Panacea by F. Paul Wilson

3.5 Stars

The ICE Sequence - Book 1

F. Paul Wilson is a favourite author of a bunch of my friends and one of them recommended Panacea to me, knowing I enjoy a good thriller.  And I did enjoy this one.  :)

It's a typical thriller in that there's a lot of action, a bunch of twisty turny investigations, bad guys with big guns and lots of power, good guys with a bit of mystery in their pasts, and a possible world-wide disaster to be avoided.  There's also a cute kid and some ancient mythology. 

The book reads lickety split, thanks to some great pacing by the author and chapters that don't run into the 30+ page realm.  I'm a firm believe that short chapters help give a book an aspect of  "can't put it down" or "just one more chapter before I sleep" type of thing.  The characters aren't really complex, but they are believable in a thriller sort of way.  And they're likable - well the good guys anyway - and that, for me, is important.  I especially liked Rick Hayden and his sense of humour.  I also liked him together with Laura Fanning.  There's going to be some romance, somewhere along the line, but there's little of it here, just the pair getting to know each other and starting to trust each other as they search.

I like the idea of ancient history and ancient mysteries being explored and the whole secret societies thing.  I find it all quite fascinating. 

Wilson, I think, is more known for his horror books - Repairman Jack and the like - but there's not much horror in this book.  One scene though.... near the end... well, I guess it was more gross than horror, but EWWWWW!  *LOL*

I think if you enjoy books like the Sigma Force books by James Rollins, you'll enjoy this.  I know I'll be looking to add Book 2 to my library.  :)

Sims by F. Paul Wilson

4 STARS

Sims was recommended to me by my friend Mike when I expressed an interest in Wilson's latest novel, Panacea, and was going to have to wait because I won't pay $14 for an ebook.

I really enjoyed it! It was a real page turner, I have to say. Part of that was helped by the way that Wilson wrote the book, using mostly small chapters which gives the book a brisk pacing perfect for a thriller.

There were some nice twists and turns in the book, some that I saw coming and some that I didn't. But I think it's okay to see some because then you don't feel like a moron while you're reading. *LOL* I loved the character of Patrick, the lawyer, and I loved the sim Tome. The bad guys were suitably bad and the good guys were suitably good, as should be. I did find myself wondering a bit at the epilogue about what Patrick was actually doing - everyone else important was accounted for and I had to take off a half a star for that.

I wonder why they never made a movie out of this book, it would seem to me to be a perfect property.

So, yup, I really enjoyed my read. :)

The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson

3 STARS

Repairman Jack - Book 1

So a bunch of my buddies recommended the Repairman Jack novels to me and I finally decided to take the plunge. This was so not what I was expecting. *LOL* And that's not a bad thing, really! :)

So Repairman Jack is the guy that fixes things for a price. He lives off the radar, far off the radar and only his best friend Abe knows what he's really about. He's broken up with his girlfriend, Gia.. or should I say, she broke up with him when he confessed some of what he does to her. He misses Gia and her little girl Vicky very, very much. Vicky, by the way, is a Westphalen through her father, and either her grandfather or great-grandfather did something that set in motion a sequence of vengeance-filled events that are meant to culminate in her murder. And thereby hangs the tale

You know what this felt like? And Indiana Jones type adventure. :) There are monsters and rituals and myths and talismans and non-western gods... all the things that are necessary for a good pulpy horror-adventure. There are fires, explosions, guns, daggers, poisons and all kinds of things including eyes that glow in the dark.

Once I got past the first couple of chapters, I began to get more invested in the character of Jack and the book began to move along quite nicely. Was it 'scary'? Nope. Suspenseful? Some, yeah. Mystery? There is some, but to be honest, there were no surprises for me, I had sussed it all out from the beginning, but then again, maybe I'm supposed to. :) There were some flashes of humour that I quite enjoyed, especially concerning Jack's friend, Abe. Very, very quirky and I like him.

The ending? Well, it was a bit teeth-gnashing because I know there are more stories of Repairman Jack to come and it sort of leaves you suspended. But if I didn't know there were others? I'd be impressed by the almost ambiguous finality of it.

My friend, Ginette, wanted me to fall in love with Jack. I'm not there yet, but I did come to like him a helluva lot, especially in the final chapters. Will I read more? I most certainly will. It was a fun, Saturday afternoon matinee type of read and those are always enjoyable. :)