Bloodline, by F. Paul Wilson
Jack (no last name is ever given) is a “fix-it” man, but not for repairing your toaster or fridge. Jack is the guy you go to when you can’t take your problem to the cops, the courts, or to the press. Jack . . . fixes the problem for you. He only accepts cash for payment, and has no official government-issued documents, such as a Social Security number or drivers license in his own name. Likewise, he has no bank account, car, credit cards or real estate in his real name (whatever that is). His cell phone is a pay-as-you-go TracFone (same kind as I use), always paid for with cash, and thus untraceable.
In Bloodline, Jack is down in the dumps after the events of the tenth RJ novel, Harbingers, in which an attempt on his life severely injured his girlfriend, Gia, and her daughter, Vicky, and killing Jack’s yet-to-born daughter by Gia, Emma. Gia and Vicky were in a coma after the attempt — as Bloodline starts, Gia and Vicky have yet to fully recover, and Jack is (understandably) feeling a bit guilty over the fact that they were injured as a result of his activities. As Jack is sitting around moping, Gia tells him to take a job to break him out of it.
The call that Jack answers is from a Christy Pickering, whose 18-year-old daughter Dawn is dating Jeremy Bethlehem, who is about 36 years old. Christy thinks that all is not kosher between Dawn and Jeremy, so she hires a private detective to investigate Jeremy’s background. When the PI she hired doesn’t call back, Dawn calls Jack. At first, he says that he’ll look into the matter, but he’s not promising anything. As usual, Jack finds that the situation is deeper than he first thought, as Jeremy isn’t a normal person — he’s a convicted murderer, on release from the Pentagon-funded Creighton Institute. The Institute’s researchers have discovered that Jeremy has a significant amount of DNA that he shouldn’t, which they call “other DNA” or “oDNA.” If you’re thinking that this related to the Others that Jack has been working against for the duration of the series, you’re right. And it gets deeper — Jeremy is part of a plot by his father and brother, who’s written a book called Kick, to concentrate their oDNA via their own private breeding program.
One more spoiler — the spider-like figure that appears as grafitti on the cover of the book figures into the brothers’ scheme, as well.
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