Really entertaining thriller, reminiscent of the Reacher books. I was surprised (and a little disappointed) that this didn't have any of the supernatural elements of the first book, but it was still a lot of fun. ( )

Dr. Alicia Clayton hires Jack to find the thief who stole the Christmas gifts for her AIDS clinic in Greenwich Village, but then decides she needs his help to figure out why her estranged brother is forcing her to sell her inheritance to a particular buyer (even though she wants nothing to do with the townhouse, which holds horrific memories.) Several competing forces are vying for something in the townhouse. Jack solves the mystery and saves the day/girl, while getting involved on several levels. ( )

If you were expecting something more in the horror line, you might be a little disappointed. This is definitely a more conventional mystery-thriller. ( )

I'm dipping my toes back in this series.

The first was okay. I mean, it had great elements of libertarianism, staying off the grid, being a vigilante, and also having all the rough and tumble elements of a detective novel with some outright horror, so by all rights I should have fallen head over heels for it.

A little while later, I found that it was slightly too tame for my tastes. Traditional stuff mixed together didn't quite come off as a genre mash, just an interesting pastiche. Fine. Let's pick up the second.

I didn't love this. But I didn't hate it, either. The villains were super prejudiced and/or traditionally nasty. You would know what I mean after reading it but no spoilers here. How it all ties back into the MCs is properly horrific and Repairman Jack does what he does best. Investigate, kick the crap out of people, and do a lot of illegal things for good reasons. Breaking in, threatening, dressing up as Santa Claus to kick the crap out of a guy who stole toys reserved for AIDS babies.

You know, the standard stuff.

So what's my problem with this one?

It's kinda... boring. Too many detective novels and mysteries. Nothing really stands out except the FACT of all these interesting elements being meshed together. The rest of the time, I'm like... well Spencer at least talks about books... :)

This one just talks about the gold standard and how bitchy his ex is being. Funny, interesting on the surface, maybe, but it doesn't delve deep enough for me.

Still, I'm a bit curious to see how he stays off the grid in the future books with the world changing around us so much. Am I curious enough? Maybe. ( )

Pretty good second book of the series. Although I confess to being unhappy with some aspects of how the author presented the main female protag. It gets better later on, but I was almost ready to stop reading at one point.

I've read other books by Wilson and never before felt that way about his writing. Hopefully, this will be the last time I have that issue with Wilson. ( )