If you aren't familiar with Lee Child's books, as I wasn't, you should know that his stories involve Jack Reacher, a former army officer who went to Westpoint, a big man who now, apparently, doesn't own a home, a car, a cell phone, anything. Heck, he even buys clothes, wears them until they're dirty, then gets rid of them. He's a hard man to find, and he travels light.
But Jack Reacher is our hero.
In ONE SHOT Reacher comes to Indiana when he learns that a former soldier he knew in the army is accused of the mass murder of five people there who were leaving a DMV building. He finds out that all is not as simple as that, though, and he stays longer than he intended. (By the way, he wears the same $45 pants and shirt throughout the book.)
I had always avoided Lee Child's books just because I assumed they were cheap fiction, the kind I see dozens of at used book sales. So ONE SHOT was my first because I was curious and because I got the book for free.
Now I think I'll buy more. I enjoyed ONE SHOT. It's not literature, but it's a fine, well-written thriller. I'll be picking up his novels when I see them in the future.
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Comments: 9
Thanks for posting this.
Nah I picked up a few Lee Child books at a garage sale and have been buying and reading him since. Right now I'm reading Nothing To Lose. Jack Reacher rocks.
I revised my post about Lee Child's ONE SHOT. I thought my original post, the one you comment on, made it sound like I didn't think it was as good as it was. I, too, found ONE SHOT at a used book sale and got it for free but then decided it was worth spending money on. I read in the New York Times that he's the most popular thriller writer in England.
A lot of the books I read today came from trades while on training exercises in the US Army. I'd run out then trade for others with people in the unit.
If someone has written (and sold) so many books, there's usually something worth reading there. No one who is really awful can sustain that kind of backing by the publisher in today's world. I've heard the name Lee Child before but never read anything by him. I'll have to give him a go.
You'll like his books, I'm sure, although I've read only the one so far.
I have to disagree, though, that "If someone has written (and sold) so many books, there's usually something worth reading there." I can think of many authors who sell lots of books that I think are trash. For example, Danielle Steele and Kitty Kelly are popular with, I feel, people with bad taste. If you like those authors, Christine, which I doubt, I apologize for insulting your taste.
Thanks for posting your review to the Gather group, Bookin'.
Thank you for this review. I have just finished reading Persuader by Lee Child and it was a great action/thriller with a lot of twists and turns. You should pick it up.
Thanks. I'll add it to my list of books to read.