My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I borrowed this ebook from the library because I’d read Lee Child’s short story [b:The Second Son|12215815|The Second Son |Lee Child|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328306888s/12215815.jpg|17156027], really enjoyed it, wanted to try out a full-length book of Child’s, and Reacher #7 was the only one available to borrow. I put a hold on the first Jack Reacher novel.
Like the short story, this book gripped me from the beginning. The writing is tight; the character Jack Reacher came to life right away; the suspense began from the first word and kept on going. There was a flashback after chapter one. I hate flashbacks in novels, and I’m starting to realise it’s probably because they’re not that well done — this one was. And I enjoyed it. The only thing I began to tire of was the violence. Even in a violent novel, with violent characters, there can be a smidge too much violence. That’s also the reason why the ending was stretched out. It was almost like it was written that way (well written, mind you) in order to create one more way of killing.
I absolutely did not want to power down the eReader and set aside this ebook. During one longer break, I thought about the mystery aspect of this thriller and started to see where he was going. The suspense began to drop a tiny bit for me. That’s when I had one of those lightbulb moments. Child doesn’t give you a chance to solve the problems alongside Reacher because Reacher would spend more time pondering the problem than we do reading it, no matter how slow a reader you are. And secondly, Reacher is smart. He has knowledge and experience most of us don’t have, but he also has a good sense of situations and people, he observes and listens. In short, he uses his whole brain. That’s awfully appealing, and it makes him a speedier thinker than many of us readers. It gives the reader a challenge: to keep up. The only way to do so really is to stop reading and think about it. But the way Child writes with great tension and verve, you don’t unless you have to, and so the suspense remains ratchetted up. That’s a great writing trick. I like!
