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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Somehow I'd missed most of these short stories, so reading them on their own, rather than tagged on to an existing novel, changed my perception of them, and all added to the mental picture I have of Reacher.
I actually didnt finish this. The short story format does not give me enough time to 'like' Jack Reacher or to develop any sympathy for the secondary characters. I'm not in this for the violence lol
Great collection of short stories filling in some of the blanks of Jack Reachers life. I am not a big fan of short stories but these I enjoyed.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.75
Fun short stories of a young Reacher. Not too believable what he knows and how he processes (especially 16-year-old in the NYC blackout taking on the mob and leading an FBI agent).
Some uneven entries, especially the shorter ones near the end.
Fun short stories of a young Reacher. Not too believable what he knows and how he processes (especially 16-year-old in the NYC blackout taking on the mob and leading an FBI agent).
Some uneven entries, especially the shorter ones near the end.
These short stories are okay but some are only a few pages long so it's not so much a story as just an afternoon in Reacher's life. A true Reacher fan will enjoy and I did especially like the ones that included his brother Joe and Sgt Neagley.
Jack NMN Reacher is a modern day pulp superhero. He's our generation's Doc Savage. These short stories only add to the wonderful mythos. They're easy to digest in individual segments, which is perfect for my personal mindset at the moment.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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.