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A review by rooree
The Secret by Lee Child, Andrew Child
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I am quite surprised how this manages to top 4 stars on here (Goodreads), but tanks at a mighty 1.7 on google reviews (at the time of writing). I am giving this a 3 star rating by taking this book as a stand alone at face value. However, if put in the context of the very well acclaimed Jack Reacher series, it performs, unfortunately, very poorly.
I don't want to blame this on the newer collaboration between Lee and Andrew but fear this is the unfortunate truth. I don't think Andrew is a bad writer, nor do I think this is a 'bad book' per se, but Jack Reacher is not Andrew's character, it does not come from his head, he has not lived and breathed Jack Reacher like Lee Child has. It simply cannot be the same and is not the same.
Judged alone, it reads like a bit of a reasonably done 'who done it', with a team of two progressively killing a bunch of people, with Jack Reacher, military police, alongside a motley crew, attempting to get to the bottom of it. The first chapter is noteably brilliant, and I like the two sided perspective unravelling the story from the killers' and JR's perspectives. The slow reveal style of story telling, where pieces of the puzzle are slowly built, is classic of Jack Reacher novels and done quite well. I was quite gripped by what was going on, the developing plot, trying to guess the ending and wondering if JR will figure it out.
The problem is, JR always figures it out, and in this story he barely does, and only after pretty much everyone is dead for a very brief, not entirely clear, reveal at the end. The key staple of JR novels is his ability to come across trouble, unravel it with his intelligence, intuition, unrivalled fighting skills, and play the comfortable hero (whether wanted or not), usually in some kind of action packed, momentous finale where he inflicts deadly justice. In this plotline I was left waiting for this creature comfort and it never came. He did not intelligently unravel very much, and what he did unravel was largely through information provided to him by others. His unrivalled fighting skills were showcased somewhat, but not always with the sense of moral justice I am used to from JR, more just brute force being employed where convenient.
Some have critiqued the jump to the past, into JR's army days. I quite like this, Lee Child has done this before, breaks things up nicely, and might explain why JR is given less personal freedom to solve things all by himself, a bit more realistic of how things would work in the army. But, JR was always a character that played in the grey areas, so doesn't quite work. I think there are some attempts at subtle changes that may or may not be deliberate to suit Andrew Child's writing and ideas, but unfortunately, for those attached to Jack Reacher, this book overall is not a refreshing rejuvenation but a betrayal of the JR character and narrative.
I don't want to blame this on the newer collaboration between Lee and Andrew but fear this is the unfortunate truth. I don't think Andrew is a bad writer, nor do I think this is a 'bad book' per se, but Jack Reacher is not Andrew's character, it does not come from his head, he has not lived and breathed Jack Reacher like Lee Child has. It simply cannot be the same and is not the same.
Judged alone, it reads like a bit of a reasonably done 'who done it', with a team of two progressively killing a bunch of people, with Jack Reacher, military police, alongside a motley crew, attempting to get to the bottom of it. The first chapter is noteably brilliant, and I like the two sided perspective unravelling the story from the killers' and JR's perspectives. The slow reveal style of story telling, where pieces of the puzzle are slowly built, is classic of Jack Reacher novels and done quite well. I was quite gripped by what was going on, the developing plot, trying to guess the ending and wondering if JR will figure it out.
The problem is, JR always figures it out, and in this story he barely does, and only after pretty much everyone is dead for a very brief, not entirely clear, reveal at the end. The key staple of JR novels is his ability to come across trouble, unravel it with his intelligence, intuition, unrivalled fighting skills, and play the comfortable hero (whether wanted or not), usually in some kind of action packed, momentous finale where he inflicts deadly justice. In this plotline I was left waiting for this creature comfort and it never came. He did not intelligently unravel very much, and what he did unravel was largely through information provided to him by others. His unrivalled fighting skills were showcased somewhat, but not always with the sense of moral justice I am used to from JR, more just brute force being employed where convenient.
Some have critiqued the jump to the past, into JR's army days. I quite like this, Lee Child has done this before, breaks things up nicely, and might explain why JR is given less personal freedom to solve things all by himself, a bit more realistic of how things would work in the army. But, JR was always a character that played in the grey areas, so doesn't quite work. I think there are some attempts at subtle changes that may or may not be deliberate to suit Andrew Child's writing and ideas, but unfortunately, for those attached to Jack Reacher, this book overall is not a refreshing rejuvenation but a betrayal of the JR character and narrative.