A good Young Adult version of Repairman Jack! ( )

This book left me mixed on multiple fronts. I'm not exactly sure why because any explanation I provide is thwarted by my own actions.

JACK: SECRET HISTORIES, also called simply SECRET HISTORIES, is about Repairman Jack, the younger years. As in his teen years. Before we ever see him in THE TOMB. The story follows Jack, Weezy, and Eddie as they discover in the New Jersey Pine Barrens a strange stone pyramid box. While they try to unlock the mysteries of the box, they discover in their town a cult, a cult whose members are strangely dying off. As with all Repairman Jack books, there is more happening around the mystery than the obvious. And there is a mystical connection throughout all the events.

The book was entertaining and good; so why am I mixed on it? First off, it is a young adult book. Nothing wrong with that by itself but it does tend to mean that the action and violence is muted. On the other hand, I've already purchased (not yet read) DEFINITELY NOT KANSAS and FAMILY SECRETS, the Nocturnia young adult series that Wilson co-wrote with Thomas Monteleone. However, I have not purchased SECRET CIRCLES and SECRET VENGEANCE, the final two parts of this trilogy. Also, SECRET HISTORIES does have lots of events and Easter eggs tying in to Jack's future, more events and tie-ins than I could pick out. Some of those things I knew I should know "why it was important" but I just couldn't remember. So maybe I was feeling left out a little bit? Part of my mixed feelings might also have been that I was happy with the Repairman Jack series and didn't need more. Did I really need to see his life as a teenager? And yet, I've already purchased COLD CITY, DARK CITY, and FEAR CITY (when Jack first arrives in NYC). I want more but I don't. When it comes right down to it, SECRET HISTORIES is a fun, exciting, quick story that ties very nicely into the Repairman Jack mythos and should be enjoyed by most sane people. If you are a big Repairman Jack fan, read it. But who am I kidding; you've probably done so already. ( )

Excellent prequel to the superlative Repairman Jack/Secret History of the World/Adversary Cycle (yes, there's that much to it!) series. This one is aimed mainly at teens/pre-teens, but don't let that dissuade you; like the Harry Potter books it's still very enjoyable for all ages, just creepy enough to be entertaining but not so much as to be disturbing. Gives background a completist will want before tackling the last two books of the Repairman Jack saga. A bit simplistic compared to the other two Jack titles, but still essential. ( )

Jack and two friends discover a body and an amazing artifact atop what appears to be an odd burial ground in New Jersey's Pine Barrens. The simple though shocking discovery quickly leads to complications and danger. The teen who would become Repairman Jack exhibits some of what he would later become in this suspenseful, fast-growing tale, first of three juvenile suspense tales. ( )

Warning: Spoilers included.
I haven't read any of the adult Repairman Jack novels, so I don't know how this early version of Jack relates to his older character, but Jack Secret Histories was certainly interesting. Jack and his two best friends Weezy and Eddie find a corpse, hidden in a forest on land that is supposed to be private, but also find an unusual object - a box that no one but Jack can open, which encases a pyramid. Both the box and the pyramid have carvings on it, but when the kids attempt to get some more information on the object, all kinds of misfortunes befall them. When the book ends, there are a whole bunch of unanswered questions, but there is a second book coming called Jack: Secret Circles. I really liked how Jack managed to reveal his friend's drinking problem while at the same time exposing the father as a murderer. ( )