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A review by invisiblejones
61 Hours by Lee Child
4.0
I have a guilty pleasure. Actually, I have many. As relates to this novel, however, I’m speaking of my love of Doc Savage books. Those novels are not well written, but they always make me smile. I usually rate them with 5 stars, as if they were the equivalent of Dostoevsky or Dickens. But Doc Savage books are out of print and not easily had, so I have been searching through contemporary thriller/mystery/suspense novels looking for something that can fill, at least partially, Doc Savage’s shoes.
I have found my new guilty pleasure: Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.
Jack Reacher is the gritty, modern version of Doc Savage. He may not have Doc’s medical and scientific abilities, but he has his size, strength, skill, and intelligence. While the stories lack the technicolor fantasy of Doc Savage books, Reacher is more erudite than your typical contemporary action lead, which I appreciate. On the downside, I don’t care much for Reacher’s loner aspect. It brings a darkness and melancholy to the stories. Perhaps Reacher is as much Bruce Banner/Hulk as he is Doc Savage, wandering from town to town, arriving alone, making connections, breaking them and leaving as he arrived: alone.
As for this particular novel, 61 hours, it’s a great mystery/suspense story with, as the title implies, a countdown to the explosive conclusion. The only reason I do not give it the 5 stars I would give a Doc Savage novel is the occasional uncharacteristically stupid line. Example:
Bad guy: “Do you think you can beat me?”
Reacher: “Does a bear s*#t in the woods?”
Really, Mr. Child? You set your character up for delivering a great comeback, along the lines of “Do you expect me to talk?/No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!” and you fall back on a macho profanity? Maybe Reacher, in the heat of the battle, has so much testosterone flowing through him that he actually loses IQ points.
At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed this, my second Jack Reacher read, and will undoubtedly read others.
I have found my new guilty pleasure: Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series.
Jack Reacher is the gritty, modern version of Doc Savage. He may not have Doc’s medical and scientific abilities, but he has his size, strength, skill, and intelligence. While the stories lack the technicolor fantasy of Doc Savage books, Reacher is more erudite than your typical contemporary action lead, which I appreciate. On the downside, I don’t care much for Reacher’s loner aspect. It brings a darkness and melancholy to the stories. Perhaps Reacher is as much Bruce Banner/Hulk as he is Doc Savage, wandering from town to town, arriving alone, making connections, breaking them and leaving as he arrived: alone.
As for this particular novel, 61 hours, it’s a great mystery/suspense story with, as the title implies, a countdown to the explosive conclusion. The only reason I do not give it the 5 stars I would give a Doc Savage novel is the occasional uncharacteristically stupid line. Example:
Bad guy: “Do you think you can beat me?”
Reacher: “Does a bear s*#t in the woods?”
Really, Mr. Child? You set your character up for delivering a great comeback, along the lines of “Do you expect me to talk?/No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!” and you fall back on a macho profanity? Maybe Reacher, in the heat of the battle, has so much testosterone flowing through him that he actually loses IQ points.
At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed this, my second Jack Reacher read, and will undoubtedly read others.