Jack Reacher Book 21.5
The Complete Short Stories
Lee Child
Random House Canada
ISBN 9780399593598
eISBN 9780399593581
ASIN B01MTJQFQY
Prior to reading this collection I had only see the movies and read ‘Past Tense’. I loved ‘Past Tense’ so much that even before I had finished it I picked up this volume to get a wide range of Reacher stories under my belt. It did not disappoint. The twelve of the stories in this collection had previously been published between 2009 and 2017. The stories are:
Too Much Time
Second Son
High Heat
Deep Down
Small Wars
James Penney’s New Identity
Everyone Talks
Not a Drill
Maybe They Have a Tradition
Guy Walks into a Bar
No Room at the Motel
The Picture of the Lonely Diner
As someone fairly new to the Reacher stories I loved this collection. Especially the stories when he was 13 and 17. The collection includes stories from Reacher’s youth, from his time in the military, and his time post military as a nomad.
I know that in the publishing industry today it is often expected to release a short story or novella between novels especially as series progress. But writing short stories is a very different art form than writing novels. The advantage that Lee Child has is that Reacher is a known commodity. Weather readers are long time fans or new to the books, or even just seen the movies, when Jack Reacher is the main character, we have a pretty good idea that most times there will be some fights, and someone to protect, and a problem to solve. But even with that being said, there are some excellent stories in this collection. I loved the story ‘Second Son’, and 'High Heat' was great except for the incident in the car. And the two stories that surprised me most were ‘James Penney’s New Identity’ and ‘Everyone Talks’. I also appreciated the ‘No Room at the Motel’ both for what happens and what it alludes to.
For fans of the series who have not read them there are some serious gems in this collection. For fans of short stories it is a collection that spans Reacher’s many years. If you like the movies, the books, or just short stories you owe it to yourself to give this series a 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
...
No comments:
Post a Comment