Killing Floor

This is the book that turned me into a fan of Lee Child. Clean prose. Non stop action.

Good story line engaging

I love it for the same reason I loved Superman: you know the good guy is going to win and is indestructible. Years of entertainment ahead of you, if you’ve never read a Lee Child book.

I have not read a Jack Reacher book I didn’t like. He is a truly unique character. This book moves right along and never has a dull moment.

I enjoy all the Jack Reacher books. Looking forward to more.

‘Killing Floor’ is Lee Child’s first book, and the Jack Reacher hero comes out with a bang. And a bang and a bang and a bang! Supporting characters are well drawn, dialogue is witty, and writing style is superb.

A couple things bugged me about the plot.

One very glaring one had to do with his brother, whom Reacher hasn’t been in contact with for years but who coincidentally figures in as a central figure in the who-done-it.

It’s clear why the brother is inserted into the story. He’s the key motivator of why Reacher sticks around to solve the mystery. But it’s just too unbelievable in an otherwise interesting premise.

It’s said that a story can get away with one coincidence but not two. In this case, it can’t get away with even one. Besides, heroes eventually run out of relatives …

One other problem had to do with Reacher’s new lady love, who was sent out by her boss on assignment. No one has heard from her for days. You would think Reacher would have at least been a tiny bit worried. And in fact, should have been!

Still, an interesting plot. Also, a great premise for a new hero whose vagabond lifestyle can take him anywhere, one of big reasons why Reacher books have endured for years.

I’m a Lee Child fan, but this earlier Reacher book is fantastic! Could not put it down. One of his best.

Killing Floor is the first book featuring Jack Reacher by Lee Child. First, be sure that you put any idea or thought of the Jack Reacher movie staring Tom Cruise our of your mind. The book and the movie share almost nothing in common except for the main characters name and that he’s a former military police officer. (Note – I enjoyed the movie, and in a way I am glad it was so different from the book, as it can be viewed through a different way without the need to constantly compare the movie to the book.)

In Killing Floor we meet Jack Reacher as he is arrested in a small Georgia town diner for murder. A murder Jack knows he didn’t commit because he was 800 miles away at the time. It takes a couple of days, and a stay at the local penitentiary for that to be straightened out, and by that time Reacher has been sucked into a case that is growing bigger and bigger. All Reacher wants to do is head out of town, continue rambling across the country. After a long stint in the army, and a similarly long stint as and army brat, Reacher just wants time alone to do what he wants to do. Unfortunately, his stay in Georgia is not giving him that opportunity.

Told entirely from Reacher’s perspective, I found the story to be a mix of fast-paced action, and long-winded discussions. I thought Tolkien could describe something to death, Lee Child seems to be competing for that honor. It serves to paint a very vivid picture of what is going on around Reacher and the world he moves through, but at the same time it tends to slow the action down. When a gun fight takes several pages to read (or minutes to listen to, as I listened to the audio version) it really spoils the action.

The plot that Child creates was original (to me) and allowed Reacher to show his strengths as a former army cop, from his ability to deduce things about people around him, to combat skills, and working with limited clues. Reacher is an intelligent man, who thinks things through first, but isn’t afraid to get into an altercation. Although he does take on a bit of a vigilante role as the story progresses. This works with the story, but it was hard to grasp how a man with so much military service, and most of that as a cop, was willing to break the law to get what needed doing done. It worked in this case, but at times it made me question Reacher’s motives. Was he out to stop the criminals from their plot, or was he more out for revenge? That question wasn’t really answered for me. At the same time, Reacher is shown many times to be a very intelligent person, able to infer things from limited facts, but at one point in the story he is given details about a murder that happened 60 years before and I immediately knew who was involved, yet Reacher, who had previously deduced the entire life-story of the town’s head of detectives from only a few snippets of details, was clueless. That just didn’t fit with his character.

Overall I enjoyed the story, and I like Reacher as a character, but I would not rank this as a favorite of mine. The story was good, and well executed by Child, but his over dependence on long descriptive passages, especially when a faster pace was called for, was a distraction for me. A gripping thriller, with memorable characters, but suffers a bit from slow pacing.

The audio version I listened to was read by Dick Hill. Hill did a good job with the material, but he sounded older to me than Reacher is supposed to be in the story. I would have preferred a younger voice, but Hill presents Reacher well.

My favorite character Jack Reacher! Have read every Jack Reacher book and have never been disappointed! Recommend the author and all his books!

This is the first book in what is fondly known as the Reacher series. To which I am so addicted that I sit with bated breath, waiting for each next new novel, Lee Child is brilliant.