After golfing in Bermuda for a number of years, author F. Paul Wilson said the feel of Bermuda has changed and has become much more corporate.

However, this didn?t stop him from using Bermuda as a backdrop for ?Infernal?, one of the latest Repairman Jack novels, released in November 2005 by Forge Books.

Infernal continues the adventures of Jack who is a ?repairman? called upon to discreetly clean-up (in a knuckle-crunching way) various messes. This novel begins in New York City when Jack is reunited with his father only to lose him to a 9-11-like airport bombing. As Jack tries to solve the mystery of the bombing, he is unwillingly thrown back into contact with his estranged brother Tom, a crooked judge.

Tom drags Jack to Bermuda on a search for a magical object the Lilitongue of Gefreda, lost several centuries ago in a shipwreck off Bermuda. When they find the artefact it unleashes paranormal havoc on Jack?s life.

?I have been to Bermuda many times,? Mr. Wilson told the Bookworm Beat in a telephone interview. ?I had my honeymoon there. I use to go to the Belmont Hotel every December for at least a decade to play golf with some friends and stay with some friends. It was great.

?It is changing so much. It is not just getting more built up, the feel is changing. It seems more corporate. It seemed a lot more collegial. But I wonder if Bermuda natives take the beauty for granted. You see it every day, maybe.?

He said that although he was in Bermuda to play golf, he really isn?t very good at it, so he uses his time to think and write down story ideas. The result is that the novel is very true to Bermuda, but from the point of view of a very familiar tourist. There aren?t many encounters with Bermudians in the book, or any looks below the pretty surface.

?Infernal? is the ninth book in the Repairman Jack series, but it is only the second time the books have left New York City. The other time was to the Florida Everglades.

?I always planned to do something set in Bermuda,? said Mr. Wilson. ?I was always taking mental notes and writing a few things down.

?I was always lining up maps of wrecks and the diving and that sort of thing. When I was ready to go I had a nice backlog of information. So, in a way, I spent years decades writing this.?

Mr. Wilson said he writes an average of one novel a year, although he has been known to complete two novels in a year. He is a physician, but he has been cutting back on his medical work to make more time to write.

?I am down to one and half days a week family practice,? he said. ?I did it full-time until 1994.

?Then I was working on many writing projects and making more money from writing than from medicine. The choice was obvious.?

He said that inspiration comes to him in different ways.

?I hear people talking about an idea,? he said. ?I am hoping to live long enough to write all the books in my head. I did a novel called ?Sims? about genetically enhancing chimps to make them more intelligent. That came from one line in the . Chimps and humans share 1.6 percent difference in genes. I asked myself, what if it was one percent difference??

Mr. Wilson said he doesn?t need to wait for inspiration, he finds that it pops up all over the place.

?I just read an article about people who were hit by lightening more than once,? he said. ?Then I had a story.?

He said that his popping from one genre to another has always presented a problem for the marketing department of his publishing house.

?They are always asking, ?what is Wilson going to do now?? With Repairman Jack, I have found that I can do a medical thriller.

?I can do a supernatural. I can do a bit of haunted house. I can do what I like as long as he is in it. The readers are happy and the marketing department is happy.?

He said the Lilitongue of Gefreda, the magical object that Tom is searching for in ?Infernal? was a made up item, but was partly inspired by the wreck diving Mr. Wilson has done around Bermuda.

?So far the critics have been very nice to ?Infernal?,? said Mr. Wilson. ?In general, the Repairman Jack faithful are happy, but there has been some carping. There was a lot of character development in this particular novel, and some people were complaining there wasn?t as much action.

?I couldn?t resist the idea of contrasting the ethical code of Jack, a guy who is a career criminal and that of a judge. Jack says in the book, ?I am a criminal not a crook?.

?One thing about Jack is that I allow him to make mistakes, which a lot of readers find refreshing.?

?Infernal? ends with Tom?s disappearance. Mr. Wilson said he may bring Tom back again, or develop his story a little more.