Deep As The Marrow is, in many ways, the perfect F. Paul Wilson book. One part medical thriller; two parts Libertarian tract; and four parts adrenaline packed, page turning action awaits the reader in this pulse-pounding kidnap-gone-wrong adventure. Like many of Wilson’s works the plot starts out in a straightforward enough manner: the President of the United States makes a speech announcing that he is ending the drug war by decriminalizing drugs. The speech triggers a complex child abduction plan by the cocaine lords of the Colombian Cali Cartel. They use a local kidnapper to abduct the daughter of the President’s doctor in order to force him to poison the President, thus ending decriminalization keeping drugs illegal and the multi-billion dollar profits flowing.

Of course, in true Wilson style, things get even more complex about half way through the tale when the kidnapping falls apart and the action really heats up! I have zero doubt that my personal struggles over only being allowed to be a part-time father to my little girl (whose mother is constantly threatening to take her even farther away from me) compounded the emotional impact of the tale, but that doesn’t mean the writing should be discounted in any way. I finished the book today when I’d only planned on reading 20-30 pages during dinner. Instead I literally couldn’t put it down until I’d raced through the last 170 or pages.

I can’t recommend Deep As The Marrow highly enough. Regardless of your political leanings or your opinion of F. Paul Wilson’s other works if you’ve ever enjoyed a thriller than this is a must-read. The characterization is strong, the plot is convoluted but easily followed, and the pacing is absolutely superb. The Associated Press said “Once in a while, a thriller comes along that is truly inspired in conception and perfect in execution. Just such a book is Deep As The Marrow by F.Paul Wilson.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The fact that the book completely lacks any hint of the ‘Other’ness found in the Repairman Jack tales actually makes the story that much stronger. This is a tale that could easily play out in America today. Abduction for ransom is on the rise here and even the smallest thing going wrong means the fairly straightforward business ‘deal’ can quickly spin out of control.

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Steve Niles (30 Days Of Night) has adapted “Part of the Game” for the first issue of the new Dark Delicacies comic strip that should be appearing on comic store shelves in January 2009. Although this isn’t actually ‘new’ news (ShockTilYouDrop.com ran an article in August) we just came across the cover which I rather like.

As much as I’m not a comic book fan I do look forward to this meeting of the minds. Perhaps Dark Delicacies will have some advance copies at the December signing…

Ground Zero will be the 13th Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson and will be published next fall. But that didn’t stop fpw from sharing the first page of the story on his message board. I thought I’d bring it here for y’all to peruse as well. be sure to wipe the drool from your keyboard when you’re done

Surreal, he thought as he watched the twin towers burn.

His rented boat rocked gently on the waters of New York harbor, a thousand feet off the Battery. The morning sun blazed in a flawless cerulean sky. But for the susurrus of the light breeze and the soft lapping of the waves against the hull, the world lay silent about him.

A beautiful, beautiful day . . .

. . . unless you were anywhere near those towers.

He tried to imagine the Pandemonium in the streets around them—the klaxons, the sirens, the shouts, the confusion, the terror. Not a hint of that here. The towers belched black smoke like a couple of chimneys, but all in silence.

He checked his watch: nearly ten o’clock. The plan was to allow an hour or so of chaos after the Arabs completed their mission. By then, though fear and terror would still be running high, the initial panic would have subsided. The situation would be considered horrific and tragic, but manageable. The second jet had hit at 9:03, so the hour mark was almost upon him. Time to initiate the second phase—the real reason for all this.

From a pocket of his windbreaker he pulled a pair of gray plastic boxes, each the size of a cigarette pack—one marked with an S for the south tower, the other with an N for the north. He put the N away for later. After all, the south tower was the important one, the reason for this enormous undertaking.

He extended an aerial from the S box, then slid up a little safety cover on its front panel, revealing a black button. He took a breath and pressed the button, then watched and waited.

The vast majority would blame the collapse on the crazy Arabs who hijacked the planes and the Islamic extremists who funded them—the obvious choice. A few would notice inconsistencies and point fingers elsewhere, blaming the government or Big Oil or some other powerful but faceless entity.

No one—absolutely no one—could guess the truth behind the who and the why of this day.

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The November 2008 issue of Nossa Morte was dedicated entirely to celebrating 30 years of Stephen King’s The Stand. The issue’s centerpiece is an article by Lorne Dixon titled “What A Long, Strange Captain Trips: The Stand Turns Thirty“.  “Article” may be too strong a word for this piece as it’s merely a few fluffy paragraphs followed by 18 “blurbs” by other famous authors including Nancy Kilpatrick, Lee Thomas, Rick Hautala, and, of course, F. Paul Wilson-

“I’d become a King fan with Salem’s Lot, and so I snatched up The Stand as soon as it appeared. But here was a different Stephen King—he’d widened his lens and was shooting in Cinemascope now. I was captured by the sweep of the story, but stopped cold when he first described Randall Flagg, the dark man, the distillation of human evil, walking south on US 51. Usually if I’m taken out of a story it’s because of bad writing; but this was so good I had to stop and reread it. I’ve never forgotten that chapter.”

– F. Paul Wilson, author of The Keep

I couldn’t have said it better myself…

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The novelette “Faces” was first published in Dark Harvest’s Night Visions VI in 1988 and is one of F. Paul Wilson’s most republished stories having appeared in no fewer than 11 publications. It was also optioned for film in July 1992. Most recently, an audio adaptation was created by StarShip Sofa for their Aural Delights audio magazine and was released in October 2008.

As of this writing I have yet to read “Faces“, so I can’t compare the audio adaptation to the story itself.  But having listened to the (roughly) hour long tale I don’t imagine it’s trimmed much.  What really gives me that impression is the fact that this is far more a reading than a performance of the story.

It opens with a murderer just finishing up their latest grisly attack, including gnawing off the face of their victim.  This voice is wonderfully done but, unfortunately the production quickly declines.  Having a single male voice throughout, with little difference in inflection for different characters and abysmal attempts at female voices, truly hurts this production.  Other than “The Carly”, all of the other voices (the majority of the tale) are rather lifeless.

In addition to Paul Caggie’s rendition of “Faces“, this edition of Aural Delights includes a rather dull reading of the poem “King’s Men” by Samantha Henderson which seems overly obsessed with a single white breast; the humorous Flash Fiction piece “Captain Ordinary” by Terry Bisson about some rather intriguing superheroes facing a dilemmna; an extensive review of T.M. Camp’s audio novel Assam and Darjeeling; as well as audio blurbs about new titles and even som ’science fact’.

If you’re in (or near) Ft. Lauderdale, FL you’ll have a chance to not only meet, but also learn from F. Paul Wilson tomorrow thanks to the Florida Romance Writers.  He’ll be hosting a writer’s workshop covering such topics as defining characters more clearly, mixing and hopping between genres and blending the heroic and vilainous within your characters.

If the workshop alone isn’t enough of a draw he’ll also be hosting a breakfast buffet in the morning and do a reading in the afternoon.  He’ll even be giving away copies of Gateways the 7th Repairman Jack novel and Wilson’s only book set in Florida.

Registration is still open and tickets are $50.00 plus a $5.00 per car parking fee at the hotel.  Speaking of the hotel, this event will be held at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Hotel, 1825 Griffin Rd., Dania, FL 33004.  Tickets can be purchased online at the Florida Romance Writers website.

I first learned of F. Paul Wilson and Repairman Jack on April 12, 2007.  That’s the day he was interviewed for about a half an hour on my favorite talk radio show: Free Talk Live.  After hearing how he weaves together Libertariarn principles with Jack’s adventures I new I had to give it a try, so I tracked down a copy of the first Repairman Jack book: The Tomb.

I didn’t really know anything about it, but Wilson’s writing quickly drew me in and Jack’s philosophy and chosen lifestyle seemed nearly idyllic to me.  When the Rakosh appeared in the middle of the book I was shocked.  I had no idea it was going to turn into a supernatural thriller.  But I was thrilled to discover it.  In fact I was hooked.

It didn’t take long to track down more of the Repairman Jack novels and then other F. Paul Wilson works.  I’ve read roughly two-thirds of his novels at this point and numerous short fiction pieces as well.  My goal is to read all of it.

I’ve actually moved away from the Repairman Jack books for the moment and intend to read all of the works that make up “The Secret History of The World”, in order, starting from the short story “Demonsong”.  But I don’t want to start that reading (and re-reading) until I know the final books will be released when I reach them.  Luckily that still leaves me with quite a bit to read.  F. Paul Wilson has been nothing if not prolific.

And that’s what this site will be all about.  I will share the latest in F. Paul Wilson news, provide essays and colloctor information and review each and every piece that F. Paul Wilson has written.  Welcome to my latest obsession.

The F. Paul Wilson Project is brand spanking new (as in hours old), so please give me a little time to get things set up

Thanks for your patience!