The book #17 in the Jack Reacher series ‘A Wanted Man’ has been out for more than a month now. Finally someone took note of my wanted (reading) list and loaned me a copy to read this week.
Jack Reacher in A Wanted Man is a definite improvement on his last outing ‘The Affair’ - which was abysmal. Starting from zero with The Affair, Lee Child can only go up. Whatever he does with Jack Reacher after that book can only please the Reacher Creatures.
:-P
In that view A Wanted Man by Lee Child is a throwback to the Reacher of old. But not quite, especially if you are not a Reacher Creature. This is the second novel of the Reacher series which feels can be left alone for tomorrow.
Reacher has been made to think and act in a repetitive fashion in this story. He even speaks threateningly to a child, and a (supposed) subordinate man in uniform. All the characters travel unbelievable distances by car, in all hours of the day.
There is another quirk - about which I’ll post tomorrow.
;-)
Even worse is that the plot itself has no life. In a Jack Reacher novel (or in any captivating novel), it is the story line which propels (should propel) the characters. Sadly for Reacher Creatures, in ‘A Wanted Man’, it is the secondary characters or even roles actually unseen till the last few chapters, are the ones which drive it (pun intended).
All in all, A Wanted Man by Lee Child, the 17th Jack Reacher novel is:
Jack Reacher in A Wanted Man is a definite improvement on his last outing ‘The Affair’ - which was abysmal. Starting from zero with The Affair, Lee Child can only go up. Whatever he does with Jack Reacher after that book can only please the Reacher Creatures.
:-P
In that view A Wanted Man by Lee Child is a throwback to the Reacher of old. But not quite, especially if you are not a Reacher Creature. This is the second novel of the Reacher series which feels can be left alone for tomorrow.
Reacher has been made to think and act in a repetitive fashion in this story. He even speaks threateningly to a child, and a (supposed) subordinate man in uniform. All the characters travel unbelievable distances by car, in all hours of the day.
There is another quirk - about which I’ll post tomorrow.
;-)
Even worse is that the plot itself has no life. In a Jack Reacher novel (or in any captivating novel), it is the story line which propels (should propel) the characters. Sadly for Reacher Creatures, in ‘A Wanted Man’, it is the secondary characters or even roles actually unseen till the last few chapters, are the ones which drive it (pun intended).
All in all, A Wanted Man by Lee Child, the 17th Jack Reacher novel is:
- for a Reacher Creature, a must read - the creatures must have already bought it.
- for non-Reacher-Creature - try to get it on loan; either from a friend, like I did; or from a library.
- for a casual reader looking for a story to pass the time at the airport or in-flight - there are better novels to read. You may even try one of the earlier 15 Jack Reacher novels which are excellent.
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