A review by jellybean_gene
The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
4.0
So, I felt conflicted on whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars.
On one hand, I couldn't put it down. I bought a low-level book light so I could read it in bed and not wake my wife. And several times throughout the book I could feel the tension and fear for the main character that reminded me of a kid reading their favorite serialized 'how will X character get out of this one?' type of story.
On the other hand, this book was written in the late 70's or early 80's and it shows. Not all of it bad, but there's a lot of racism (albeit not quite mailicious, moreso fetishizations of another culture) and a lot of descriptions of female character's breasts and hips. And every female character is absolutely helpless. Like, totally helpless. Each woman in this story is only capable of either begging for help, seducing the main character, or feeling scared and helpless.
That all being said, I was able to get past those unfortunate anachronisms and still be pulled in by this book. It was really well paced and it was exactly as advertised. I just ordered the second and third in the Repairman Jack series and look forward to reading them soon.
On one hand, I couldn't put it down. I bought a low-level book light so I could read it in bed and not wake my wife. And several times throughout the book I could feel the tension and fear for the main character that reminded me of a kid reading their favorite serialized 'how will X character get out of this one?' type of story.
On the other hand, this book was written in the late 70's or early 80's and it shows. Not all of it bad, but there's a lot of racism (albeit not quite mailicious, moreso fetishizations of another culture) and a lot of descriptions of female character's breasts and hips. And every female character is absolutely helpless. Like, totally helpless. Each woman in this story is only capable of either begging for help, seducing the main character, or feeling scared and helpless.
That all being said, I was able to get past those unfortunate anachronisms and still be pulled in by this book. It was really well paced and it was exactly as advertised. I just ordered the second and third in the Repairman Jack series and look forward to reading them soon.