The end is approaching. An Arab man is being tortured psychologically by a man, who has kidnapped his wife and son, to access some clever code he has written to help crash the Internet as a means to kill the Lady and allow the Others to take over Earth. Jack's techie friend Russ begs Jack to help Munir. Meanwhile, Dawn Pickering finally gives birth to horrible spawn, but Mr Osala's plans for the progeny are unknown. Weird installment, with nothing resolved. ( )

This is the end, almost. The penultimate book of the Repairman Jack series. And in this age of binge watching an entire TV season over the weekend, I'm doing a mini-equivalent and pushing through with the end of Repairman Jack and the Adversary Cycle. Straight from GROUND ZERO through FATAL ERROR and ending with NIGHTWORLD. Over the years, I might have missed nuances across the books but since the final books are all out, I'm going to finish them back-to-back. FATAL ERROR goes back to the usual Repairman Jack procedure, but with extras.

Russ, Jack's go-to computer guy, brings Jack in to help Munir who is having problems; it turns out that Munir's wife and son have been kidnapped. After not wanting to help, Jack relinquishes and agrees to doing what he can. It turns out that the Septimus Order and Kickers are behind it since they needed access to Munir's code to help them bring down the Internet. Basically a massive Distributed Denial of Service attack coordinated with physically bringing down a few key Internet Provider stations. A bit of hand waving but nothing that incredulous or unbelievable; we've all seen worse in movies and TV. Anyway, it's all an effort by The One to kill The Lady who is helping Earth in the battle between The Ally and The Other.

If that last sentence made no sense, then you need to go back to the beginning of the Repairman Jack series or the Adversary Cycle. Preferably both. For us regular readers, this book builds the tension and excitement. I can feel the pressure as things are building to a culmination in the new NIGHTWORLD. Next up, I'm actually going to go backwards in time but fill in a gap from this novel. REPRISAL which I originally read in 1996 occurs during the same time frame as FATAL ERROR. I'm going to re-introduce myself to some of the other characters that I'll be seeing before the end. ( )

Oh no!! Only one more Repairman Jack novel to go after this one before Nightworld, and that ends the series.

Fatal Error is another excellent Repairman Jack novel, quickly moving us towards the inevitable conclusion in Nightworld.

As the author says in the forward, as the series progresses the novels tend less to be able to stand on their own - requiring some knowledge of what's gone before.

As a fan - I don't care! It's a great series and this is another great addition!

( )

The Septimus Order and The Kickers have teamed up to unleash a devastating computer virus with the intent of taking down the entire Internet. However, the Order is using the virus as a conduit to facilitate a much bigger goal. A goal, that if met, will open the door for "The Otherness". Repairman Jack learns of this nefarious plot and in an anticlimactic turn of events really does nothing to stop it.

The series is drawing to a close and this book seemed like filler. Granted there were a few plot revelations, but nothing that couldn't have been summed up in a few bonus chapters in another book. Jack, I think it's time you just nut up and deal with "The One". Recommended if you are already this heavily invested in the series. ( )

Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, Jack, go! I felt like the last couple of RJ were unnecessary in terms of moving the plot forward, but we're back on track. Too bad there's only one more RJ book to go before I have to go back and fill in the gaps with The Adversary Cycle. I'm ready to see how this all plays out. ( )