Saturday, January 27, 2007

Killing Floor -- Lee Child

I've spent a lot of this week in various doctor's offices and hospitals, dealing with assorted medical crises. The book I carried around with me to read while I was waiting was KILLING FLOOR, the debut novel by Lee Child and also the first novel in his Jack Reacher series. People have been recommending this series to me for several years, the latest being Mary Kelly, one of my NOAH'S RIDE co-authors, so I decided to give it a try.

I wasn't too sure about this book starting out. The style took some getting used to. There are the occasional turns of phrase that sound just a little too British. And the plot seems to be driven by an incredible coincidence.
However . . . boy, the action scenes are good. The style really works once you get used to it. Sure, Jack Reacher is pretty much a superhero, but I'm an old pulp guy, so I don't mind that too much. Every time I thought I had everything figured out, Child threw in another twist. Some of them are rather far-fetched, to be sure. Child makes them seem believable, though.

So, despite some reservations, I liked this book quite a bit, and I'll definitely be reading more of Child's novels.

2 comments:

mybillcrider said...

I hope all those medical crises are resolved.

If I'm remembering correctly, every Lee Child book I've read begins with a coincidence. Once you buy into that, you're ready to go along for the ride.

James Reasoner said...

And if I remember correctly, Bill, you were the first one to recommend this series to me, several years ago. I'm slow, but I usually get there.

And the medical problems (not involving me directly, I should point out) aren't going to go away any time soon. But at least sitting in doctors' offices gives me a chance to read a little.