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  A Soft Barren Aftershock

  Stories of Wonder and Dread

  F. Paul Wilson

  (custom book cover)

  Title Page

  Jerry eBooks

  About F. Paul Wilson

  Bibliography

  Who is Repairman Jack?

  The Secret History of the World

  Timeline

  THE STORIES

  HIGHER CENTERS

  THE CLEANING MACHINE

  THE MAN WITH THE ANTEATER

  RATMAN

  WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS

  PARD

  LIPIDLEGGIN’

  TO FILL THE SEA AND AIR

  DEMONSONG

  GREEN WINTER

  BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY

  SOFT

  THE LAST ONE MO’ ONCE GOLDEN OLDIES REVIVAL

  DAT-TAY-VAO

  TRAPS

  THE YEARS THE MUSIC DIED

  MÉNAGE Á TROIS

  DOC JOHNSON

  CUTS

  MUSCLES

  FACES

  TENANTS

  FEELINGS

  BUCKETS

  THE TENTH TOE

  A DAY IN THE LIFE

  DEFINITIVE THERAPY

  RUMORS

  ROCKABILLY

  THE LAST RAKOSH

  THE BARRENS

  MIDNIGHT MASS

  PELTS

  TOPSY

  HOME REPAIRS

  MEMOIRS OF THE EFFSTER

  DREAMS

  THE NOVEMBER GAME

  PLEASE DON'T HURT ME

  FOET

  BOB DYLAN, TROY JOHNSON, AND THE SPEED QUEEN

  THE LONG WAY HOME

  NYRO FIDDLES

  THE LORD’S WORK

  WINTER QUARTERS

  WHEN HE WAS FAB

  SLASHER

  ITSY BITSY SPIDER

  DCRAOFVPIIPEDEL

  THE WRINGER

  OFFSHORE

  ARYANS AND ABSINTHE

  LYSING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM

  GOOD FRIDAY

  NIGHT DIVE

  AFTERSHOCK

  ANNA

  PERFORMANCE

  SOLE CUSTODY

  HUNTERS

  PART OF THE GAME

  INTERLUDE AT DUANE’S

  SEX SLAVES OF THE DRAGON TONG

  DO-GOODER

  THE SOUND OF BLUNDER

  RECALLED

  PINEY POWER

  THE DEAD WORLD

  THE WIDOW LINDLEY

  SANTA JACK

  RENASCENCE

  INFERNAL NIGHT

  APPENDIX

  Source Material

  Fiction Not Included

  FRANCIS PAUL WILSON was born on May 17, 1946 in Jersey City, New Jersey. He misspent his youth playing with matches, poring over Uncle Scrooge and E.C. comics, reading Lovecraft, Matheson, Bradbury, and Heinlein, listening to Chuck Berry and Alan Freed on the radio, and watching Soupy Sales and Shock Theatre with Zacherley.

  He is an American author, primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog while still in medical school (graduating in 1973), and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies.

  In 1981, he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade.

  In the 1990s, he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.F. Paul Wilson was born and raised in New Jersey

  F. Paul Wilson is the author of more than forty books: science fiction (Healer, Wheel within Wheels, An Enemy of the State, Dydeetown World, The Tery, Sims), horror thrillers (The Keep, The Tomb, The Touch, Reborn, Reprisal, Nightworld, Black Wind, Sibs, Midnight Mass), contemporary thrillers (The Select, Implant, Deep as the Marrow), novels that defy categorization (The Fifth Harmonic, Virgin) and a number of collaborations. In 1998 he resurrected his popular antihero, Repairman Jack, and has chronicled his adventures in Legacies, Conspiracies, All the Rage, Hosts, The Haunted Air, Gateways, Crisscross, Infernal, Harbingers, Bloodline, By the Sword, Ground Zero, and Fatal Error.

  He has peeked into Jack’s teenage life in the young adult novels, Jack: Secret Histories, Jack: Secret Circles and Jack: Secret Vengreance.

  Most of his short stories are collected in Soft & Others (1989), The Barrens & Others (1998), and Aftershock & Others (2009). Plus, a collection of Repairman Jack short stories in Quick Fixes (2011).

  He has edited two anthologies: Freak Show (1992) and Diagnosis: Terminal (1996). He has written for stage, screen, and interactive media as well.

  The Keep, The Tomb, Harbingers, and By the Sword all appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Wheels Within Wheels won the first Prometheus Award in 1979; Sims won another, The Tomb received the Porgie Award from The West Coast Review of Books. His novelette “Aftershock” won the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for short fiction. Dydeetown World was on the young adult recommended reading lists of the American Library Association and the New York Public Library, among others.

  He was awarded the prestigious Inkpot Award from the San Diego ComiCon and the Pioneer Award from the RT Booklovers Convention. He is listed in the 50th anniversary edition of Who’s Who in America.

  His novel The Keep was made into a visually striking but otherwise incomprehensible movie (screenplay and direction by Michael Mann) by Paramount in 1983. The Tomb has been in development “development-hell” for years; as “Repairman Jack” by Beacon Films and (hopefully) will not suffer a similar fate. His original teleplay “Glim-Glim” aired on Monsters in 1989.

  An adaptation of his short story “Ménage á Trois” was part of the pilot for The Hunger series that debuted on Showtime in July 1997. “Pelts” was adapted by Dario Argento for Masters of Horror.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  The Adversary Cycle

  The Keep

  The Tomb

  The Touch

  Reborn

  Reprisal

  Nightworld

  Repairman Jack

  The Tomb

  Legacies

  Conspiracies

  All the Rage

  Hosts

  The Haunted Air

  Gateways

  Crisscross

  Infernal

  Harbingers

  Bloodline

  By the Sword

  Ground Zero

  Fatal Error

  The Dark at the End

  Nightworld

  Quick Fixes

  The Teen Trilogy

  Jack: Secret Histories

  Jack: Secret Circles

  Jack: Secret Vengeance

  The Early Years Trilogy

  Cold City

  Dark City

  Fear City

  The LaNague Federation Series

  Healer

  Wheels Within Wheels

  An Enemy of the State

  Dydeetown World

  The Tery

  Other Novels

  Black Wind

  Sibs

  The Select

  Virgin

  Implant

  Deep as the Marrow

  Mirage (with Matthew J. Costello)

  Nightkill (with Steven Spruill)

 
; DNA Wars (formerly Masque with Matthew J. Costello)

  Sims

  The Fifth Harmonic

  Midnight Mass

  The Proteus Cure (with Tracy L. Carbone)

  A Necessary End (with Sarah Pinborough)

  Definitely Not Kansas (with Tom Monteleone)

  Short Fiction

  Soft & Others

  The Barrens & Others

  The Christmas Thingy

  Aftershock & Others

  The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium

  Quick Fixes – Tales of Repairman Jack

  Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong

  As Editor

  Freak Show

  Diagnosis: Terminal

  The Hogben Chronicles (with Pierce Watters)

  Omnibus Editions

  The Complete LaNague

  Calling Dr. Death

  Who is Repairman Jack?

  He’s an urban mercenary in Manhattan, a self-made outcast who lives in the interstices of modern society. A ghost in our machine: no official identity, no social security number, pays no taxes. He has a violent streak he sometimes finds hard to control. He hires out for cash to “fix” situations that have no legal remedy.

  The name Repairman Jack comes from his gunrunner pal, Abe. Jack’s not crazy about it, but he lives with it. He’s not a vigilante, not a do-gooder. He’s not out to right wrongs. Nor is he out to change the world or fight crime. (He’s a career criminal, after all, as are many of his friends.) He’s not Batman. He’s just a guy with a devious mind who likes his work best when he can see to it that what goes around comes around. If you follow him carefully you’ll see he gets a real jolt out of running a scam or setting up someone to be hoisted on his own petard.

  He came from a dream. The scene on the roof in The Tomb was that dream. I worked backward and forward from there to create a character who could survive that situation.

  I decided on an anti-Jason Bourne—with no black-ops, SEAL, or Special Forces training, no CIA or police background, no connection to officialdom. In other words, no safety net. No one in officialdom he could call on. He has to rely on his own wits and his own network.

  I’ve been a libertarian forever, so I figured I’d act out my libertarian dreams, you know, make this guy an anarchist with no identity. But as I’ve continued his adventures, I’ve learned that it takes a lot of effort to live below the radar, especially since 9/11.

  I intended Jack as a one-shot, which is kind of obvious at the end of The Tomb. As I finished that novel, I thought, “Well, this character is definitely series material, so I gotta make it look like the guy is dead or they’ll want more.” I had books planned out and didn’t want to get locked into a series.

  Then, later on, Jack became a way out of a trap I’d got myself into with a medical thriller contract. I’d become bored with writing them after doing three and I was contracted to do a fourth . . . but I had this idea for a techy thriller and thought, why don’t I rework this and use Jack again? It’d be great for him. I named it Legacies and made his client a doctor so I could call it a medical thriller. The publisher was happy I was bringing back a character my fans wanted to see again, and I was happy to revisit Jack. A win-win.

  Legacies was fun and sold well, so I had to do another, and then another, and before I knew it, Jack had taken over my writing career.

  But before Legacies, I brought him back in shorter works.

  THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE WORLD

  The preponderance of F. Paul Wilson’s work deals with a history of the world that remains undiscovered, unexplored, and unknown to most of humanity. Some of this secret history has been revealed in the Adversary Cycle, some in the Repairman Jack novels, and bits and pieces in other, seemingly unconnected works. Taken together, even these millions of words barely scratch the surface of what has been going on behind the scenes, hidden from the workaday world. The works listed below are in the chronological order.

  Note: “Year Zero” is the end of civilization as we know it; “Year Zero Minus One” is the year preceding it, etc.

  THE PAST

  “Demonsong” (prehistory)

  “The Compendium of Srem” (1498)

  “Aryans and Absinthe” (1923-1924)

  Black Wind (1926-1945)

  The Keep (1941)

  Reborn (February-March 1968)

  “Dat Tay Vao” (March 1968)

  Jack: Secret Histories (1983)

  Jack: Secret Circles (1983)

  Jack: Secret Vengeance (1983)

  “Faces” (1988)

  Cold City (1990)

  Dark City (1991)

  Fear City (1993)

  YEAR ZERO MINUS THREE

  Sibs (February)

  The Tomb (summer)

  “The Barrens” (ends in September)

  “A Day in the Life” (October)

  “The Long Way Home”

  Legacies (December)

  YEAR ZERO MINUS TWO

  “Interlude at Duane’s” (April)

  Conspiracies (April) (includes “Home Repairs”)

  All the Rage (May) (includes “The Last Rakosh”)

  Hosts (June)

  The Haunted Air (August)

  Gateways (September)

  Crisscross (November)

  Infernal (December)

  YEAR ZERO MINUS ONE

  Harbingers (January)

  “Infernal Night” (with Heather Graham)

  Bloodline (April)

  By the Sword (May)

  Ground Zero (July)

  The Touch (ends in August)

  The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium (ends in September)

  “Tenants”

  YEAR ZERO

  “Pelts”

  Reprisal (ends in February)

  Fatal Error (February)

  The Dark at the End (March)

  Nightworld (starts in May)

  TIMELINE

  A chronology of births and deaths and major events in the Secret History

  THE PAST

  Prehistory–“Demonsong”

  Rasalom’s first death

  Srem assembles her Compendium

  The Great Cataclysm ends the First Age

  1476–Rasalom trapped in the Keep;

  1498–Torquemada encounters the Compendium of Srem

  1563–on one of his inspection trips to the keep

  Glaeken seals the Compedium and other “forbidden” books there

  1890–Ernst Drexler Sr born

  1923-24–“Aryans and Absinthe”

  1926-45–Black Wind–the Gaijin Masamune is damaged at Hiroshima

  1927–Jonah Stevens loses left eye in Great Lower Mississippi Valley Flood

  1930–Jack’s father born

  1931–Jack’s mother born

  1941–early April–Jasmine “Jazzy” Cordeau impregnated with a human clone

  1941–May 3 - The Keep–Rasalom killed–invades the clone in Jazzy

  1941–(June) Alexandru sells Compendium & other books to a Bucharest dealer

  1941–Jonah Stevens has visions instructing him to care for the Vessel

  1942–(Jan 6) the Vessel (a human clone) born to Jazzy

  1942–Compendium sold to American collector

  (Feb) Jonah and Emma Stevens adopt the Vessel from St. F’s–name him James

  1946–Walter Erskine born in Chillicothe, MO

  1949–Ernst Drexler II born

  1950–Jack’s father trained as US Army sniper by Sgt. Nacht

  1959–Tom Jr born

  1961–Kate born

  1962–Jack’s father gets vasectomy

  1968

  Feb. 10 Reborn: Rasalom conceived in Monroe,

  causing a cluster of freaks (Conspiracies and “Faces”)

  Feb. 11 - Dr. Hanley crashes

  Mar–Dat Tay Vao enters Walt Erskine

  April–Jack conceived

  Sept–Weezy Connell born

  Nov 7–Rasalom reborn in Hickor
y Hill, AK

  1969

  Jan–Jack born

  Feb–Mrs. Clevenger moves into Johnson, NJ

  April–Walter Erskine’s sister’s (Adelle) husband

  Kurt Bainbridge transferred from Kansas, City, MO to his company’s Trenton office; knew Jack’s Dad in Korea (calls him “Killer”); moves to Johnson for the trout and bass fishing; provides home for his brother-in-law but not crazy about idea.

  Oct–Eddie Connell born

  SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1970s

  Jonah Stevens’s kids:

  Hank born in January

  Jeremy 11 mo later in Dec

  Moonglow / Christy born following Dec.

  1970–24-yr-old Walt Eskine gets medical discharge

  from Army after treated for a mental condition at Northport V.A. Hospital. Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Thinks he can heal people.

  1972–Walt joins a faith-healing tent show in the South

  but kicked off the tour because he is never sober.

  1974–Walt comes to live with sister in Johnson, NJ

  1975–American collector killed and robbed of Compendium (Jonah Stevens)

  1975–Luther Brady receives Compendium after graduation from college

  1979–Jonah Stevens killed in elevator accident.

  1981–Tom starts Seton Hall Law

  1982–Kate spends Junior Year abroad in France.

  1982–Walt Erskine in DC for march to Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedication

  1983

  Aug: Jack: Secret Histories

  Sept: Kate starts UMDNJ (Jack: Secret Circles)

  Oct: Jack: Secret Vengeance

  YEAR ZERO MINUS SIX:

  Walt Erskine moves briefly to New York; meets Martin Spano

  YEAR ZERO MINUS FIVE:

  The THEN sections of Reprisal end with Danny Gordon buried (late December)

  YEAR ZERO MINUS FOUR:

  Bill Ryan ends up on West End in Bahamas (January)

  YEAR ZERO MINUS THREE:

  SIBS (February)

  “Faces” (early summer)

  THE TOMB (summer)

  “The Barrens” (ends in September)

  “A Day in the Life” (October)

  “The Long Way Home”

  LEGACIES (December)

  YEAR ZERO MINUS TWO:

  Bill Ryan becomes Will Ryerson and returns to US

  CONSPIRACIES (April) (includes “Home Repairs”)

  ALL THE RAGE (May) (includes “The Last Rakosh”)

  HOSTS (June)

  THE HAUNTED AIR (August)