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topdragon's review against another edition
5.0
The fifth and penultimate book in F. Paul Wilson’s Adversary Cycle lived up to every expectation I had for it. It is an excellent horror story in its own right but is also critical to this overall series as well as providing further insight to the Repairman Jack series, both of which meet and culminate in the final novel, [b:Nightworld|219412|Nightworld (Adversary Cycle, #6)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388271206s/219412.jpg|212439].
The plot of this novel follows closely after the events of [b:Reborn|289066|Reborn (Adversary Cycle, #4)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1237150103s/289066.jpg|280447] in which the great evil that was thought to have been eradicated in book one, [b:The Keep|62571|The Keep (Adversary Cycle, #1)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386925088s/62571.jpg|3354329], was reborn into our world. Many of the characters return here as well and the two novels, 'Reborn' and 'Reprisal', can really be considered companion volumes. Those two events (the supposed death and the rebirth) have driven or impacted every other major event in both series. I love it when a lengthy series has so many connections, seemingly unrelated and then when I read successive novels, multiple light bulbs go off in my head as I recognize more and more how everything relates.
This novel has some serious horror aspects to it. The author even admitted in the brief forward to this novel that this book contains some of the most wrenching fiction he has ever written. His masterful ability to introduce his characters in such a way that we really get to know them and understand them and become completely invested in them results in huge emotional payoffs and/or consequences when they find themselves in danger. His style is easy to read and keeps the pages turning but his plots are what drive me on to the next book and the next.
The final culminating novel for both the Adversary Cycle and the Repairman Jack series, [b:Nightworld|219412|Nightworld (Adversary Cycle, #6)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388271206s/219412.jpg|212439], is next. I have mixed emotions about that, not wanting it all to end but enthusiastically anticipating how it will all wrap up. I think I am ready…
The plot of this novel follows closely after the events of [b:Reborn|289066|Reborn (Adversary Cycle, #4)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1237150103s/289066.jpg|280447] in which the great evil that was thought to have been eradicated in book one, [b:The Keep|62571|The Keep (Adversary Cycle, #1)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386925088s/62571.jpg|3354329], was reborn into our world. Many of the characters return here as well and the two novels, 'Reborn' and 'Reprisal', can really be considered companion volumes. Those two events (the supposed death and the rebirth) have driven or impacted every other major event in both series. I love it when a lengthy series has so many connections, seemingly unrelated and then when I read successive novels, multiple light bulbs go off in my head as I recognize more and more how everything relates.
This novel has some serious horror aspects to it. The author even admitted in the brief forward to this novel that this book contains some of the most wrenching fiction he has ever written. His masterful ability to introduce his characters in such a way that we really get to know them and understand them and become completely invested in them results in huge emotional payoffs and/or consequences when they find themselves in danger. His style is easy to read and keeps the pages turning but his plots are what drive me on to the next book and the next.
The final culminating novel for both the Adversary Cycle and the Repairman Jack series, [b:Nightworld|219412|Nightworld (Adversary Cycle, #6)|F. Paul Wilson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388271206s/219412.jpg|212439], is next. I have mixed emotions about that, not wanting it all to end but enthusiastically anticipating how it will all wrap up. I think I am ready…
lancefestivalen's review against another edition
2.0
Fifth book of the series. In 'Reprisal', [a:F Paul Wilson|7120822|F Paul Wilson|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] tries to tie together most of the preceeding stories of the so called 'Adversary Cycle' and succeeds, even though the result leaves me wishing he hadn't.
The story of 'Reprisal' is a good one. The gradual destruction of Lisl is pretty heartbreaking. And Wilson succeeds in creating - in Rafe Losmara - a character that balances between eccentric and evil. A moral anarchist.
But the important character of the story - Will Ryerson - is a failure. As is any revelation about the Adversary. Perhaps it's because Wilson doesn't reveal enough, perhaps it's simply because the mythology behind this Adversary is simplific and stereotypical.
I have set as a goal in life to finish the Adversary Cycle. Failure in doing so would be in Rasalom's favor and it would also prevent me from passing ultimate judgement on the series as a whole as well as on Wilson as a writer.
I'll just take a short break before entering the Nightworld...
The story of 'Reprisal' is a good one. The gradual destruction of Lisl is pretty heartbreaking. And Wilson succeeds in creating - in Rafe Losmara - a character that balances between eccentric and evil. A moral anarchist.
But the important character of the story - Will Ryerson - is a failure. As is any revelation about the Adversary. Perhaps it's because Wilson doesn't reveal enough, perhaps it's simply because the mythology behind this Adversary is simplific and stereotypical.
I have set as a goal in life to finish the Adversary Cycle. Failure in doing so would be in Rasalom's favor and it would also prevent me from passing ultimate judgement on the series as a whole as well as on Wilson as a writer.
I'll just take a short break before entering the Nightworld...
pillywiggin's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic book. It incorporates some strands of the "Repairman Jack" series, and foreshadows how "The Adversary Cycle" and "Repairman Jack" series come together. "Reprisal" takes place concurrently with "The Touch" and "Fatal Error." Readers finally discover what happened in when Jack dropped Glaeken off at St. Anne's Cemetery, and what happened when Glaeken went to North Carolina. This is a thrilling lead in to the final books in the Secret History of the World.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
5.0
It is interesting to read the fifth book in a series and think to yourself upon finishing it that it wasn’t like any other novel you can remember. Reprisal is a very unique horror novel, that is one of the most heart-breaking a devastating reads you’ll ever have trouble putting done. Wilson has created an effective novel that’s terror is built on the back of strong characterizations. It can’t be stated enough because it goes over the heads of many horror fans, but a horror story can’t be effective unless the characters are worthy of our concern. That is one of the main reasons Reprisal works.
The supernatural plays a part although a lot is left unexplained. The connection to the greater series is there but for the most part the story could stand alone. You are better off having read The Keep and certainly Reborn because Reprisal is a direct sequel.
There are two moments of absolute horror that are so brutal it makes your skin crawl in this novel. It is not monsters attacking anyone, or a slasher with a big knife. Reprisal explores the concept of what makes a person evil. It does it by putting it’s characters through an emotional grinder as much as anything physical. Although there is plenty of physical horror abound.
It is the story of a man named Will Ryerson, he has a secret past that haunts him. He can’t stand anywhere near a landline phone without it ringing. On the other line every time is a child, begging for his help, begging to be saved. At the same time his friend the nerdy math professor Lisl, has met a new man named Rafe. Thanks to his name, readers of this series know that this man is “The One” who is the earthly manifestation of the evil Otherness. Rafe has taken an interest in Lisl, he wants to corrupt her at every turn.
Reborn the last novel in the series had an Omen/Rosemary’s baby feel to it. The series is still building the end of the world,or at least a battle over the world, but this novel that a nice personal detour. It explores a very personal petty-ness to the otherness trapped in human form.
Reprisal is another notch up, after the power of Reborn this novel takes an unexpected path but is building the series toward the end. Wilson as always creates novel with intricate plot and twists and turns. Wow. Great read.
laterry75's review against another edition
3.0
Wilson's "The Adversary Cycle" has gotten a bit bloated. Granted, I only stumbled onto it when I first found Repairman Jack. I had to do a lot of backtracking. But I've gone back and read everything up to this point, and I'm still confused.
"Reprisal" features characters from "Reborn" that I didn't even realize were characters from "Reborn" until well into the book. There've been a dozen Repairman Jack books to read in between these two books, and I've lost track. Granted, I'm invested now. I can't let up. I stuck with "LOST" and "Battlestar Galactica" to the bitter end, through even more complicated mythos and larger character sets. But somehow, "The Adversary Cycle" seems too much.
I guess I need to finally sit down and read "Nightworld" before passing ultimate judgement, but I'm starting to feel only a sense of obligation to myself to read it. After all, I've put in all this other work . . . I need to know how things wrap up.
More thoughts in later reviews of "Nightworld."
"Reprisal" features characters from "Reborn" that I didn't even realize were characters from "Reborn" until well into the book. There've been a dozen Repairman Jack books to read in between these two books, and I've lost track. Granted, I'm invested now. I can't let up. I stuck with "LOST" and "Battlestar Galactica" to the bitter end, through even more complicated mythos and larger character sets. But somehow, "The Adversary Cycle" seems too much.
I guess I need to finally sit down and read "Nightworld" before passing ultimate judgement, but I'm starting to feel only a sense of obligation to myself to read it. After all, I've put in all this other work . . . I need to know how things wrap up.
More thoughts in later reviews of "Nightworld."
hollyfs's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
tsaniuk13's review against another edition
4.0
I always love learning more about Rasalom and Glaeken and this one was creepy-scary!
llamasama's review against another edition
5.0
WOW.
Best book in the series by a long shot.
FPW is at his best when weaving tales of psychological horror, and goddamn does he absolutely crush it in this novel.
Between orchestrating Bill's loss of faith, Lisl's manipulation into cruelty and egoism, and the absolutely devastating final temptations, Rafe kept me both horrified and completely enthralled.
Also probably the most accurate depiction of how people fall into abusive relationships I've ever read.
So. Fucking. Good.
Best book in the series by a long shot.
FPW is at his best when weaving tales of psychological horror, and goddamn does he absolutely crush it in this novel.
Between orchestrating Bill's loss of faith, Lisl's manipulation into cruelty and egoism, and the absolutely devastating final temptations, Rafe kept me both horrified and completely enthralled.
Also probably the most accurate depiction of how people fall into abusive relationships I've ever read.
So. Fucking. Good.
tsaniuk13's review against another edition
4.0
I always love learning more about Rasalom and Glaeken and this one was creepy-scary!