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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
The film critic Mark Kermode describes a certain type of filmmaking as “Tab A into Slot B” - functional, technically competent yet somehow unexciting. Over the past few Jack Reacher novels Lee Child has been drifting slowly into this type of writing. There’s clearly a formula that works and he churns out a book a year like clockwork. Whilst I enjoy them whilst I’m reading them (and they are one of my guilty pleasure reads), I find them almost instantly forgettable once I put them down.
No Middle Name is something a little different. A collection of short stories featuring Reacher, it has - like many collections - a mixture of the good and bad. I realised however - once I’d gotten over the shock of reading about a character who I knew so well in a shorter form - that I was actually enjoying this anthology more than any of the recent Reacher novels. It’s interesting to see what Child does with ideas which clearly do not have enough to them to sustain an extended narrative, and the good stories are very, very good. Not an introduction to the character and - let’s be serious - if you’ve made it this far (Goodreads lists this as book 21.5 in the series) you’re in for the long haul and will likely read this anyway, but this was more rewarding than I expected.
No Middle Name is something a little different. A collection of short stories featuring Reacher, it has - like many collections - a mixture of the good and bad. I realised however - once I’d gotten over the shock of reading about a character who I knew so well in a shorter form - that I was actually enjoying this anthology more than any of the recent Reacher novels. It’s interesting to see what Child does with ideas which clearly do not have enough to them to sustain an extended narrative, and the good stories are very, very good. Not an introduction to the character and - let’s be serious - if you’ve made it this far (Goodreads lists this as book 21.5 in the series) you’re in for the long haul and will likely read this anyway, but this was more rewarding than I expected.
Some stories are better than others. He's such a bad-ass. Worth the read for Reacher fans.
There's a reason that they are short stories. They aren't good enough to turn into any more. Still a great character though.
The Jack Reacher character has spawned 24 books and two movies. I liked both movies, so I figured it was time to give the books a chance.
"No Middle Name" is a collection of Jack Reacher stories that, for the most part, hew to a simple formula: the titular Reacher shows up somewhere, outsmarts some evildoer(s), beats up some evildoer(s), and goes on his way. I think I can reasonably assume that this is the same formula as full-length Jack Reacher novels.
And hey, y'know what? These stories are pretty good! They aren't navel-gazing, MFA in Creative Writing bullshirt. They're solid tales well told, and I lost track of time while reading them. Author Lee Child's writing style is workmanlike, and these stories probably won't lead you toward deep thoughts about the meaning of life. But they rocket right along, they don't overstay their welcome, and they add up to a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
Will I now be in a hurry to read some proper Jack Reacher novels? I don't think I'll seek them out; I've "got it," if that makes sense. If, however, I were to find myself in a bookstore with nothing to read, I'd be perfectly happy picking up another book by Lee Child. This guy knows how to tell a story.
"No Middle Name" is a collection of Jack Reacher stories that, for the most part, hew to a simple formula: the titular Reacher shows up somewhere, outsmarts some evildoer(s), beats up some evildoer(s), and goes on his way. I think I can reasonably assume that this is the same formula as full-length Jack Reacher novels.
And hey, y'know what? These stories are pretty good! They aren't navel-gazing, MFA in Creative Writing bullshirt. They're solid tales well told, and I lost track of time while reading them. Author Lee Child's writing style is workmanlike, and these stories probably won't lead you toward deep thoughts about the meaning of life. But they rocket right along, they don't overstay their welcome, and they add up to a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
Will I now be in a hurry to read some proper Jack Reacher novels? I don't think I'll seek them out; I've "got it," if that makes sense. If, however, I were to find myself in a bookstore with nothing to read, I'd be perfectly happy picking up another book by Lee Child. This guy knows how to tell a story.
Only one or two of the stories were good, and those I thought ended very abruptly. They could possibly have been books. Most of the stories seemed like they were starts of or chapters from books that never made it. Dead end ideas that he decided to package and sell. One of the stories toward the end was literally just a scene. There was no real plot. I kept waiting for something to happen and I turned the page and it was over.
Some were better than others, one I think I read before, but for the most part the book was great! I loved the short story format. If you don't like one, you can just skip it and go on to the next. The end of the book has the super short ones. I was disappointed with the last full-length Reacher book, but these stories were great!
Short stories are difficult to write, and Lee Child pulled it off in some of these, but not all, at least not plot-wise. But Jack Reacher remains a consistent and consistently fascinating character, and each of these stories added some depth to that character. I really enjoyed them.
PopSugar 2020 - an Anthology
Always love Jack Reacher. Good stories. Some better than others, but all good.
Always love Jack Reacher. Good stories. Some better than others, but all good.
Just another fun short story involving Jack Reacher
Merged review:
Overall this was a decent book. I didn't realize that it had both new and old short stories. I still enjoyed reading them all again. The stories were the right length that I could basically finish them on my lunch hour.
Merged review:
Overall this was a decent book. I didn't realize that it had both new and old short stories. I still enjoyed reading them all again. The stories were the right length that I could basically finish them on my lunch hour.
medium-paced