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.

slightly racist

the listeners who liked this also liked: NRA, Fox news.

works with lots of stereo types

Ubrupt End - Disappointing

I liked this book until I got to the end. There is no ending to the story - the book just stops. Extremely disappointing.

Absolutely NO plot resolution

Just not worth extra credits to get what should have been one complete novel. Good action sequences, but geez author ought to read Adrian Mckinty's trilogy to see how it's done or better yet listen. Gerald Doyle's narration adds a dimension.

Left in the lurch

I persevered through this twisted tale, optimistic for some tying up of loose ends at the conclusion but instead was met with NO resolution or indication of the outcomes of the various story lines. It was like "story Interruptus ", as though at a random point the author just decided he was tired of telling these stories and stopped, not giving a hoot about those of us who'd bought in with time and interest. Shame on him. If there's a sequel or a follow up it should be indicated. I'll give a cursory search for one but am peeved to have been left I. The lurch by this author. Darn it. Wished I'd never started

Where's The Beef - a Series to Take Your Money

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Just finished Cold City and was wondering what the point was. I spent the last few days listening to Jack/Lonnie wondering through a new career of cigarette and child smuggling wondering where it was going. As I sat down to write this review, Audible indicates it is part of a series. This series is a cheap attempt by Mr. Wilson to milk you of your money rather than writing a complete, or even semi-complete, novel.

What about Alexander Cendese’s performance did you like?

Believable accents and good affectations brought the characters to life. Particularly knew Abe's background before it was brought forth.

Any additional comments?

While listening to Cold City, I had a hard time keeping track of the non-western characters. A number of characters to keep track of but with names that I couldn't make sense of. The non-western characters would have been easier to keep track while reading but were difficult to make sense of while listening.

Would only recommend this book if you needed to keep yourself entertained driving cross-country. It is a light read, somewhat compelling, and would keep your brain somewhat entertained, but not nourished, during long drives or when exercising.

Actually that may be the key: listen to this series while exercising when you do not have to pay that much attention to the plot and don't have the energy to learn something.

"Cold City: A Repairman Jack Novel" does not stand on its own. It remains to be seen if it is part of an acceptable pay-as-you-listen serial.

1st of a series

This story ends without warning with all the half dozen threads just left hanging. Don’t think I want to waste time on the sequel, it might not be the end either.

DOA

I recently listened to Cold City written by F. Paul Wilson and narrated by Alexander Cendese. 

Cold City is supposedly a precursor novel to a series with a dashing character known as, 'Repairman Jack.' I am unfamiliar with the series as a whole, thus my knowledge of these novels is confined to this book. There is no way to review a book that's this bad, without getting into some spoilers. If this is an issue, I suggest you stop reading. 

Jack seems to be a mostly amoral male 'Mary Sue,' sort of character. He has a tragic backstory tinged with nightmarish violence, mainly on his part. He seems to be unable to control his anger and, oddly, is an expert at physical violence, despite a lack of training. 

While he does have a few scruples, they aren't many and even as the book progresses you see them quickly eroding away. He is, apparently, an expert at everything from lockpicking to car theft. He assaults or kills others with only minimal hesitation and with the barest of justifications.

The tale itself is clearly designed to be an adventure tale where you watch him stumble through his action packed world. He maims coworkers, buys illegal weapons, and joins a smuggling operation, all in the opening chapters. It's also made clear, in the same opening chapters, that he will be facing off with the mob, Muslim terrorists, and a shadowy organization, known as the "Order," who only desires to sow chaos throughout the world. 

He does all of this with aplomb and the depth of character of a piece of single ply cardboard. Oddly enough most of the secondary characters are far better developed and fleshed out than he is. I found myself actually enjoying them, despite the relatively consistent use of a wide variety of racist terms that are thrown about with the narrow aim of an unspayed cat that's not been housetrained.

The narrator, Alexander Cendese, actually does a fairly good job with his material. I think he subconsciously recognized how interesting the secondary characters were and he made each of them live.

Conclusion: The main character is simply unbelievable. I think he is intended to be a hero of sorts. He comes across as a slightly psychotic madman with more luck than an Irish leprechaun. 

There is no serious plot and, with one exception, the best possible moments for tension or story are destroyed by the author revealing the bad guy's plans, and their flaws, long before they could build real tension. 

I can't really recommend this book to anyone. I suggest you sidestep the bleeding body of this dead plotline. Like Jack, you'll find it easy to forget and be happier for it.

Very disappointed

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I was hoping to pick up a new series but this book went no where.

Waste of my time.

Boring, rambling story and flat narration full of ethnic cliches. I was determined to hang till the end, wondering how the author would tie up the mess of story lines.

He didn't. Everything was left for the next book. Unbelievable.

I felt like I missed something

In my version chapter 25 repeated itself twice and then the last halter seemed to end abruptly like this is and series maybe