Cold City is the first of three Repairman Jack prequels, revealing the past of one of the most popular characters in contemporary dark fantasy: a self-styled "fix-it" man who is no stranger to the macabre or the supernatural, hired by victimized people who have no one else to turn to.
We join Jack a few months after his arrival in New York City. He doesn't own a gun yet, though he's already connected with Abe. Soon he'll meet Julio and the Mikulski brothers. He runs afoul of some Dominicans, winds up at the East Side Marriott the night Meir Kahane is shot, gets on the bad side of some Arabs, starts a hot affair, and disrupts the smuggling of preteen sex slaves. And, that's just Book One.
"If fans want to know how Repairman Jack became the champion of the victimized, they've got to pick up Cold City. It's a one-night read that will keep the lights burning. Gritty, harsh and often funny, it takes readers back to Jack's early days, tosses him in with colorful characters and lets readers see his basic decency even as he breaks the law."
RT Book Reviews, 4 ½ stars, Top Pick!
"Wilson expertly evokes Manhattan in all its gritty glory in the early '90s . . . this valentine to Jack's legion of fans still packs a wallop that whets the appetite for his next early adventure."
Publishers Weekly
"Fans of Wilson's, as always, will be delighted, and readers who want a good, solid noirish tale will be delighted as well. Wilson is a fantastic storyteller; this book may be the beginning of a swan song for the character Repairman Jack, but he's certainly going out on a high note. Highly recommended."
