Wandering Babu

Lee Child is one of the top five crime thriller writers of all time. Once you open first page of any of his book, you’ll feel restless to complete the book at one go. His books are voluminous running over 400 pages. Each page is filled with mind blowing dialogues, brainy suspense, unending actions and unpredictable twists and turns. You would love his character Jack Reacher – a tall giant, has a body of steel, a former army major, a forthright man, a drifter by choice, a ladies man, and has a sharp and intelligent brain. Arnold chwarzenegger, Brad Pitt, and Johnny Deep rolled into one – Jack Reacher.

My rendzevous with his books started when I saw a stray comment comparing Indian writer Chetan Bhagat with Lee Child. I did a little research and ordered his first book, Killing Floor in early January, 2017. Seeing the sheer number of pages I felt discouraged and did not start for nearly a month. By chance one day I picked up the book and there was no stopping. I completed the book in two days despite my busy office work. Then I ordered his other books. By now I have completed 21 of his books, except The Midnight Line, which has not hit the market yet.

I loved and liked the romance between Roscoe and Reacher in ‘Killing Floor’.  Reacher tackling a lot of bad guys in his book ‘Worth Dying For’ is pure thrill to read. The duel between Reacher and Deputies in ‘Nothing to Lose’ is a legend of its kind. The mystery of Mother’s Rest in ‘Make Me’ thrilled me beyond thrill. I could not believe the twisting and gripping plot of ‘Tripwire’.

One of Lee Child’s books almost put a brake on my rendezvous with his thrillers. Guess the book name! Most Lee Child’s fans say  ‘Nothing to Lose’ is his worst book. But I don’t agree. From the very first page   you would love ‘Nothing to Lose’. The relentless action in two towns, Hope and Despair is entertaining that I found many people searching these fictitious towns in US map. Though some sequences in the book  are unbelievable, the overall theme is great and action is fast paced.

Coming to the point, and personally for me, “The Enemy” is the worst book among all books in Jack Reacher series. It revisits Reacher’s army days. It starts with a mysterious murder of a Delta man, which Reacher investigates. The starting of the book was great but it quickly losses the stream. There is too much unnecessary description, unnecessary visits to too many places, and finally a fatal ending that you won’t expect from a Jack Reacher book.

The weakness of the book could have been compensated with a great ending. But Alas, it was not. The ending looks unbelievably bad and fall short, to a great length, expectation of a Lee Child’s novel. I felt like abandoning  the reading halfway. But I did not because I could not bear the idea of not having read all Jack Reacher books. It took me fifteen days to complete the book.

I thought Lee Child was reaching his saturation point but I was proved wrong. His next book, i.e, One Shot, proved a great success. A movie starring Tom Cruise was even made  with the script. All the subsequent books have great plots. I am eagerly waiting for The Midnight Line to hit the Indian market.