|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
England born but now New York based Lee Child graduated from law school but never practised as a lawyer, thus having membership of an increasingly large club of graduates eschewing their profession in favour of a less distasteful career. Child went to work for Granada television where he was involved in very successful programmes during the so-called 'glory days' of television. After spending nearly two decades in the entertainment industry, Child found himself without a job, a victim of 'downsizing'. He decided to continue in his chosen work of entertainment but this time in a different field. He made a conscious decision to write commercial fiction and one can scarcely deny that his books (Killing Floor, Die Trying, Tripwire, The Visitor, Echo Burning and now Without Fail) have achieved success. The author admits he has been fascinated since childhood by the United States, thus, even without the lure of commercial success, there would probably have been a good chance of his writing about that country. He confesses that there is the possibility that he may make mistakes about the locales in which his protagonist, Jack Reacher, finds himself but excuses any errors by saying that Reacher himself does not have an intimate knowledge of his own country so any faults could be consistent with that character. Jack Reacher is a large man - 6'5". He was a military policeman but left the army and now wanders, unencumbered by physical luggage, throughout the United States, never holding a permanent job yet never running short of money. One habit of his which I find particularly endearing is that he never permits himself the burden of laundry, buying new clothes every three days then throwing them out. Mind, I don't think I would find him very attractive on the third day! In this adventure he is contacted by the former lover of his now dead brother, M.E. Froelich. Froelich works for the Secret Service and has the unrewarding task of protecting the Vice President Elect. Brook Armstrong the aforesaid VP To Be has had threatening notes sent to, but not received by, him. Froelich wants Reacher to perform an audit of the Secret Service's security and show where it could be improved. There are various themes to the story, fraternal loyalty being just one. There is Child's usual inordinate interest in weapons as well as his excessive concentration on violence and grue. The narrative is action driven with little regard for an exploration of character other than Reacher's own. I thought the author's women protagonists to be unconvincing in the extreme. Reacher, of course, gets to bed a beautiful woman despite thinking himself to be a brother substitute. As usual, he exhibits a capacity almost oracular in its accuracy for foretelling events. Unlike in previous adventures, Reacher breaks his three day rule for clothing and finds himself, to a degree, anchored by his brother's belongings. Were this to be my first foray into the adventures of Jack Reacher, I would probably find it an enthralling journey, however, it is not. This time round, I found the book to be too formulaic and I found Reacher annoying in that his character does not develop. He is still the same Jack Reacher of the very first book. Certainly, many authors live well on formulae - consider Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series where one may sketch out the action and characters of any forthcoming book, accuracy only lacking in the names and exact details of each deed. One could therefore think that a series, by its very nature, must be built on formula and static characterisation : not so, I cite Michael Connelly and Harry Bosch as instances to deny this. Child states that he has many women fans. Would this be because of the extreme violence of Reacher's character? I would not rely on it! Many women find large men who are both non-violent and extremely gentle and considerate to be overwhelmingly attractive. Another aspect of Mr. Child's writing which I find irritating is his reliance on too short sentences, some lacking a verb, many lacking a subject. It seems an integral facet of his work so I doubt he would change it just to please me! Also, a large part of Child's prose comprises the sentence 'Reacher said nothing.' Mind, many of the characters in this narrative also 'said nothing'. I would look forward to a variation on this author's path in forthcoming novels. While it would, at a casual glance, appear that aspects of the plot had been satisfactorily resolved, I would like to remind the author of Mrs. Nendick. Yes, the reader discovers her eventual fate but the author has given an indication of the baddies' intentions toward another protagonist. Would they, therefore, have carried out the same threats toward the unfortunate Mrs. Nendick? Please, Mr. Child, can we have a non-series book at some stage? One with a non-violent character? You have a happy knack for engrossing action, but it would be nice to find a gentle protagonist, one with as outstanding a sense of humour as Reacher has a proclivity for violence. Editoržs Note: This is a review of the Australian version  Bantam Press, Published 5th April 2002
Reviewed by Denise Wels, May 2002
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
|
