Cold City

Repairman Jack: Early Years Trilogy, Book 1

By: F. Paul Wilson

Narrated by: Alexander Cendese

Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

If you've never read a Repairman Jack novel, this is the place to begin.

It's 1990. A twenty-one-year-old named Jack has dropped out of college, leaving his old life behind to build a new one in New York City. Manhattan's rough edges are jagged enough to shred any unwary newcomer, but perhaps not one who is determined to stay off the grid, at any cost, in the busiest metropolis on earth. And to do so, he'll have to take jobs of a less than legal nature.

An interstate smuggling operation seems to fit the bill perfectly. But Jack's initial foray into the trafficking of illicit goods carries greater risk than he bargained for, putting him afoul of a preteen slavery ring, a group of jihadists, and a pair of vigilante brothers. As if those problems weren't enough, Jack is hunted by some machete-wielding maniacs, and his bartender Julio is harassed by the mob. How these things are linked, and what they have to do with the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane in Manhattan's East Side Marriott, is a mystery Jack cannot let go of.

Cold City is the first of three new novels revealing the early years of one of the most popular characters in contemporary fiction: a self-styled "fix-it" man who is no stranger to the macabre or the bizarre, hired by victimized people who have nowhere else to turn. This is where he begins the metamorphosis from a naïve New Jersey refugee into the urban mercenary known as Repairman Jack.

©2012 F. Paul Wilson (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Very disappointed

I wanted to like this book but when it ended I was just irritated. Who knows how many separate story lines where started and I don't think any resolved. It is like the book was abandoned. I guess it picks up in the next book but I am not interested. I am pretty tolerant of content but I just found this book offensive at times. Narrator was great.

Good Story. Awful performer.

I loved the book. Nice to meet Jack as a young man. The performer though, that's another story. He tries to sound rough and tough but sounds rediculous. His accents are a joke and when he tries to do females I want to stop listening. I hope later books have a better performer.

Nicely done

It rambled a bit, but overall a really great story! I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series.

gets better and better

only sad thing is it left ending open for a sequel so book seemed unfinished.

Good fun, but lots of loose ends.

Any additional comments?

Sorry if this is too much of a spoiler. The book was good fun, but i was sort of expecting more of a conclusion rather than just an intro to an on-going series. Lots of story lines are in play but not all close.

Book ended before the story did

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

What ending??? None of the issues were resolved. It was like everything climaxed then relaxed & then the author forgot to finish the story!

Any additional comments?

About 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through the book I thought I may have found a new series to follow. Then the book ended without solving anything & now I don't plan on reading any more Repairman Jack novels.

Very entertaining

I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Rachel

Half a book for the price of one.

This is a review of “Cold City” and “Dark City”, books 1 and 2 in this series.

Did this author intend to frustrate and anger his readers, or was that just the byproduct of creating a two-book series that requires you to buy the second one in order to finish the story?

This book has NO ENDING! It leaves you hanging on every open issue/sub-plot. In order to get your questions answered you absolutely MUST buy the next book in this series, “Dark City”.

Having said that, the two books together make a pretty good story, with the second book leaving only one or two issues hanging at the end, thereby forcing you to buy the third book. I’m not willing to do that, because I’m not willing to support an author who deliberately misleads his customers. Had this series been advertised and sold as a trilogy I would have expected what I got, but it wasn’t.

The generally well-thought-out actions of our hero, Jack, are interesting and make sense later as the story develops. The second book had only a single episode of a miracle happening to get Jack out of a really bad situation and I’m willing to overlook that one, even if it really requires suspending disbelief to the extreme.

I liked the story (the first TWO books) but I didn’t sign up for a continuing story when I bought the first book (this one) and resented having to buy the second in order to finish it. Having to use two credits to get a single book stinks. Wilson should be ashamed of himself, but he’s probably crying all the way to the bank.

The only thing that raised the overall score to two-stars was the outstanding narration by Alexander Cendese. It was about the best I’ve ever heard. He had a different voice for every single character.

– Loren

Awful

Terrible story. Immature writing. At first I thought it was the guy reading that made me dislike this book and all of its characters from the very beginning. Unfortunately it turned out to be both the reader and the story. Wish I could get those hours of my life back.

My favorite part: "I'm going to go check up on him". "Why do I get the feeling your version of check up is different than a doctor's?"

...seriously?

Technical problem with the audiobook

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The glitches in the recording made it impossible to listen to. Toward the end of the book, it repeated a very long section on its own--i did not touch the player. It seemed like the repeated material replaced some important parts of the story, so when it rejoined the narrative I was totally lost. I love F Paul Wilson and Repairman Jack, but the problems with this audio book ruined it for me.

What about Alexander Cendese’s performance did you like?

He is a great narriator

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger at the glitches in the recording

Any additional comments?

I've never had this problem before, so I'm assuming its with the book and not the player. Anyway, I'm going to need to get a print copy of this book in order to actually understand the story.