Reborn

Something is happening. Something bad. At first the something is just a feeling felt by a select few. Until the something becomes a thing.Well written and gripping F Paul Wilson continues to tell us about the Adversary and the game in which we are merely pawns.

Note: This review is as much about the book as it relates to the Adversary Cycle series as about the book itself. Spoilers may occur.The good news is that it's better than the previous book in the series. The bad news is that it's not by a real wide margin. But hey, we FINALLY get a book that actually feels like an Adversary Cycle book instead of a story roped into Wilson's literary universe. We kinda sorta have a Rosemary's Baby situation here, with our Keep nemesis making a comeback through a somewhat convoluted way that involves cloning because cloning is... unnatural? Sorry, that's just dumb. Might as well have come up with a purely supernatural reason rather than expose bad science. In any case, we also have a group of folks starting to come to the conclusion that an Anti-Christ type is about to born and set out to stop it (three guesses how well that goes). We also have a familiar hero return, knowing world events are heading into dark territory again but not exactly capable, or even willing, to do much about it... yet.One major problem that plagues the last book, this book, and the next book, is Wilson's tendency to drag the story out too long before getting to the real good supernatural stuff. Once he gets there, his stories get good. The Keep didn't have this problem, and I know that his final book in the series doesn't have it either. At least I came out of this book willing to continue the series, so there's that. But he might have condensed this book and the next one into one novel, cutting out a lot of the fluff that will ultimately prove pointless in the scheme of things.

Once again I was drawn in by Wilson's seamless blending of kitchen-sink fiction and dawning horror as the implausible and impossible invade the every day. The POVs are all engaging and interesting: Jim, an aspiring writer searching for identity, his wife Carol, whose dreams increasingly turn dark, their high school friend-turned-Jesuit, Bill Ryan, who craves to leave the orphanage he runs to be in the thick of the political and social upheaval of the late 60's, the wife's devoutly Catholic aunt who can sense the evil growing in Long Island...even Jonah, the one-eyed adopted father of Jim, the writer, who is only a POV a few times, is written masterfully. The only knock one might give is the lack of a traditional resolution, though given it is the fourth work in a series that should be a given.

F Paul Wilson ranks as one of my favorite authors, up there with Heinlein, Lovecraft, Asimov and Poe. If you enjoy horror on a cosmic-level, you'll definitely enjoy the Adversary and Repairman Jack series of books. Note that this is not the cheap hack-and-slash-type horror but horror at a much more grand-scale - a series documenting a war between two opposing entities who do not actually care about humanity but only about their "game". Humanity is an afterthought that gets caught in the cross-fire and used by both entities.Note that Wilson's novels and short stories are all linked so reading them out of order or as stand-alone's will leave you wondering what you missed. If you're new to F Paul Wilson, grab the story timeline (you can Google it) and read them in order. It'll be a fun, fun read!

This book is part of the larger Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack series of books, and if you are a fan of either of these series, you will enjoy it, and it definitely adds to that story line. If you haven't read any of those books, I would hold off on this and jump into the series closer to the beginning. As a standalone book, it might not make a lot of sense to you.I do highly recommend the series though, and suggest you start with The Tomb.Repairman Jack is one of the best written characters in contemporary fiction, and the whole thing will suck you in.

This book has ties to the obvious. Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen. In spite of that fact, this is a very good book. It's a fast read and thoroughly enjoyable. I recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed the above books and to anyone who likes horror/mystery stories in general. Wilson is a very good writer who allows his reader to disappear into the story for a fast-paced thrill ride. Recommended. Rosemary's BabyThe Complete Omen Collection (The Omen - 1976/ The Omen - 2006/ Damien: The Omen II/ The Omen III: The Final Conflict/ The Omen IV: The Awakening)The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition

I love the Repairman Jack novels so went back and read the Adversary series. Really like it. Have already ordered Reprisal.Don't know how I missed these. These are dark books about things that go bump in the night. Those shadows that crawl out from under your bed when you can't sleep and the sounds you hear when you are out walking way too late You just know there is something lurking behind the bush up ahead. Reborn gave me the shivers and made me wish I already had the next in the series.

The novel *Reborn* serves the primary function of moving author Wilson’s “Secret History of the World,” an epic struggle of Good vs. Evil, forward through the 1960s. The story bears more than a slight resemblance to *Rosemary’s Baby*, and there are various cliched and over-the-top elements throughout, but it’s also a fast-paced and entertaining read.

I quite enjoyed the first book of the 'Cycle' - having seen the most awful film adaptation of 'The Keep' I bought it on the Kindle out of curiosity to see if the book was really that bad and was pleasantly surprised. The World War II setting gave the book impetus and relevance (with the Jewish characters interacting with the SS). It delved into political and religious discourse and speculation which kept up an intelligent dialogue whilst moving the supernatural twists and turns along, It also really engaged you with the main characters. I can see that ending this on a 'high' would logically mean that the next book should be a 'low' but I felt particularly aggrieved that the characters from the first book (older as the book is set a few decades later) were very underutilised, the previous male character only seeming to be an 'observer' of the events and given a mere token glimpse of the previous female character.This book did not seem to engage you as well with the new female lead, her 'doom' was so obvious and inevitable and the new male lead seemed to be woollily set up right at the end (and a bit wishy washy) that I lost interest.I don't think that I will read any more of them.

I started 're reading the six books again and I went onto Wikipedia to find out the reading order and noticed that it was different from the laid out order printed on the books.I would recommend sticking with the order laid out on the front covers as the Wikipedia order doesn't make any sense as I started reprisal before reborn and realised I was missing a lot of the story so far it is The Keep then Reborn and then Reprisal.

Rasalom is on his way back and Glaeken is now an old man.This part of the Adversary Cycle deals very well with Rasalom's possible return to the mortal plane in a tale very reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby.

An enjoyable read, fast paced and tense.It's a shame there are quite so many typos in the kindle version.

It's not very often you forget the characters aren't real, but F.P Wilson does it very well, and the story line is always inventive and clever. Would recommend this as a good scare anytime.