As a teen in the 1980s, finding something that wasn’t Stephen King, or a bonkbuster was pretty tough. Sure, there was plenty of Sweet Valley High to read, or the Survivalist… But Cujo and It had more attraction than preppy American twins or the U.S. super soldier falling in love with two women at the height of the cold war, oh, and growing up his children behind his wife’s back… All suitable reading for a 12 year old.
Just when I thought I had to give up reading altogether I discovered the book that was to change my life.
I’d like to say I can remember the day that I pulled the book off of the bookshelf and started to read it. But I don’t. I’d like to say it was this amazing cover that caught my eye, but it wasn’t. It was the character. He was cool, he was calm in the face of adversity and he blended in.
As a child that went from school to school to school (my parents moved around a lot), you learn to be invisible. The new kids get picked on, and when you have young parents that doesn’t help much either. So I became a chameleon and blended in. This book was the first book where the main character was like me! He wanted to be invisible, and he still found love and leads a life… and no one sees him!
And the story is believable…
If I was able to write fiction, this would be the book that I’d love to have written and character one that I’d create.
I suppose you want to know the book?
The Tomb by F.Paul Wilson.
Now, if you read reviews, you’ll wonder how a “Lovecraftian” book can change a life, and let me tell you… it’s the character. Repairman Jack is simply awesome. He’s shaped by his surroundings, of one act in his past and it sets him on a journey that sends him across the world to save the daughter of the woman he loves. The story contains colourful characters, the beautiful Indian woman, the one-armed man, the overweight arms dealer with a sporting goods store and a very dirty bar which I was convinced I’d found when I visited NYC.
Not only does Jack survive living in NYC with no social security number, he loves hard and helps people in his job, and he lives life below the radar. He’s so utterly believable. Never have I ever felt so strongly for a hero in a book.
The story in The Tomb is the tale of how Jack is hired by the one-armed Indian gentleman named Kusum. There’s a necklace, a curse and some god-awful creatures, throw in some rescuing and it’s a heck of a page turner…
For this story Jack’s enemy is the Rakosh.
Creatures so fricking scary that 30 years later I won’t sleep with my feet uncovered.
Once I wiggled my toes in my sleep, and the cat pounced on my foot…. Even in my sleep, my mind thought the cat was a Rakoshi trying to get onto the bed.
30 fricking years later and the sound/feel of claws is a Rakosh and it’s never been another creature in my mind, not even the more logical cat or dog. I’d rather wander down a clown-filled storm drain in the pouring rain, in the pitch black than face one of those things.
Is The Tomb a horror story?
Erm, no. I’d go with adventure book with a splash of sci-fi rather than horror story.
I’ve read both editions, yes there’s the book that I read in the 80s, and the author-approved edition that came around in the late 90s. Start with the author approved edition. I believe there’s also a 2004 version of the book as well, but I’ve not read that.
I’ve longed for this to be made into a film, better yet a series
Yet at the same time despaired of Hollywood getting their hands on it and ruining Repairman Jack by taking him mainstream. There’s the inevitable talk about who will play Jack, who is ordinary in every way and blends into the background and is completely unmemorable.
Gosh, don’t they make a lovely bunch… now turn it into a series please and don’t screw it up…
Popular choices to play Repairman Jack include Ed Norton, Ryan Reynolds (???), Tom Cruise (Really? Wtf?) Matt Damon (maybe) and Mark Wahlberg (Best of a bad bunch).
Who would play Kusum? Currently Naveen Andrews is the favoured choice, but there are a lot of great Indian actors like Anil Kapoor who would be superb. There would be a role for the lovely Necar Zadegan (a long time favourite of the readers of this site) as his Kusum’s sister, Kolabati. And of course, Wayne Knight as Abe. Who else could play such a character as Abe? I’m sure some lovely casting director will suggest Matthew Mcconaughey 😉
With Julie Benz as Gia, Jack’s girlfriend, I think we have the perfect cast. Julie is one of those actresses that can play any woman with elegance and grace to trashy types. She’s a superb actress, and a perfect foil whatever hyped up Hollywood dream boat that’s deemed suitable play Jack…
There’s No Tomb in the Story
Another often debated point for dedicated Repairman Jack Fans is the fact there’s no Tomb in the story. For some, the freighter is the Tomb, for me, it was where Jack fell into his armchair in the first edition of the book. I have read that the publishers insisted that it was called The something to follow on from one of the author’s earlier books, The Keep. That sounds like the sort of thing a publisher would insist upon :D.
As you may have guessed, there’s quite a cult following for the book, and all those that follow Repairman Jack.
This means the fans like to debate the finer nuances of things like the title, to possible stories to actors to play Jack. The great news is Repairman Jack fans seem a little more civilised that George RR Martin fans who only seem to worry that Martin will die before he finishes the story.
The Tomb was the book that changed my life and kept me reading…
What book changed yours?
