The Tomb

Pros: emotionally intense, intricate plot with several interconnected mysteries, good pacing/

Cons:/

Jack fixes things. For a price. He has two new jobs, but neither one is his usual work./

The first job is for an Indian diplomat, Kusum, who needs Jack to find a stolen necklace and repay the mugger who took it for hospitalizing his grandmother./

The second job is equally impossible in New York. Find an old woman who disappeared from her home. Despite having no real detective skills, he agrees to help because the missing woman is the aunt by marriage of his ex-girlfriend, Gia. A girlfriend who didn't like learning what Jack really did for a living. A girlfriend Jack would dearly love to get back together with./

The Tomb is a smoothly written multiple mystery. The two plots converge in a myriad of ways, creating a tight story. Mr. Wilson makes good use of flashbacks to flesh out characters and explain aspects of the plot. The pacing is good, ramping up the tension on one hand and giving downtime and tender moments on the other./

I particularly loved the emotional intensity of the characters, specifically Jack. When he remembers Gia's look of horror upon discovering his cache of weapons you can feel his despair at ever convincing her of his honour. And when she asks him to say away from her daughter... his reaction is visceral and comes across keenly. And when supernatural terrors enter the story, you can feel Jack's terror at having to face these monsters./

It's a fantastic book.

The Repairman Jack character is a cross between Indiana Jones and Robert McCall (from the 1980 television “The Equalizer” with Edward Woodward). I enjoyed the first three quarters of this book. It had good pace, adventure, and plot development that crossed generations going back to the British colonies in India. However, I was very disappointed how the last quarter turned into a bad scary monster story.