Dear
Readers,
Maybe it is because it’s been a really
hot July, or I’m just looking for an excuse to put off until tomorrow all those
things I talked about before, the ones that I should’ve been doing as early as
yesterday. I did walk Nigel, many times, and I did go to the farmer’s market
this week, and I did read another book. A
Wanted Man by Lee Child, and if you read my review on Goodreads of another
Lee Child book I reviewed, you will know how much I like his writing. Here’s my
review for those of you who would like to know my opinion of this book.
“A Wanted Man, by Lee Child”
I want the first line of
a novel to grab me by the throat, shake me and leave me gasping for more. This
doesn’t happen often, nor did it in this novel by one of my favorite author’s.
In A Wanted Man, Lee Child doesn’t
really grab my attention until page three; I know that’s hardly a stretch. But
let me tell you at that point he paints a vivid picture with his words.
Large, intimidating, and
scruffy, Reacher is trying to hitch a ride, and has a strip of silver duct tape
pasted across his freshly broken nose. The visual of the splintered fingernail
picking at the edge of the tape, the sound of the fractured nose as it clicked
and ground…cringe worthy!
Now I’m there, the
author has my attention; I want to know how Reacher broke his nose, why is his
fingernail splintered. Then the ride begins. Lots of riding around in the
middle pages, but in usual Reacher fashion, there is always a big finale.
I was not disappointed, and
as I have come to expect, the writing was tight and the sentences structured
well. My eyes flow easily through the paragraphs, the images bold and clear in
my mind. As long as Mr. Child writes them, I’m eager to read them. I hope he
can keep them coming. Eventually I suppose Jack Reacher has to age and grow too
old to go on, perhaps at that point the author could pull out Son of Reacher.
Wait…maybe daughter of Reacher. Reacher
Cleans Up Assisted Living?
Take
care,
Shelley Riley
Shelley Riley
1 comment:
Let me tell you on the onset that I found this book nowhere close to the Reacher I am used to reading about in the earlier books. The book starts as a typical Reacher novel where he finds himself in the middle of a situation in a new town while hitching a ride to Virginia. Meanwhile there is brutal murder in the nearby town which is being investigated by a special agent of FBI. Reacher’s intractions with the occupants of the car and the FBI investigation forms the basis of the book and how he is able to uphold justice the Reacher way eventually.
The book offers some good mathematical trivia, a Reacher trait which was not highlighted in earlier books. One is also treated to a nice geographical description of American towns, country side and interstate freeways. Keeping up with James Bond type image, Reacher manages to get to work with two beautiful ladies as usual.
Having said that I found the book very slow and somehow Lee Child has made the character of Jack Reacher a little less smart who takes more time to catch up to the clues than before.
Overall I think the book was only 50 percent worth my money.
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