Dear
Readers,
My stack of books to review has been
taking up precious desk space and increasing at a rapid rate. Today I
wanted to make a few comments on a Lee Child novel I recently finished. Entitled
The
Enemy, and this is another Jack Reacher adventure.
As I’ve stated in the past, I’m a
huge Lee Child fan, having discovered his first book while I was living in
England. I thoroughly enjoyed it and anticipated more from this talented author,
and he didn’t disappoint. Over the years I’ve been somewhat remiss in keeping
up with each new title Mr. Child has produced. But I’ve read enough of them to reinforce
my first impression of his encaging storytelling and style.
Three Lee Child titles have lingered
on my to-read shelf; The Affair, One Shot and The
Enemy. And when I finished Iris Johansen’s The Beloved Scoundrel, yes
I read romance; I wanted something different, a lot different. I picked up and
discarded a Western, a fantasy and a political satire. When my eyes landed on
the Lee Child stack, I grabbed the one on top, and settled in for a well
written, entertaining adventure.
I was destined to be disappointed. The Enemy wasn’t terrible, it just
wasn’t as good as I have come to expect from Mr. Child. I get that its
fiction, and I understand that the author can take his story in any direction
he wants. But this story line was so far-fetched I couldn’t suspend my believe
system long enough to find it remotely probable.
It was preposterous and fraught with
impossibilities that gave the overall story a lack of credibility. Furthermore
if I hadn’t already been familiar with Reacher’s character from previous
novels, I wouldn’t have been as enthusiastic about the Reacher depicted in this
one. He seemed as passionless as was the author when he wrote this book.
To put it succinctly, I was so
incredulous at times that I verbally addressed the book with a “give me a
break!”
Lee Child will remain one of my
favorite authors despite this entry in his body of work. I’ll be putting The
Enemy in the charity bag rather than passing it onto a friend.
Take
care,
Shelley
Riley
Author
of Casual
Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure
www.shelleyriley.com
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