Rating: 
Summary: Lucky me!
Review: The review of the new Jack Reacher novel says the publisher is using the slogan "The best writer you're not reading-yet!" Lucky, lucky me! I discovered Jack Reacher with this book and have read the following books with great relish! Lee Child is a great writer and Jack Reacher is a great character; someone a man would like to emulate and a woman (like me!) would love to meet. I can review 4-in-1. Read all of Child's work, starting with Killing Floor. You'll be very glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous... I couldn't put it down.
Review: I enjoy Lee Child's writing style and I appreciated his unconventional hero, a guy who is true to his upbringing and training and doesn't waste time moralizing or wallowing in self-doubt. This book is a page turner, I stayed up way past midnight reading it and only reason I put it down is because I couldn't focus any longer on the page. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the "Jack Reacher" books. This book is for you if you've also enjoyed the following: Bourne Identity, Without Remorse, Point of Impact (and all Bob Lee Swagger stories), J. Maxim's Bannerman series, Daniel Silva's Gabrial Allon, or Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series.
Rating: 
Summary: I love Jack Reacher
Review: My husband and I go through books like water and are always looking for a new author to satisfy our appetite. When we find one we both like, we tend to fly through everything in the series. This is one of those series. The whole idea of this being far fetched is what is so scary - it could be true! Who would ever believe you if you told them about it? Making Reacher a drifter is the perfect solution to the worst problem most serial heroes have - I mean, how many bodies can one person discover before everyone in their small town is dead? The fact that he is not devastatingly handsome or rich and travels by Greyhound gives him a humanity that makes you want to take him home and feed him a hot meal. I love Jack Reacher!
Rating: 
Summary: Not your typical hero.
Review: As mentioned in other reviews some of the coincidences that make up the core of the story are a little hard to swallow. But it does little to hurt what is otherwise a very intriguing story. Jack Reacher is a pleasant departure from the usual action hero. He does what he must to get the job done without wrestling his conscience. When he dispatches a bad guy,and they're very bad, there is no clever little quip, no dramatic showdown. He has no qualms about shooting first without warning or throwing the first punch. Jack is a very interesting character and I look forward to reading more of his adventures.
There are a few minor details that I hope get cleaned up in future stories. jack just wanders the country with only the clothes on his back, no shaving kit, no change of socks and underwear, no deodorant. The notion of the wandering loner is romantic but in reading about Jack I began to think that he must reek! Obviously he doesn't as Officer Roscoe will attest but for the sake of nit picky jerks like me... give the guy a knapsack or something! It won't slow him down any.
Rating:
Summary: Passable Floor
Review: Too many things link up perfectly in this book. It just seems so far fetched to believe in half of the mumbo-jumbo of this book. Although it is an incredibly imanginative plot, Child goes wrong when he continues to add wood in the fire. Also, what police department in the world lets some drifter run a complete investigation???
Three stars because I did like Reacher in a wishy washy way..It was a good plot (just went off track when he realizes it was his brother, don't want to say much more:) and I do like suspense novels and this has lots of suspense. Happy Read :)
Rating: 
Summary: Jack Reacher, a new Hero
Review: The book is very well written. Well at least for the first few pages. The idea is pretty good: J. Reacher visits a village and get's arrested for murder which he didn't commited. I do believe some people think it is an interesting read but for me it was just to unrealistic. I mean an ex-military policeman who can fight everybody and finds every clue was for me a little too herotic. A person this perfect gives me a lack of suspense. 2 stars
Rating:
Summary: Not as smart as it pretends to be
Review: What is it with British genre writers? They love to set their stories in the U.S., but actually researching the country seems to be too much work. So they wing it. Or they invent silly plot gimmicks to explain their lapses. Lee Child does both. The big gimmick here is that Jack Reacher has spent his entire life outside the U.S., first as a Marine Corps brat, then as an officer in the U.S. Army MPs. This is supposed to explain how he's "exploring America" and relatively ignorant of its ways. It's a pretty bogus gimmick (I can't think of any more "American" place to grow up than a U.S. miltary base -- even the ones overseas). And it doesn't do anything for a lot of related lapses, like the fact nobody investigating a counterfeiting ring seems to have ever heard of the Secret Service! There are more lapses of a more logical nature. The story begins with a very engaging scene where Reacher is arrested by a group of heavily-armed well-trained cops. The scene is interesting because Reacher spends the arrest critiquing the police technique of the arresting officers (they're colleagues after all!). His assessment is that they're very-well trained, with a few minor lapses that turn out to be crucial to the plot. Except that it makes no sense. It turns out that the cops work for a backwater city with no history of violent crime, and every reason *not* to want well-trained cops around. Add to the mix an unlikely scheme for buying off every single inhabitant of the town, a lot of flawed logic as Reacher and his cohorts "deduce and detect", a fair number of coincidences and improbabilities, and you end up with a story that's just plain dumb. There's also a lot of violence. It struck me as realistic enough -- actually too realistic for my taste. If that's what you like in your thrillers, by all means, buy this book. But lets not pretend there's anything deep here.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, well read
Review: Lee Child is off to a great start -- good plotting and characters, crisp writing, great suspense, and an opening chapter that really pulls you in. Jack Reacher is good company and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the novels in this series. If you're into audio books, the unabridged reading by Dick Hill is outstanding. Hill brings each character to life, and does a particularly good job with three elderly black characters - the town's two barbers and their sister.
Rating:
Summary: Like sandwich with all the works and a quick wrapping.
Review: Lee Child displayed his natural talent on his first book. He has a straightforward, masculine manner which is reflected in the protagonist's personality and his often scornful view of the other characters. From the first page, he dives into the plot when Jack Reacher, the good guy, gets arrested for murder when he stops for coffee in a strange, small town. Without giving too much away, there's a lot of detailed action scenes and Child, who was a tv writer, sure researched forensic science for the investigations and theories are thoroughly explained. Child favors action over sex in a book because when it comes to love scenes, we have to settle for one sentence summaries. Maybe Reacher who is tough, seasoned, and practical wouldn't waste time reciting the bed's ventures when he could be out coaxing strategies to catch his enemies. I even learned things about currency, analyzing crime scenes and scenarios. I was quite drawn by the events and was happy to be stringed along. I was let down by the brash conclusion and Reacher's reaction to it but this book is a thriller and a thriller's #1 rule is: People are drawn to thrillers for the build up while attempting to analyze and solve the puzzle themselves and when they do solve it, it's just a picture of a silly bird, plane, or whatever. The outcome is not the point, we just like being toyed with. I still think the ending could have been better though.
Rating:
Summary: Whodunit With a Unique Antihero
Review: Jack Reacher is a drifter who walked into the wrong town. Eight hours after he gets off the bus in Margrave, Ga., Reacher is arrested at gunpoint for a brutal homicide. He's brought in for questioning and detained until the police realize they've nabbed the wrong man. With Reacher's aid, the police haul in another suspect -- who promptly confesses to the crime, even though he also didn't do it. More bodies start piling up in this strange, quiet town and a conspiracy is slowly revealed. Though Reacher stopped in Margrave on a whim, it soon becomes clear that he's knee-deep in its rash of vicious murders. Reacher is a cold fellow, lacking much in the personality department. He is methodical and violent when the situation calls for it; the rest of the time, he's simply floating from one dangerous situation to another. The first book in the Jack Reacher series, "Killing Floor" starts off with a bang, but soon slows to the pace of a hot, muggy Southern morning. The story occasionally picks up speed, but the twists and turns of the mystery are revealed in an erratic fashion. There is a masculine quality to the storytelling style -- few words are wasted on frills or emotions. One love scene happened so fast, I almost missed it. However, once you settle into this novel (about 200 pages in), "Killing Floor" offers an appealing whodunit with a unique antihero.
| 
