You would probably have to have been living in a cave for the past twenty five years or so to have never heard of Lee Child or his main man Jack Reacher.
I've probably seen as many films with pint-sized Tom Cruise as the lead as I've read books in the series and I can't remember what ones they were anyway..... pre blog days when I wasn't making lists or keeping records.I guess I'll try and start at the beginning again when I eventually get back to the series.
If I want to play catch-up the series is upto about 25 books at the minute. I think I have most of the first dozen on the shelves.
Killing Floor (1997)
"This was the first Jack Reacher novel and with its lean, spare prose it has one of the most intriguing heroes of our times and displays a gift for explosive drama." (Daily Express)Jack Reacher jumps off a bus and walks fourteen miles down a country road into Margrave, Georgia. An arbitrary decision he's about to regret.
Reacher is the only stranger in town on the day they have had their first homicide in thirty years.The cops arrest Reacher and the police chief turns eyewitness to place him at the scene. As nasty secrets leak out, and the body count mounts, one thing is for sure.
They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.
Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, Killing Floor is the first book in the internationally popular series. It presents Reacher for the first time, as the tough ex-military cop of no fixed abode: a righter of wrongs, the perfect action hero.
Die Trying (1998)
Jack Reacher, alone, strolling nowhere.
A Chicago street in bright sunshine. A young woman, struggling on crutches. Reacher offers her a steadying arm.
And turns to see a handgun aimed at his stomach.
Chained in a dark van racing across America, Reacher doesn't know why they've been kidnapped. The woman claims to be FBI. She's certainly tough enough. But at their remote destination, will raw courage be enough to overcome the hopeless odds?
Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, this is the 2nd in the series.
It is one of those long-running series that's stayed quite popular, Col. I have to admit; I haven't seen the Tom Cruise films. I just cannot see him as Reacher. I'm probably not being fair, but still... At any rate, I hope you enjoy your re-acquaintance with the series.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the books when I get back to them. And the films if I ever re-visit them, even though Cruise isn't built in the same mould as the character.
DeleteCol – I’ve read some Lee Child and listed to more. The man really knows how to make a story move.
ReplyDeleteElgin, agreed.
DeleteI have read a few of the books in the Jack Reacher series. I have read these two books, and One Shot and Never Go Back, the two books that were made into films. I wanted to read the books before I saw the films. We saw the first film and liked it. It did not bother me that Tom Cruise was not the same physique as Jack Reacher. We still haven't seen the second film though. I liked the book a lot, and I bought quite a few of the earlier books at the book sale last year, some still in the uncataloged box.
ReplyDeleteTracy, I'm glad that you've enjoyed both formats of Reacher. I hope you cathc up with more in the future!
DeleteI used to read each installment but lost interest with the Tom Cruise debacle. While I was displeased with Tom Cruise being cast, it was Lee Child's attitude towards his long time fans that caused my loss of interest. In some interviews I read he more or less told his devoted fans to piss off and get over it. To me, I understood getting the movies made, but for an author to be so dismissive of the fans that stayed with this series for so long was disappointing in the least (it would have been much better if he had just said, "Hey, I sold the rights and once that is done, author's don't have much else to say in many instances."
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting. I wasn't aware of the furore over Reacher/Cruise and the author's input into the debate. Interesting.
DeleteThat should be "listened" to more
ReplyDeletegot it!
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