All the Rage

All the Rage (2000) F. Paul Wilson

The third Repairman Jack novel, Conspiracies, has not been reprinted, and the used prices were a little steep, so I skipped Conspiracies and went straight to the fourth book, All the Rage.

As with the previous two Repairman Jack books I read, I very much enjoyed All the Rage. Jack is asked to look into a pharmaceutical researcher who is being leaned on by one of the towns mobsters. As another client has already asked Jack to take a case involving the mobster, he starts to investigate both the mobster and the pharmaceutical company, and soon discovers monsters from his past may be involved.

Meanwhile, there’s a new drug on the streets–a drug that frequently drives users to an uncontrollable rage, and Jack continues to stumble across the drug and those who both wittingly and unwittingly take the substance.

One of the things I particularly like about this series is that the stories build upon each other. For example, Jack had made a habit of meeting his clients at a local bar. However, he learns that such habits can be tracked and soon learns that even those habits have to be changed. It was little more than a throw-away paragraph in the book, but it meant that the author was thinking, and I really like that in a series.

The other thing I like is how Jack is willing to accept morally gray areas. He will not kill people for money, however, if bad people happen to die in foreseeable situations, Jack is not going to lose any sleep over the matter.

There is far less of Gia in this book than in the previous two books I have read, which considering how I felt about her in the previous book I read, is a good thing. Since I didn’t find her annoying, I was better able to appreciate Jack’s feeling towards her and Vicki.

There is a good deal of technology in All the Rage in the creation of designer drugs, however, it is in essence a supernatural story. I’m curious as to whether the series will continue to swing back and forth between technology and fantasy. I’ll have to keep reading to see.

Although you could read this book without having read the first book, Tomb, I think that it works better if you have read the first book, because then you fully understand Jack’s revulsion. But mostly, if you like supernatural fantasy this is a series you don’t want to miss, and I’m glad that the books are being reprinted.
Rating: 8/10

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