Jack Reacher

[Eegah]

With the news that a second Jack Reacher film is in the works, it seems a good time to open up a thread here. I watched the movie first, and absolutely adored it, so I quickly got to checking out the series. I'd already heard full well how Tom Cruise was absolutely nothing like Lee Child's character so that wasn't a surprise, though what did catch me a bit off guard were the serious growing pains the series goes through. Child started the series in his late 30s, having never written any fiction before, and you can really feel him getting a sense of what works and what doesn't about the character and his writing style. I've read five so far:

 

Killing Floor: A lot of times with series like this you see recommendations that the first book isn't a good one to start with, but that's definitely not the case here. It's got a real Bad Day at Black Rock feel, with that same constant tension as you try to figure out along with Reacher who he can trust in a small town full of nasty people. The reveal of the villain's plan is incredibly clever and still the best plot twist I've seen in the series so far. There's also the oddity of being the only book so far (though I've heard there's more) written in the first person, which lets Reacher be more of an actual character rather than the superhuman action hero he becomes later.

 

Die Trying: Child already shows he's not content to rest on any formula, giving us a straight action piece without any kind of mystery. This kind of story lives and dies on how well its set pieces hold up, and most of them do pretty well. Also welcome is the book's love interest, who kicks plenty of ass in her own right despite having a broken leg, both physically and with her ingenuity. I'd love to see her come back some time.

 

Tripwire: Easily the low point of the first five. After a promising start with another intriguing mystery, Child proceeds to let us in on most of what's going on right away, meaning we spend most of the book simply waiting for Reacher to catch up to us. His investigation would likely work pretty well on its own so I have no idea why he did this, especially since there's not even any action pieces to keep our interest up. There is a decent twist at the end, but since we had no reason to suspect it was coming, it doesn't do much to redeem the slog it took to get there.

 

Running Blind: Now this is more like what I imagine Child was going for in the last one. It's another with far more emphasis on the mystery than the action, but this time we get to figure it out along with Reacher again. And while I did guess who the culprit was pretty early on, it was still fun watching the pretty reasonable set of deductions Child lays out in wrong directions until finally Reacher hits the right one.

 

Echo Burning: This one is another big experiment with the formula, spending its whole first half appearing to be another straight action story before shifting gears to introduce a mystery that grows completely naturally out of what came before. It's the best combination of the two storytelling methods since book one, and also has the advantage of easily the most satisfying climax in the series thus far. I'd call this the best of the first five, and it has me quite excited to see what's next.

[King of Birds]

Good interview with Lee Child and Stephen King.

[ramble]

I've read all the Reacher books & enjoyed them. I agree that one can see the growth of Child as a writer as the series develops. These books are also easy for me to enjoy upon rereading & that's a big plus in my opinion.

I will say however, I hated the Jack Reacher movie immensely. I could not get past Tom Cruise playing a character whose very physical size is a huge part of who he is. The story, while not bad, could not make up for that. It felt like another generic Tom Cruise action flick. I'm glad I waited until it was free on Amazon.

[SmithW6079]

I think Lee Childs is a great example of the difference between a best-selling author and a good writer. That being said, I like the Reacher books. They're quick reads and usually enjoyable, although I haven't read one in a very long time.

 

Ultimately, though, I find Reacher to be a very sad protagonist. I never finish one without wondering what kind of mentality drives a man to be a homeless drifter. Plus, the way he wears clothes for days on end without washing them is kind of gross -- I think one of the books even addresses the issue. 

 

A couple of the books that deal with his brother make me wish we got to know him better. 

 

The less said about the travesty of homunculus Tom Cruise playing giant Jack Reacher the better. Aside from the height issue, Tom Cruise does not project the animal magnetism that I imagine Reacher has -- and he must, if he gets the girls to sleep with him despite his questionable hygiene.  

[Hanahope]

I too started reading the series after seeing the Tom Cruise film (which I only saw a month or so ago from netflix), mainly because the story sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a try.  I like starting at the beginning, so I'm reading in order.  Just finished the third, and had to chuckle that I figured out who the villian was before Reacher.  I liked the second best so far, perhaps because it had a good strong female character.  The first book was decent, but it just made me sad about Reacher now having no family at all.

 

I'm guessing his books got a lot more popular after the movie because I can't buy them cheaply (i.e. a dollar or two) anywhere, so I'm using my local library instead.  I see there are 20 books.  I'll be here awhile.

[riverblue22]

I'm a long time Jack Reacher fan, and I've read most of them more than once.  What I really like to do is listen to them on audiobook.  The reader, Dick Hill, is as important to the story for me as Reacher is.  They are great to listen to on long trips--even my husband enjoys them while traveling and he never reads fiction.

[Mrs. P.]

I'm a long time Jack Reacher fan, and I've read most of them more than once. What I really like to do is listen to them on audiobook. The reader, Dick Hill, is as important to the story for me as Reacher is. They are great to listen to on long trips--even my husband enjoys them while traveling and he never reads fiction.

Absolutely. Dick Hill is a great narrator of the Reacher books. I love listening to him.

I've read all of the series. The last few have been a little disappointing, but I just finished the latest, Make Me, and loved it. It's the first time I can remember that Reacher showed a physical vulnerability, and that made it more interesting to me.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Mrs. P.

[Hanahope]

Just finished reading Running Blind and was very impressed.  I didn't catch on that it was a woman, and had to go back and read some of the killer's thoughts and saw, oh yeah, there never was pronoun used for the killer.   I did start to consider hypnotism when Allison was killed because I couldn't figure how else the killer could get the women so complacent, but I thought it was some other psychiatrist conducting support groups for the women, and I too always thought it was man.  So great misdirection there.

 

The only thing I expected to happen, but didn't, was Reacher commenting on some clue from Lamar's complete antagonism towards him, especially since she knew, even as 'just an agent' there was no way he was the killer.  I was sad he ended up killing her, since it would have been fun to read her reaction to him finding her out.

 

It certainly reinforces my pre-existing decision never to be hypnotized.  That's just so frightening that one can really make you do actions that end up causing death.

 

Onto Echo Burning.  Will try and read a bit more carefully this time for 'hidden' clues.

[MzLiz]

I love Jack Reacher! I've read all of them and just recently reread most of them. I like the one that references his military days. At least one is a story told during that time.

I was apprehensive about the movie. Tom cruise certainly wan't what I had in mind when I see Jack Reacher, but physical differences aside, I though he did a good job. I thought he got the attitude pretty well. I'm not sure I'd have picked that book for the movie, but Never Go Back is a better choice for the 2nd movie. I really liked that book. Lot of story going on though, might be hard to condense it to 2 hours.

Jack Reacher is BAMF which is probably why I like him. :)

Ultimately, though, I find Reacher to be a very sad protagonist. I never finish one without wondering what kind of mentality drives a man to be a homeless

I don't think it's such a far leap. He essentially spent his entire life as a drifter. First as a military brat and then as part of the military. Up and move on a dime on military orders. To him, it's probably normal.

[Hanahope]

Echo Burning: This one is another big experiment with the formula, spending its whole first half appearing to be another straight action story before shifting gears to introduce a mystery that grows completely naturally out of what came before. It's the best combination of the two storytelling methods since book one, and also has the advantage of easily the most satisfying climax in the series thus far. I'd call this the best of the first five, and it has me quite excited to see what's next.

 

I did think it was good, but the plot/mystery was pretty easy to solve, at least in general.  There was only a few possible 'solutions' when everything is clearly 'connected' in some way and really only one possibility as to who was the main 'bad guy.'

 

One thing I have noticed is when Reacher makes a decision as to "the facts" and then someone later says or presents 'evidence' that makes Jack think or say "hm, I was wrong" it turns out that Jack wasn't wrong, he's never really wrong, and now that starts to be the clue as to who is the main antagonist.

 

That said, I'm still enjoying the 'journey'.  Next two on order from my library.

Echo Burning: This one is another big experiment with the formula, spending its whole first half appearing to be another straight action story before shifting gears to introduce a mystery that grows completely naturally out of what came before. It's the best combination of the two storytelling methods since book one, and also has the advantage of easily the most satisfying climax in the series thus far. I'd call this the best of the first five, and it has me quite excited to see what's next.

 

I did think it was good, but the plot/mystery was pretty easy to solve, at least in general.  There was only a few possible 'solutions' when everything is clearly 'connected' in some way and really only one possibility as to who was the main 'bad guy.'

 

One thing I have noticed is when Reacher makes a decision as to "the facts" and then someone later says or presents 'evidence' that makes Jack think or say "hm, I was wrong" it turns out that Jack wasn't wrong, he's never really wrong, and now that starts to be the clue as to who is the main antagonist.

 

That said, I'm still enjoying the 'journey'.  Next two on order from my library.

[SmithW6079]

A story from September at MarketWatch.com about Lee Child and his attitude toward money

 

Bestselling author Lee Child keeps all his money in cash (as does Jack Reacher)

 

Ultimately, though, I find Reacher to be a very sad protagonist. I never finish one without wondering what kind of mentality drives a man to be a homeless

 

I don't think it's such a far leap. He essentially spent his entire life as a drifter. First as a military brat and then as part of the military. Up and move on a dime on military orders. To him, it's probably normal.

 

 

I think it goes beyond just something that feels normal. Being a drifter is a conscious decision Reacher made. I guess it just makes me sad for him that this character never feels at home anywhere. It's the opposite of someone who can make any place they live a home.

Edited December 14, 2015 by SmithW6079