1983 Johnson, NJ, a small town on the edge of the fabled and mysterious Pine Barrens. Among its odd an old woman with a three-legged dog; some call her a witch. There's the town drunk, Weird Walt Erskine, who always wears gloves, no matter what the temperature. There's USED, the store that sells all sorts of things from the past. And that's just a sampling. The a fourteen-year old named Jack. Nobody knows Jack. Not his parents, not his few friends, not even Jack himself But he's learning. He's discovering that he has a knack for fixing things. Not bikes or toys or appliances—situations. Here is where it all starts—with a withered corpse discovered deep in the Pine Barrens…the victim of ritual murder. And unearthed with it is an ancient artifact carved with strange designs. Where and when is it from? What is the secret of the corpse? What other mysteries hide in the dark, timeless Pine Barrens? And who doesn't want them revealed? The world, Jack's town, the surrounding Barrens, even Jack himself—they all have… SECRET HISTORIES

When his five-year-old neighbor goes missing, Jack can’t help feeling responsible. He should have taken Cody home when he found him riding his bicycle near the Pine Barrens. And then a lost man wanders out of the woods after being chased all night by...something. Jack knows, better than anyone, that the Barrens are dangerous—a true wilderness filled with people, creatures, and objects lost from sight and memory. Like the ancient, fifteen-foot-tall stone pyramid he, Weezy, and Eddie discover. Jack thinks it might have been a cage of some sort, but for what kind of animal, he can’t say. Eddie jokes that it could have been used for the Jersey Devil. Jack doesn't believe in that old folk tale, but something is roaming the Pines. Could it have Cody? And what about the strange circus that set up outside town? Could they be involved? So many possibilities, so little time...

Everyone loves senior Carson Toliver, the captain and quarterback of the football team, heartthrob of South Burlington County Regional High―especially the girls. Even Jack's best friend Weezy has a crush on him. And unlike most of the popular kids at school, he's not stuck up. Jack even sees him defending a piney kid who is being bullied in the hall. Which is why Jack is so surprised when Weezy tells him that Carson took her on a date and attacked her. Jack tries to convince her to report Carson, but Weezy would rather just forget it ever happened. She begs him not to tell anyone, and Jack reluctantly agrees. But then Carson starts telling his own version of what happened that night and suddenly everyone is calling her "Easy Weezy." Jack's concern turns to rage. Carson needs to be taught a lesson. With the help of the pineys―reclusive inhabitants of the mysterious Jersey Pine Barrens who have secrets of their own―Jack finds a way to exact secret vengeance… In F. Paul Wilson's third young adult novel, the teenage Jack demonstrates the skills that will serve him later in life as the urban mercenary known as Repairman Jack.