Love Bosch!
Lee Child/Jack Reacher
- Thread starter bobbynash
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Love Bosch!
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Nancy Drew books are better.
Hah! I remember enjoying Nancy Drew when I was a kid, as well as the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and a few other such series. Talk about being written by committee!
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- #24
Giving Petrie a try, reading The Drifter. So far, so good. Thanks for the tip
I'd tending toward being an ex-Reacher fan. I like almost all the earlier ones, up to about Night School, that just didn't seem to have been written by Lee Child. The last one was just a rehash of a couple of earlier books in too many ways so I am torn between trying the new one and not bothering.
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- #26
I agree. I suspect when you attain the level of sales success that Child has reached with the Reacher series that there is very little if any editing. I also think at some point you just run out of ideas? People (like me) reflexively buy the new book every year. But I'm done. The latest effort(s) would not have made in into print but for the fact it was a Lee Child/Jack Reacher book. It was nothing short of ridiculous.
Interesting. I really did not think the latest Reacher book was any better or worse than previous Reacher books. at least the recent ones. All are pretty outlandish. I thought the, say, the seond and third books in the series seemed not as good as others. It seemed to me at the time that the "love" scenes were awkwardly written. Lee Child seems to have gotten a lot better with those. I did not do an extensive look for reviews of this latest book, but what I saw seemed decent to me.
I did come across this Malcom Gladwell quote about Jack Reacher:
"The traditional Western was a fantasy about lawfulness: it was based on a longing for order among those who had been living without it for too long. The heroes conduct themselves according to strict rules of chivalry. They act— insofar as it is possible —with restraint. In the world we live in today, by contrast, we have too much order: we are, as we have been reminded so frequently lately, over-policed. Our contemporary fantasy is about lawlessness: about what would happen if the institutions of civility melted away and all we were left with was a hard-muscled, rangy guy who could do all the necessary calculations in his head to insure that the bad guy got what he had coming. That's why there are rarely any police in Reacher novels—or judges or courts or lawyers or any discussion or consideration of the law. Nor is there any restraint on the part of the hero. He's not pointing toward a more civilized tomorrow. He's leading us back into the wilderness, with the reassurance that our psychopaths are bigger and stronger than the bad guys' psychopaths."
I do not know that I agree with Gladwell. In particular, I do not know that we are over-policed. I work in the city. Seems to me a lot could happen to me with little recourse to anyone. I do not think of Reacher as being a psychopath. But Gladwell is thoughtful and writes well.
I did come across this Malcom Gladwell quote about Jack Reacher:
"The traditional Western was a fantasy about lawfulness: it was based on a longing for order among those who had been living without it for too long. The heroes conduct themselves according to strict rules of chivalry. They act— insofar as it is possible —with restraint. In the world we live in today, by contrast, we have too much order: we are, as we have been reminded so frequently lately, over-policed. Our contemporary fantasy is about lawlessness: about what would happen if the institutions of civility melted away and all we were left with was a hard-muscled, rangy guy who could do all the necessary calculations in his head to insure that the bad guy got what he had coming. That's why there are rarely any police in Reacher novels—or judges or courts or lawyers or any discussion or consideration of the law. Nor is there any restraint on the part of the hero. He's not pointing toward a more civilized tomorrow. He's leading us back into the wilderness, with the reassurance that our psychopaths are bigger and stronger than the bad guys' psychopaths."
I do not know that I agree with Gladwell. In particular, I do not know that we are over-policed. I work in the city. Seems to me a lot could happen to me with little recourse to anyone. I do not think of Reacher as being a psychopath. But Gladwell is thoughtful and writes well.
Time to 'fess up to an awful crime: that of dumping a book. We went away for a few days and I picked up the latest Reacher at the airport. I didn't start reading it till we were in our hotel resting after watching the wife shop...
I got about 20% of the way in, and thought I just cannot be bothered with this. I slogged on a bit more, and it was a slog and then put it down, and went for a drink instead.
I left the book in the room. That's me done with new Reachers. I might still flick through well-worn ones on planes when I don't want to think too hard, but Child has hit the wall I think.
Child's latest, "Blue Moon," seems to be a retelling of the motion pictures "Yojimbo" and "Last Man Standing". Of the three, I prefer Walter Hill's "Last Man," myself (which will offend Kurosawa fans to no end).
That said, "Blue Moon" appears to be a less-than-successful attempt to rescue Reacher from the rut he's fallen into--something that's all too common among franchise protagonists. Let's hope Child rescues Reacher from those small, corrupt heartland towns by his next publication date. Personally, I'd like to see Jack take on the whole Hollywood/L.A. scene. Those would be some heads worth cracking.
That said, "Blue Moon" appears to be a less-than-successful attempt to rescue Reacher from the rut he's fallen into--something that's all too common among franchise protagonists. Let's hope Child rescues Reacher from those small, corrupt heartland towns by his next publication date. Personally, I'd like to see Jack take on the whole Hollywood/L.A. scene. Those would be some heads worth cracking.
garyg
B&B membership has its percs
We'll see - just received the enotice from my library that Blue Moon is available for pickup from my requested borrows list. Seems that recently the fiction supply is a bit thin ..
I made it through Closing Time (sequel to Catch 22) through sheer stubbornness. I have never wanted to burn a book before, but I got close with that one.
I started with Jack Reacher #1 Killing Floor, and worked my way to following every one that comes out. One of a select few series that I follow, including:
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, Robert Crais
Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard, Michael Connelly
Gray Man series, Mark Greaney
Amos Decker, David Baldacci
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, Robert Crais
Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard, Michael Connelly
Gray Man series, Mark Greaney
Amos Decker, David Baldacci
Elvis and Joe are great, as is Robert Crais.
I'll grab the new Reacher when I have time.
I'm seriously bored with Harlan Coben; it's always a huge shock in the 1st 8 pages followed by formulaic dreck.
I'll grab the new Reacher when I have time.
I'm seriously bored with Harlan Coben; it's always a huge shock in the 1st 8 pages followed by formulaic dreck.
Well this move certainly makes sense in light of issues raised by the OP. But will the swapping out authors actually improve the quality of Reacher novels?
www.bbc.com
Jack Reacher author Lee Child passes writing baton to brother
Lee Child had considered killing off title character before getting his younger sibling to take over.
I think the premise of Reacher turning up in a small town, which is beset by some problem, whether gang or peadophile ring or snuff movie makers, and bashing his way through it, has, for me, passed its sell by date. If the younger brother say writes about Reacher's Army days (or at least involves Neagley!) I would be interested.
You all are starting to turn me against the Reacher series!
Agreed
That was Lee Child mate!
As a youngster I waded through nearly 100 of the Doc Savage books and have read all the Bond books from Fleming to Horowitz. Sometimes I derive comfort from knowing what to expect.
Not really. I think I will stick with my earlier thoughts that the latest was not really any better or worse than any of the others. The repetitive nature of the plots--the Jack Reacher arrives in a town with troubles and busts up things--does ring true, though. Maybe that is the same thing.
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