Not that my musings are fiction, but that I'm musing ABOUT fiction - more to the point, some of the stuff I've read of late.

I finished F. Paul Wilson's latest offering, FATAL ERROR. There are only two more books to come, according to Wilson, in the Repairman Jack saga, and I'm going to miss him. This is an unusual series - not for everyone, I think, but I am hooked by the character of Jack and by the bigger story.

It seems that in this universe, the Otherness is battling with the Ally for control of our little corner of reality. The Otherness is evil in a sense; if it gets control, it will remake our world into something hospitable for itself and its creatures. (The premise reminds me of some SF short stories, where alien races are remaking Earth, with little or no consideration of its occupants as they exist there.) The Ally might be called "God", but in Wilson's series, the Ally can best be described as "indifferent", and does not really care what humans decide to do. Perhaps there will be more to this Ally than meets the eye to this point in the series, but so far, it isn't doing a whole lot to battle the Otherness on this front.

Repairman Jack is a guy who lives "off the grid", so to speak. Has no social security number, doesn't file tax returns, has no real legal or official existence. He's lived his adult life by doing "jobs", not always entirely within the law, for people with problems that can't be solved through official channels. And he is apparently the Ally's chosen "champion".

It seems that many of Wilson's older works tie into this story arc, starting with THE KEEP, and continuing with titles like THE TOUCH and REBORN. I haven't read any of them besides THE KEEP, but I'm looking forward to them.

It's an "out there" story. Absurd in many ways. Always interesting, to me at least.

*****

I've also been reading a lot of Carl Hiaasen's novels. Generally they are themed around Florida's environmental issues. Hiaasen is another guy who can take an oddball character and make him someone totally intriguing.

The last of these that I read was called STRIP TEASE, about a woman who finds herself forced to dance in a Florida "Gentleman's Club". She gets caught up in environmental intrigue when a Florida Representative is caught on film in the club beating on a drunken bachelor party groom who is sort of hanging on her leg as she dances. Because she's in the picture along with a few other people, she becomes a target. It seems that the Representative is tied into one of Florida's biggest sugar cane families.

Most of Hiaasen's novels are like this: coincidences that spiral into plots, with wealthy Floridians out to exploit the environment cast as the bad guys and everyday people caught up in the intrigue. Because of his way with characters, they are always rapid, fun reads.

******

Carolyn Hart writes a series called "Death On Demand" mysteries. Death On Demand is the name of a fictional bookstore on an island off of the coast of (I think) South Carolina, specializing in mysteries. Its proprietor is Annie Darling, wife of "investigator" Max Darling and someone who has become accepted by the island's "natives". Annie specializes in solving mysteries as they present themselves to the island's residents. And she has plenty of help, including the island's resident best-selling mystery author Emma Clyde, her mother in law Laurel, her best customer Henny Brawley, and assorted other characters.

I recently finished two mysteries set on the island: DARE TO DIE, and LAUGHED TILL HE DIED. Both were similar in that the mysteries center on parties thrown on the island. DARE TO DIE involves more of the past, while LAUGHED is more about current intrigue.

These are very fun cozy mysteries, quick reads with engaging characters. Some series seem to get "tired" after a while; Diane Mott Davidson's culinary mysteries fall into this category, as did Jill Churchill's Jane Jeffrey mysteries, but so far, Carolyn Hart has kept this series going strong.

*****

That isn't the extent of my reading recently, but it's a good sampling.

Have a great weekend!