Lee Child

I don't want to blog exclusively about the 1001 (1294) books you must read before you die, so from time to time I'll post other reviews of books I've read, thoughts, or things that I'm thinking of.  I thought that it would be good to talk about some of my favorite authors from time to time.  One of my favorite authors is Lee Child.

The Affair was the latest book, 16th in the series, that I read in the Jack Reacher series at the end of last year.  I've read each of the Jack Reacher novels, and even the Second Son short story that was put out last summer.  I started reading the series when I picked up the 9th book, One Shot, and liked it so much I went back and read the entire series.

I always end up reading the new book too quickly, and find myself waiting for the next one.  But I guess that is what makes it one of my favorite series.  It's hard not to like Jack Reacher, an ex-military police officer, who wanders around the country with nothing more than his toothbrush and clothes on his back who stumbles upon trouble and saves the day.

The Affair was a prequel taking us back to his army days before he parted with the military for good.  Reacher travels to a small town in Mississippi to investigate a soldier's girl friend whose throat was slashed.  He tries to determine if it was a local who committed the murder, or someone from the nearby army base.  Reacher encounters the usual trouble, brushes with death, and finds a local love interest.

Maybe the Reacher novels are becoming a little too formulaic, but I still think they work very well.  I'm not ready to give up reading Reacher any time soon.  In fact, I think the success of the Reacher series has spawned an imitator with Zero Day by David Baldacci.  I've read, and enjoyed several Baldacci books, but the similarities between Zero Day with John Puller and a Reacher novel were a bit too much.

I did recently discover that Lee Child has a brother, Andrew Grant who has published a couple of novels, so I've put him on my 'to be read' shortly list.