Bookish Weapon Number Fifty-Nine

Normally I comment on non-fiction books, but I am a true fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books and have read every one of them. They are page turners so I thought I would let you know what you are missing. Are they bookish weapons? Sure, maybe you can get lethal like Reacher.

If I already wrote about the Reacher books (I don’t think I did) that’s ok, because they are so good. The genre is Crime Thriller, but I never paid much attention to that. I thought of them as Spy Novels for a long time.

Story

All of these books including, “The Sentinel” have a story formula that hooks you. Jack Reacher is traveling about the country, stops in a town or an area and promptly gets involved in some nefarious circumstance. Then he uses his skills as a former military police officer to figure out what’s going on.

It isn’t quite like the “hero’s journey” because in the hero’s journey the hero gets thrust into an adventure and has to acquire skills to get through it or at least that is how I understand it. Reacher already has all the skins he needs and then some.

Reacher

One of the things that makes Reacher’s character so appealing is his bigger the life persona. He is (unique Tom Cruise) huge. Very tall with big hands that cover someones face easily. He knows al sorts of fighting moves the allow him to subdue any antagonist easily. If the bad guys are untrained he can usually handle up to five at a time. He always gives them the option of not fighting and tells them they can avoid the hospital.

Jack isn’t just a big neanderthal either. He knows what time it is without looking at a clock and picks up clues easily. I have not read one of his books where he hasn’t solved the mystery or crime.

He travels across the country on a military pension. Never washes his clothes. He buys new ones when they get dirty. Usually he meets a woman and eventually finds himself involved until it is time to move on again.

The Sentinel

As I said, I have read all of Reachers books. One comes out every fall. This one was one of the most recent. I suppose I should say something about it, but it is like all the others except this one he wrote with his son, Andrew Child. It ends almost the same as all the others. He is hitchhiking and someone stops for him and in this case tells him he is going to Nashville. So he has this conversation with himself. Let me quote”

“He had just left Nashville, and he had a rule. Never go back. It rarely ends well. But he had been making a few exceptions recently. They had all worked out ok.”