Nightkill

by F. Paul Wilson, Steven G. Spruill, Steve Lyon, et al.

Book Overview

Hitman Jake Nacht, who decides to retire, is double-crossed by the Mafia and crippled by an assassin, until a doctor offers him a recipe for revenge. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812565363
• ISBN13: 9780812565362
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 279 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Several notches above typical action/adventure fare

With seventeen kills to his name, Jake Nacht is one of the mob's most reliable hitmen-he'll kill anyone if the price is right. Thus, he accepts a contract on a US Senator, despite his misgivings about having to do the job at a particular time and place. Nacht prepares carefully, but has to hurry his shot when he hears the police knocking on his hotel room door. Thinking quickly, Nacht almost escapes, but is gunned down by an officer who obviously knows who he is. Paralyzed from the neck down, Nacht wants only to end his existence, but cannot do it alone. He strikes a desperate bargain with his nurse, Angela Graham, who reluctantly promises to assist his suicide if Nacht's physical rehabilitation is unsuccessful. Nacht gives it his all, but shows little improvement after four months. Having fulfilled his end of the bargain Nacht wants to hold Angela to her promise, but she has different ideas. Angela implores Jake to participate in an experiment conducted by her uncle, a scientist who wants to test risky spinal regeneration techniques on humans. Intrigued by the possibility of recovery and revenge on the men who set him up, Nacht agrees. Jake is healed by the process, but does not know if the effects are permanent Since his time may be short, he immediately embarks on a campaign of vengeance, halting only when Angela is kidnapped in retaliation. Jake must face his enemies on their own ground if he is to save Angela and have his revenge. Nightkill does not break any new ground, but is a good, solid read, several notches above typical action/adventure fare. Wilson and Lyon (aka Steven Spruill) take great pains to create a believable, engrossing backstory for Nacht, which metamorphosizes into a homage to the movie The Most Dangerous Game. Although Nacht's history is often more interesting than the action of the main story, it never totally eclipses it--the authors skillfully bring the novel to an explosive conclusion, providing ample thrills and drama along the way. Reminiscent of Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact and the Steven Seagal movie Hard to Kill, Nightkill is fast moving and hard hitting, a respectful tribute to the men's action/adventure genre.

Excellent revenge thriller!

This is one of the few F. Paul Wilson novels I've read that had nothing to do with the supernatural. In fact, truth be told, it's really off my usual line of novels to read. It's a revenge novel. Hit man, working for the mob, kills other 'bad men' making the world a little better place, for a price. He's offered a lucrative contract to kill a prominent senator, and in doing so breaks several 'rules' that were drilled (pun intended) into him by his mentor 'the Sarge'. Things go south right from the get-go, and he ends up paralyzed from the neck down. As with most of my favourite novels, this one is a human story, about finding a reason to live and righting wrongs. You get to see into the soul of this hired killer, and he turns out to be more than just a thug. In the end, what he's willing to do for someone he cares about shows just how much his experience changed him. I would have given it a higher review, but the novel was too damned short, in my opinion. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the main character reminded me heavily of 'Jack' from his Repairman Jack series. Worth reading, don't doubt that for a second.

Good plot - good characters!

Hitman Jack Nacht is the best in the business with a body count of 17 contract murders over his career. When he is hired to "off" a Senator who's getting a little too close to mob affairs, Jake's world is turned upside down when he is shot and paralyzed by a crooked cop who's in on the double cross. As Jake wallows in self-pity and dispair over his quadrapelegic state, he is befriended by (and falls in love with) his rehabilitation nurse, Angel Deschanel. After weeks of rehabiliation to no avail, Angel tells Jake of a radical procedure that her uncle, Dr. Joseph Graham, has performed on paralyzed rats that have allowed them to regain full range of motion. Jake convinces Angel and Graham to try the procedure on him. Unbeknownst to the medical duo, Jake's motivation for the surgical procedure is to help him regain the use of his limbs so that he can extract his revenge on HIS conspirators.The book is fast-paced and well-plotted. And, while the surgical procedure used to help Jake regain his movement is more than a little far-fetched, if the reader can overlook that bit of "medical fiction", he or she will find themselves immersed in a very strong story. Recommended to the fans of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook because of the medical aspects of the book and to the fans of Clive Cussler and Jack DeBrul because of the "heroic" aspect of the book.

An Excellent Read

A very fast paced book, Jake is a character with whom i expect to see several sequals, I`d rate the character to have the ability to compete with a Dirk Pitt,Lucas Davenport,and a John Becker......Need i say More...

REAL FAST-PACE BOOK AS FAST AS AN ACCELLERATED HEARTBEAT

BROS., THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY WORTH YOUR TIME. JAKE NACHT IS THE BEST HIT MAN IN THE WORLD OF FICTION AND DESERVES TO BE READ. YOU SHOULD ALL SEE THE STRUGGLING FIGHT FOR LIFE AND DEATH BY JAKE NACHT. A REAL FAST-PACED BOOK THAT'S SURE TO KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS. HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS FOLKS THIS IS A BOOK THAT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY.