I'm Reading: Lee Child

Lee Child is an author that people are constantly returning to the library where I work. By which I mean, people borrow Lee Child books and return them to the library. I haven't had people bring back missing authors to me. My theory is that if people are returning books, then they're borrowing and reading them, so they must be good.

I have a very long list of books on request at my library. I thought I had paused them all until uni was over, but a couple somehow made their way onto my bookshelf. One of them was the first book featuring Lee Child's Jack Reacher.

I thought Killing Floor would be something like Matthew Reilly meets Sue Grafton or something. In a way, it was: Ex-Army Guy Turns Detective, Solves Murder. But it was also very Isolated Small Town, Bodies Piling Up And No-one To Trust. And when I got my head around it being that, it turned into Massive International Conspiracy. Which is not to say I didn't like it. I really did. It just didn't fit into the box I'd assigned it.

Jack Reacher is smart, and can make connections, and does his research, all three of which I like in an investigator. He's pretty hardcore re: shooting people who will cause him trouble in the future but aren't actively holding a gun on him in the present. He does what has to be done. But he still comes across as a decent guy, who cares about (some) people and will do the right thing by them.

I just knew there was an extra bad guy close to them, I just knew it, but my really strong feeling about who it was was totally wrong. Good thing I'm not a detective.

I liked Child's writing style. I'll be interested to see how the series progresses - does he just keep stumbling on small towns with big problems and hot chicks he can hit on within a few pages? I will definitely keep reading because (a) I enjoyed this one, (b) uni holidays are coming up, and (c) do you know how awesome it is to not have to wait for the next book in a series?