friend and weapons provider Abe, who sees the collapses of society just down the road thanks to a global financial meltdown, probably wouldn’t fit in with the crowd at the convention, mostly because his views are based on reason and an understanding of history, whereas the majority of those at the convention are relying on their faith that the fear mongers and anarchist and scam artists looking to make a buck are all genuine in their thoughts, fears and predictions. Of course in the midst of this there are those who have real information to give, and while some of them may be misguided in their belief of what is unfolding in the world around them, the fact that something horrible is unfolding is very real. What they don’t realize is that the government and other agencies they fear don’t really have a hand in it, and will eventually be victims themselves.

One person who may know the truth behind the vast war being fought, or at least part of it, is Melanie Ehler. Her disappearance before the convention, where she planned on revealing what she has uncovered, a plot she calls the Grand Unification Theory, adds credibility to this possibility. It isn’t the disappearance itself that draws Jack into the search for her. Actually, in the beginning he is pretty adamant about not taking a missing wife case when approached by her husband, Lew, a very successful business man, because such cases are better handled by the police who have the resources for such things. Instead he takes the case because Melanie specifically asked for him to get involved in her disappearance, her statement being, “Only Repairman Jack can find me. Only he will understand.” As if that wasn’t odd enough, the message didn’t come from a phone like Jack originally thought when listening to the husband tell his tale, but from a TV. The Weather Channel to be exact. Having dealt with a bizarre and seemingly supernatural situation earlier, one that left him on the verge of death and badly scarred, Jack doesn’t dismiss the possibility out of hand, though he does briefly wonder if the husband in sane. What he doesn’t realize is that there may be more behind Melanie’s request for him to get involved than meets the eye. There is also the possibility that he is not only involved in her Grand Unification Theory, but a major player. If this is true it might explain the strange dreams he has been having, dreams that could be a warning that his previous and near fatal encounter with the Rakoshi was just the beginning of a greater entanglement with the forces of darkness.

Of all the Repairman Jack books I have read by F. Paul Wilson Conspiracies still stands out as one of my favorites. Everything about it worked really well. I loved the main story of Jack trying to solve the mystery of the missing wife, and the conspiracy convention setting it took place in. I also loved how the story connected with the two previous Repairman Jack books, the strongest connection being with The Tomb given the Rakoshi and the truth behind their existence. This was also the book that really revealed the larger story unfolding in the Repairman Jack world, one which tells the tale of an ancient war being fought between two sides, a war that Jack, and all those around him, will be sucked into as the stories in the Repairman Jack saga continue. In a way this was also the first novel that connected the Repairman Jack novels to the Adversary Cycle novels, though if one looks at the larger picture they could stay The Tomb did this given the eventual connection of all the stories (or even the new young adult Repairmen Jack books). In this novel, however, it stands outs and becomes undeniable, and in the timeline of publishing was the first to reveal it. In the end, of course, what I loved most about Conspiracies was getting to see Jack in action once again. As I’ve said many times before, Repairman Jack is one of the coolest characters to ever appear in fiction, and because of this I eagerly await each novel and story chronicling his adventures. Sometimes, when bored, I even reread them just for the hell of it. They are that good.