Killing Floor: Jack Reacher, Book 1

I really hate quitting books. I always try to push through and hope it's just a slow build up to something great. After about 300 pages (after the scene in the airport) I realized I had gone from vaguely uninterested to downright annoyed and aggravated. The plot progression is slow, far-fetched, and the characters are boring. After more than half the book, I couldn't have cared less if any of the main characters died, including Jack Reacher. As for the writing style, I completely understand how short, direct, even fragmented sentences can add power to a scene, but the ENTIRE book is written this way even when completely unnecessary. Couldn't do it. Not me. The short sentences. They get to you after awhile. Feels too choppy. Like a robot. Well, I ain't a robot. Never have been. Never will be. Sad, really. Great reviews. Short sentences. Can't figure it out. Recommend this book? Not me. No way. No how.

If you’re like me, you don’t read the introductions of a novel. Here’s some advice: don’t be like me. I’m not like me anymore! I read this book from cover to cover, as one should. As a writer, it’s great to see the story behind the story, the thought processes that went into creating the person you’re reading about. It prepares you to really invest in the character. This is especially important when you’re on book one of a twenty-one book series. Now, this isn’t my first Jack Reacher novel, but the first time I’ve read the first Jack Reacher novel, “Killing Floor,” and the first in my quest to read them all, from one to twenty-one.I already knew Jack Reacher from the three or four books I’ve read but now I know his origin, or at least the origin of his series, considering this first publication isn’t really the first chronologically. Right away, Lee Child establishes Reacher’s quirks. No ID. No credit cards. And Child establishes his experience, not just by telling us, “Reacher served 13 years in the military and during that time he took this class and that class, and he solved this case and that case.” No, Child tells us through dialogue, through Reacher’s appreciation of how other cops conducted their business, and then annoyance at their faults. He establishes Reacher’s intelligence and intuition (a co-worker once described him as being a six-foot five-inch savage who was also cerebral). So, while I already knew who the giant genius was, it was great to learn why he was the way he was.What did I love about the novel? I loved the fast, pithy sentences. The action, the descriptions. The feel of Georgia, of small towns near big cities. The danger. The mystery. That feeling like you’ve figured it out and then BAM! Childs throws a curve. I loved how Childs took the title from the most gripping scene in the novel. I love that Reacher didn’t just love music but he also knew something about gear. This is a smart novel. I took my time reading it. And it didn’t take too long to do it.What did I hate about the novel? Absolutely nothing at all.

This is my first time delving into the world of Jack Reacher beyond the lackluster movie. I was prepared, based on reviews, to be wowed by Mr. Child's one-man-against-all-odds novel. Unfortunately it was more "meh" than "wow". While the story itself was interesting, with a unique take on a global counterfeiting ring and one man's quest to avenge a brother who strayed too close, the writing itself got to be downright painful. There are just some things I found in this novel that you should never, ever, read from a talented author: "It was as distinctive as the most distinctive thing you could ever think of" -literally made me cringe "We high-fived, whooped and hollered" - Once is bad enough, but when this is used 4 and 5 times, with "high-ten" as the only variation, it leaves me scanning pages trying to skip beyond the sophomoric attempt at a written bromance and get back into the actual story.My hope is, with this being an early novel, the writer has matured through subsequent releases. I will be moving on to the next novel still hoping for a "WOW" moment; let's hope it comes with fewer cringe-worthy passages.

Considering that it’s been 20 years since Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher novel, “Killing Floor” was published I acknowledge I’m late to the party with this review. I’ve avoided this genre for years as there are a dozen guys out there writing this type of fiction. They all seem cut from the same cloth; a former military Spec Ops guy who suffers personal loss and is damaged drops off the grid and drifts around getting embroiled in various subterfuge. He’s big, bad, a master of ‘special skills’, and is just one rung down from having lineage traceable to the planet Krypton. They all seem the same and the stories contrived so they failed to appeal to me. Well, guess I’ve been wrong because “Killing Floor” grabbed me from the first page. Ex-Army Military Policeman Jack Reacher is 6 foot 6 inches of bad mamma-jama and yes he’s damaged goods, wandering through Georgia when he’s arrested in a diner for a murder which he’s not committed. The story rockets along at a blistering pace with plenty of action, twists and turns, and excitement for 529 pages. I’ve already bought the next two in the 21 (and counting) book series. In the forward to this paperback edition Child tells the readers his objective when creating the Reacher character was to have someone who was pretty much indestructible- a guy who does not lose and vanquishes every bad guy he meets. He wanted someone different from the flawed and vulnerable heroes in other books and find themselves in mortal jeopardy at every turn and in Jack Reacher he succeeds. Knowing the hero isn’t going to fail does not lessen the suspense and it’s fun watching how Reacher takes down the scum. It’s kind of like satisfaction you get watching a Jason Bourne movie.

I’ve read all the Reacher books, but on conclusion of “The Midnight Line”, I thought it might be interesting to go back and compare to the first.Killing Floor does present a less refined Reacher but also reminds us that some basic themes (town in the middle of nowhere, a secret, an attractive lady cop) started from book one.For want of nothing better to do, Reacher stops off in a small town as a famous blues singer was reputed to have died there. Instead he finds himself arrested for murder and a town with too much money and a dirty secret. A personal element keeps Reacher there trying to find out what is going on while the body count mounts up. Reacher comes over as a dangerous man and a killer in this, not a man to cross and quite prepared to exist outside of the law. There are hints of the character he would develop into and also of the style that Lee Child would develop. This is a longish book at over 500 pages, so the abrupt style is not in place yet. The story works as do the twists and you can see why this series developed into something that has often been very special.

Having seen both Jack Reacher films (which I must confess to having enjoyed), I thought it only right that I take a look at one of the books that started the whole Reacher empire. I found a cheap copy of 'Killing Floor' on Amazon, and read the whole thing in about a week.At first, I was mightily impressed. The hard-boiled prose spoke to me in a voice similar to Dashiell Hammett's, and the in-depth knowledge the writer possesses of his field really came to the fore. I think I enjoyed this book right until Reacher and Hubble come out of prison - those first passages, when nobody seems sure what's going on or who can be trusted, really worked well.The problems began around that time, starting with a rather ridiculous plot device. Reacher, for whom nothing and nobody really seems to matter, discovers that the man whose murder he has been arrested for - SPOILER ALERT - is his brother. Now, the action all takes place in some tiny town in middle America, and Reacher only chose to stop off here at random during his peregrinations around the country; add to that the fact that the two brothers had barely spoken in years, and you have a particularly odd contrivance to work as motivation for what follows.And then, the hard-boiled writing starts to work against Lee Child. It's not sufficient to support a book of this length. My favourite sentence in the whole book (and pretty much the reason I'm giving this two stars) came when Reacher takes his date out to dinner in a restaurant at the airport, and describes the place (or the food - I forget) with this: "It was OK." Thanks for that, Reacher/Child. Whole sections of the book could have been skipped if this is the language we're going to be treated to.I'm not sure if I'd want to read another Reacher book after this one. I was entertained, more or less, as I read, but not to the extent that I would want to accompany Reacher on another of his adventures. I get the feeling that this is the prototype, and anything that follows will be something of a rehash - which might be an unfair analysis, but since I haven't read everything of Penelope Fitzgerald's or EM Forster's, I might prefer to invest my time there.

I looked forward to reading this, my first of his books, by the good reports, but was very off-put early on by a completely unnecessary , really sickening description of prison violence (not related to the plot at all)., so if you like that sort of thing, fine, but it's not for me.

This was the second Jack Reacher book I've read, and in my usual "do it the wrong way" style the first one I read was the most recent book, "Make Me", and the second was this, the first in the series. I thought "Make Me" was enjoyable but descended into farce towards the end, and I'd heard that the earlier books were better, so I decided to go back to the beginning.The books starts well. Reacher arrives in a small town in the middle of nowhere after walking in the rain for several hours and is eating breakfast in a diner. The police enter and he is arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Hauled off to the local police station he is thrown into a cell and the accusations begin to pile up against him. Eventually he is taken to the local prison for the weekend, but there appears to be a mix-up and he is placed in the lifers' wing, and from then on things really start to look bleak.It's a page turner, but personally I thought it was way, way too long, probably by 200 pages or so, and the whole book is utterly unbelievable but remains strangely enjoyable. Having read two Reacher books now my suspicion is that they all follow the same template, as both of the ones I've read have had very similar story arcs, but I've got a few in my pile still to be read so I'll reserve judgement until I've worked my way through those.

Lee Child (real name James D. Grant) has a very successful formula.I first came across him being interviewed by Stephen Sackur on BBC's Hardtalk. He was making a lot of sense about his role as an author whose duty is to serve his readers what they want. And so I decided to read his first book.The short sentences take some time to get used to but you soon get into the rhythm. Jack Reacher is an interesting hero and Child has a very observant eye for detail in small town America. Combine this with a good action plot with a lot of twists and turns and you have a book that is a real page turner.I finished this very quickly and was straight onto the second one - Die Trying - about a white separatist group in Montana. Again unputdownable! Will now take a break, and then onto no. 3 - Tripwire.