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I'm not usually a fan of thrillers that are such Alpha Male machismo fantasies...but this book was solidly written and Jack Reacher was an intriguing character. As Reacher tries to figure out what really happened in a seemingly random sniper shooting spree in a small city in Indiana. The plot went on a little long, but I was interested enough to stick through the book until the end, and may even give another title in this series a try.
4 Stars
One Shot (Jack Reacher Book #9) by Lee Child.
2021 reading challenge- review to come.
One Shot (Jack Reacher Book #9) by Lee Child.
2021 reading challenge- review to come.
Read for a book club. As always, better than the movie.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Entertaining and totally unbelievable, just like all the others in the series. Reacher is like a superhero, you know he will win every fight and walk away unharmed - oh, maybe a fetching bruise or scrap for the love interest to kiss - so there is no dramatic tension at all when it comes to the violence.
The reason I enjoy the books are that I enjoy solving the puzzle behind the crime. It's like reading an episode of Law & Order, or CSI. Nothing brilliant or revelatory, but solid middle-brow entertainment. The puzzle of the crime in this book was pretty lame. It just didn't make any sense.
***SPOILER*** The rationale behind the mass shooting was to hide the murder of one of the people. Make it look like a random killing. Ok, I can buy that but they didn't really need to go to all of that trouble. Sure, they had killed her husband - he was officially just missing - and so the wife's murder could be suspicious. But why do it so it seems like murder? Why not make it look like suicide or an accident? Suicide because she is distraught over her husband's disappearance and their financial worries. Seems reasonable to me. I doubt the cops would investigate it very thoroughly, if at all. If the bad guys are so clever to create this whole mass shooting ruse, they could easily fake a suicide. Or they could fake an accident - a car wreck, gas leak in the home, drowning etc.
My smaller quibble was with the news reporter not noticing Reacher until she gets in her car. Uh, just no. Every woman has heard the urban legend of the killer hiding in the back seat. You are not going to lean down, open the car door, not glance at all into the car - and into the front passenger seat where 6'5 Reacher is! - but instead back into the seat in order to not mess up your skirt, I guess? No. That is patently unreal. I know, the whole storyline is patently unreal but still....sometimes it's the little flaws that really stick.
Oh, I'm sure I'll read more Reacher novels at some point and then complain about them afterwards. It's like eating a bunch of crappy food cause you are hungry & it smells good & in the moment you are satisfied but afterwards you feel sick to your stomach and need some pepto-bismal.
Also, Tom Cruise will never in a bazillion years be Jack Reacher to me. I like to imagine the actor Jason Statham (The Transporter movies) as Reacher. Seriously, what moron cast Tom Cruise as the tall, blonde Reacher? UGH. Probably some Scientologist.....
The reason I enjoy the books are that I enjoy solving the puzzle behind the crime. It's like reading an episode of Law & Order, or CSI. Nothing brilliant or revelatory, but solid middle-brow entertainment. The puzzle of the crime in this book was pretty lame. It just didn't make any sense.
***SPOILER*** The rationale behind the mass shooting was to hide the murder of one of the people. Make it look like a random killing. Ok, I can buy that but they didn't really need to go to all of that trouble. Sure, they had killed her husband - he was officially just missing - and so the wife's murder could be suspicious. But why do it so it seems like murder? Why not make it look like suicide or an accident? Suicide because she is distraught over her husband's disappearance and their financial worries. Seems reasonable to me. I doubt the cops would investigate it very thoroughly, if at all. If the bad guys are so clever to create this whole mass shooting ruse, they could easily fake a suicide. Or they could fake an accident - a car wreck, gas leak in the home, drowning etc.
My smaller quibble was with the news reporter not noticing Reacher until she gets in her car. Uh, just no. Every woman has heard the urban legend of the killer hiding in the back seat. You are not going to lean down, open the car door, not glance at all into the car - and into the front passenger seat where 6'5 Reacher is! - but instead back into the seat in order to not mess up your skirt, I guess? No. That is patently unreal. I know, the whole storyline is patently unreal but still....sometimes it's the little flaws that really stick.
Oh, I'm sure I'll read more Reacher novels at some point and then complain about them afterwards. It's like eating a bunch of crappy food cause you are hungry & it smells good & in the moment you are satisfied but afterwards you feel sick to your stomach and need some pepto-bismal.
Also, Tom Cruise will never in a bazillion years be Jack Reacher to me. I like to imagine the actor Jason Statham (The Transporter movies) as Reacher. Seriously, what moron cast Tom Cruise as the tall, blonde Reacher? UGH. Probably some Scientologist.....
I'm thinking, if you've read this far with your Jack Reacher, you've also most likely seen the film that is based on this book. Either before reading it, as me, or after you've read it. That's more than likely to affect your opinion one way or the other. Everyone who has read the book and seen the film, is going to have an opinion which is better. There's no such opinion in my view, as 'don't know.' What did I think? Well, I thought the film was good, I read the book after seeing the film and I thought the book was probably better. But they are different animals and the film does alter several parts of the plot from the book and you can see why, given the time constraints for film. The book probably wins by a short head, mainly because it can go in a little deeper to the plot and the reasoning, all of which is well done indeed.
The film did change, as I said, a fair few things. I remember reading at the time, when it became known that Tom Cruise was going to play Jack Reacher, Reacher's height. Physical descriptions of Reacher have largely been absent from the first few volumes, but LC is increasingly describing him these days (I'm reading them in order, this is where I am now). Mainly, pretty much always, from the neck down, as far as I can remember. That gives scope for Tom Cruise to play him of course, but the height, that's something else. It's not made much of in the film of this book, but he does use his height in other books and I'm presuming they'll not film them.
It's perhaps the most complete and satisfying of the Reacher books so far as well. Which may be why they filmed it. We're still in the middle of nowhere USA though, so of course, pretty much anything goes. I do wish thriller writers would base their books more in reality than nowhere USA. I could populate that kind of fictional town with all the characters you're going to find there. And I clean toilets in a hospital! However, there's not too much padding this time out. He's still writing housebricks for housebrick-sake, but there's more content in the housebrick these days.
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The film did change, as I said, a fair few things. I remember reading at the time, when it became known that Tom Cruise was going to play Jack Reacher, Reacher's height. Physical descriptions of Reacher have largely been absent from the first few volumes, but LC is increasingly describing him these days (I'm reading them in order, this is where I am now). Mainly, pretty much always, from the neck down, as far as I can remember. That gives scope for Tom Cruise to play him of course, but the height, that's something else. It's not made much of in the film of this book, but he does use his height in other books and I'm presuming they'll not film them.
It's perhaps the most complete and satisfying of the Reacher books so far as well. Which may be why they filmed it. We're still in the middle of nowhere USA though, so of course, pretty much anything goes. I do wish thriller writers would base their books more in reality than nowhere USA. I could populate that kind of fictional town with all the characters you're going to find there. And I clean toilets in a hospital! However, there's not too much padding this time out. He's still writing housebricks for housebrick-sake, but there's more content in the housebrick these days.
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Mind. Blown.
Although it wasn't very hard to figure out the plot twist after Reacher came back from Kentucky. Hmm. But, as always, Reacher canNOT be compared to anyone else.
Although it wasn't very hard to figure out the plot twist after Reacher came back from Kentucky. Hmm. But, as always, Reacher canNOT be compared to anyone else.
He was fourteen years older, but his gaze was like a child's again.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No