Comments from when I first read the book in 1995: This is an awesome book! It grabbed me almost immediately and held on to me throughout the entire novel. There were times when I couldn't put it down no matter how much I knew I had to be up early the next morning. Wilson does a great job of merging characters from his previous novels into this adventure. I immediately recognized characters and events from THE KEEP, THE TOUCH, and a short story titled "A Day In The Life" which I read in the compilation titled STALKERS. All of those stories are part of Wilson's Adversary Cycle. The story is about the end of the world and the group of people who try to save it. The dynamics of the people work extremely well together. Plus the action and suspense keeps your attention riveted. Once again, F. Paul Wilson demonstrates why he is one of my favorite authors.

Additional comments after reading the book again in 2016: Hard to believe that it is 20 years after reading the book for the first time. Hell, it's hard to believe that there have been fifteen Repairman Jack novels and that it all ends here. It's been an awesome and thrilling run for him! In addition to the books I mention above, NIGHTWORLD ends Wilson's Adversary Cycle. I honestly don't remember all the details from my first reading which makes trying to detect what is new and what is not next to impossible. It doesn't matter though. The novel is strong with complex characters and nicely tyes up everything that has come before it. And while binge reading the entire series might be a bit much, I do recommend binging on the last five books. It provides a better experience. ( )

Wilson wraps up an awesome series with a mostly believable ending. I'm a little sad that there will be no RJ books that chronologically come after Nightworld, but I understand. This was a fitting end to a truly epic narrative. I'm going to miss all the characters I've spent the last 5 months with, but I'm looking forward to rereading all 20 books at some point. ( )

Three stars... That means I liked it. Didn't love it, not after investing so much time and emotion into the series. As I said in one of the progress reports, the general problems with Wilson's writing are still here, and probably this final chapter is a condensation of the whole series, the problems are distilled as well. Massively stupid decisions by characters who are supposed to be smart, both heroes and villains continues to be my main problem. Militant atheism is at this point just a distraction (yeah, we get it, there's no G-d, no heaven, but does someone actively need to object every time an expression using those terms is uttered?). Horror parts get repetitive (how many descriptions of someone getting eaten alive do we really need?) Lack of faith in humanity as a whole is quite astounding. Is it Wilson's actual worldview? I know we are in NYC, but what about the rest of the country, the rest of the world? Is NYC the representation of humanity? The best we have to offer?

Now for the GAPING plot hole... At some point a character "figures out a way" to set back forces of darkness, at least slow it down. I put it in quotes because this is KNOWN to our heroes from the outset. Yet they don't use it. They don't let anyone else in the world know. In "real life" this particular stuff would have been happening naturally, HAS in fact happened more often than not during disasters, but again, Wilson's worldview does not seem to allow for it.

Be that as it may, the ending is satisfying enough, although a bit stretched out. I wouldn't call it altogether happy. A few wonderful, touching moments do make the book as a whole worth it, but it could have been so much more. ( )

The final book in Wilson's Secret History of the World, rewritten to include more Repairman Jack.

Worth finishing the series, if you've read it this far. ( )