One Shot by Lee Child

Lee Child's series featuring anti-hero Jack Reacher has been going for 30 books (with a further 6 co-authored with his brother Andrew Child), and One Shot (number nine of the series) has just been made into a movie titled Jack Reacher.

Jack Reacher is a 250-pound, blond hulk with ice-blue eyes and a tan, so of course, they chose Tom Cruise to play him in the film. A movie is always a different piece than the book, and Lee Child has said that the big bear size of Reacher was a metaphor for strength and power. I read the book with Cruise in mind, and I can see he would do a good job with the dry wisecracks Reacher drops.

That's for damn sure.

Reacher is a graduate of West Point and a former US Army Military Police Major who now lives off the grid; he's a drifter who doesn't like to fly and doesn't own a car or house. The only things he carries are money and a toothbrush. When his clothes are dirty, he throws them away and then buys what he needs. He is stoic and doesn't talk much, but you can see the wheels turning. He is always aware of his surroundings and keeps his back to the wall.

In One Shot, there is a sniper in Indiana who leaves behind so much evidence it is an open-and-shut case. His only comment: "Find Jack Reacher." As they are investigating the case, Reacher arrives by bus in Indiana from Miami, still in his boat shoes. He is calm and methodical, almost stumbling from one clue to the next, though expert at putting together the pieces. He can quote Orwell, but unlike many thriller heroes, he doesn't know everything. When they are searching for information on the computer, he says he knows from television commercials that computers operate at all kinds of gigahertz, which he assumes is pretty fast.

This fast-paced mystery leads mainly with clues and character instead of action. The finale, which involves not only the investigators but a gun-toting TV news anchor and a lawyer, is a little far-fetched, but the characters are likeable, so let's bring them all along for the big denouement.

Even though I found he kept the reader one step ahead of the characters, it was entertaining to see the clues revealed. I look forward to reading more and recommend it to thriller readers. That's for damn sure.

2005 / Paperback / 496 pages