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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Like most short story collections, there are winners and less successful entries in this book. I very much enjoyed "Second Son," in which we meet thirteen year-old Jack Reacher as his Marine Corps family settles into a new posting in Okinawa. (To say that 13-yr-old Jack seems a bit too adult is putting it lightly, but the story is still good.) The other choice entry is "High Heat," in which Lee Child manages to locate a 16-year-old Reacher in New York City in the summer of the Son of Sam murders--and on the night of the historic 1977 black-out.
I always enjoy spending time with Reacher, and he's more fun in his younger years. I'd imagine Child enjoys imagining and writing Reacher as a youngster, too. It shows.
Some of the other stories are just so-so, but that's what you get with such collections. I'd say read this if you love Reacher, but don't bother buying it.
I always enjoy spending time with Reacher, and he's more fun in his younger years. I'd imagine Child enjoys imagining and writing Reacher as a youngster, too. It shows.
Some of the other stories are just so-so, but that's what you get with such collections. I'd say read this if you love Reacher, but don't bother buying it.
Reacher is The Man With No Name; the mythic wanderer who rides into town, sorts stuff out, and rides on out again. There is more subtlety and complexity within individual novels than this might suggest, but there’s little doubt as to the place Reacher occupies in the American imaginative tradition. So less knowledge of the details of his life adds to this sense of him - we don’t need or want to know too much. Hence the stories here around his youth are unnecessary, perhaps even detrimental, in regard to the series as a whole. They’re perfectly fine story; but they shouldn’t be Reacher stories. The stories set in his adulthood function better in that regard, and each of them have their charms and their personalities.
No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories is a short story collection you can read at any point in the series - none of the stories are reliant on any of the books. I've read other short story collections tied in to book series before and I have to say, this one is, by far, the best I've read. Other authors have made the mistake of putting vital information into the stories that make subsequent novels difficult to follow or create collections that must be read in a specific order and in between specific books to be fully comprehensible. Not so with No Middle Name. Each story stands alone as either a mini Reacher adventure (Second Son, Too Much Time) or simply as character background filler (No Room at the Motel, Everyone Talks). Even the stories that are barely about Reacher (James Penney's New Identity) serve a purpose. I might even recommend this collection to anyone who hasn't yet picked up a Reacher novel as a quick intro to the character and to Child's writing style.
I really loved this collection. It almost makes the wait to the newest Reacher novel bearable. Almost.
I really loved this collection. It almost makes the wait to the newest Reacher novel bearable. Almost.
See young Reacher, see his family, see some of his briefer encounters. If you love the novels, you'll enjoy the collected short pieces, too.
only read it for the new story, read the others over the years already
A good book. First collection of short stories that I have found truly satisfying
Cool
Reacher is the busiest liner that has ever been. These are nice reads that i enjoyed but not too heavy as obviously they are short
Reacher is the busiest liner that has ever been. These are nice reads that i enjoyed but not too heavy as obviously they are short
3.5 stars.
I love short stories. And I love short stories about characters I already know - the little extra glimpses into their lives. This collection is primarily for Reacher fans - there really isn't enough here for those who aren't already familiar with him. For those who don't know him (or only know him through the ridiculous Tom Cruise representation - please, Jim Caviezel, rescue the movies!) Reacher must seem beyond credibility. I enjoyed the majority of these, though; each story a nice little break during a long day. The last few stories probably shouldn't have been included until they had been fleshed out a bit more, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
I love short stories. And I love short stories about characters I already know - the little extra glimpses into their lives. This collection is primarily for Reacher fans - there really isn't enough here for those who aren't already familiar with him. For those who don't know him (or only know him through the ridiculous Tom Cruise representation - please, Jim Caviezel, rescue the movies!) Reacher must seem beyond credibility. I enjoyed the majority of these, though; each story a nice little break during a long day. The last few stories probably shouldn't have been included until they had been fleshed out a bit more, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
I've read all of the Reacher books as they came out, so obviously I'm a fan. I loved these stories. In a collection, I usually find something good at the beginning, something good at the end, and mostly mediocre in the middle. I didn't have a favorite amongst these...just steady enjoyment throughout.