Jack Reacher Book 1
Lee Child
Penguin Random House Canada
ISBN 9780515153651
eISBN 9781101147054
ASIN B000OZ0NXA
This is only the second Jack Reacher novel that I have read. It was the first one published and currently is the fourth novel in chronological order. It was a little weird reading this one after reading Past Tense, which was written in a third person voice, to this book which is written in the first person. From a list I found it appears that about a third of the books are written in the first person. The other factor is that I have read the No Middle Name Short Story Collection, and five of the stories in that collection take place before the events in this book. In the span of two weeks I have read the short story collection and 2 of the novels and am now well into a third. I have set the goal of reading the whole series this year.
One of the things that has fascinated me about the series and this book, is the author is British. And het instead of writing about a former member of her Majesties military he chose to write about an American and an ex member of the Military Police. I wonder if when he wrote this first book he knew it would span over 20 novels and currently 15 short stories (even if the latest is not available in Canada yet.)
This book was a little more violent and gruesome than any of the others I have read to date. There is some pretty extreme violence done to the victims, and Reacher himself needs to resort to very heavy-handed tactics to protect himself and others. The story begins with Reacher being arrested for a murder he knows he did not commit. After a few hours at the police stations the Chief of Margrave, Georgia says that he saw Reacher around the time and place of the murder. Jack knows that he did not kill anybody lately and not in a place he had never been before. But he soon stumbles into a conspiracy and plat that goes much deeper than even he could guess.
The story is part mystery and part crime. And All about a man who knows how to look after himself. But once you have crossed him, he will make sure to settle the score. And in this novel, he ends up in prison, has encounters with two different gangs there. And finds out that this case might be a lot more personal then he ever could have imagined.
There are over 100 editions of this book in different formats, and different languages. I really appreciate the simplicity of the covers on the UK editions, but no matter what edition you read it is an intense book. At 50 years of age, I should know better than to stay up reading, but this book was so good I stayed up way later than I should have on a work night because I could just not put it down.
Being late to the Reacher books I am jumping around in my reading. But if you have not read this one and are a fan of the books, the genre or movies you should give it a go. It is an excellent read!
Books by Lee Child:
Jack Reacher Books Publishing Order:
Killing Floor
Die Trying
Tripwire
The Visitor /Running Blind
Echo Burning
Without Fail
Persuader
The Enemy
One Shot
The Hard Way
Bad Luck and Trouble
Nothing to Lose
Gone Tomorrow
61 Hours
Worth Dying For
The Affair
A Wanted Man
Never Go Back
Personal
Make Me
Night School
The Midnight Line
Past Tense
Blue Moon
The Sentinel Jack Reacher's Rules
...
Reacher Short Stories and Novella’s:
No Middle Name – Complete Collected Short Stories
Stories in No Middle Name Collection:
Too Much Time
Second Son
Deep Down
Guy Walks into A Bar
James Penney’s New Identity
High Heat
Everyone Talks
Not A Drill
Small Wars
Maybe They Have A Tradition
No Room At The Motel
The Picture of the Lonely Diner
Other Short Stories:
The Fourth Man
The Christmas Scorpion
...
Faking a Murderer with Kathy Reichs
Cleaning the Gold with Karin Slaughter
Good and Valuable Consideration with Joseph Finder
...
Other Books by Lee Child
The Hero
Jack Reacher: A Mysterious Profile
...
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