Might be time to take a break from Repairman Jack. Like the previous book, I found this one tedious as I really do not care about the Kickers or Dawn Pickering, who seem to have become the primary focal points of the story, rather than Gia, Vicky and Jack. In this story, everyone is still trying to grab Dawn because of her unborn child and a katana, forged by a famous Japanese artist which supposedly survived the nuclear blast in Hiroshima is also sought by the Kickers, a Japanese corporation, and a Japanese religious cult. Too much mayhem and slaughter. One bright spot is some clarity around the woman with the dog and Glaeken, Rasalom's archenemy. ( )

Becoming more and more tedious. Thank goodness I can speed up audible. ( )

I really like Jack as a character. He's becoming one of my favorites of all time. But I'm feeling with every book, Wilson gives us fewer and fewer Jack chapters. I feel like he's just another character in an ensemble cast. I miss him. My other character problem is that we get more Dawn chapters. She bugs the crap out of me. It's getting hard to rate these books on their own since the series is coming to an end and the books all run into one another. But I hope I can get to know Jack again before everything wraps up. ( )

One of the best in the series. Nice to know Wilson can still pull it off. Lord of the Rings meets Pulp Fiction. ( )

The Repairman Jack stories are now getting to the interesting point where the plot lines from one novel are bleeding through to the next. This helps build the excitement for the forthcoming, new and revised edition of NIGHTWORLD. It also helps to break the pattern that the Repairman Jack novels have been taking. Now things are happening and continuing to happen across books.

BY THE SWORD continues Jack's interactions with the Kickers movement and with Dawn Pickering from BLOODLINE. Additionally he is hired by a Japanese man to find a sword that was stolen from the Hiroshima Museum. This brings its own mishaps as both Yakuza gangsters and a mystical order of monks called the Kakureta Kao are after the sword also. Mix in some significant interaction with the old man who has been following Jack and you have a strong story that should please all Repairman Jack fans.

New readers will most likely be lost if they start reading here and are highly recommended to go back to the beginning of the series and start there. I would have liked to see more of Gia and her daughter Vicky but at the same time, there is only so much that Wilson can squeeze into each book. And as the series comes down to its end, I imagine there will be enough threads being tied up to keep me very happy. ( )