The Literate Kitty

[ Note: When I originally wrote this review--back in 2011--this was the only Jack Reacher short story, and was only available as a digital download. In the years since, Child has written more shorts and compiled them--including this one, Second Son --into the book, No Middle Name . ] You might think that hearing about the continued exploits of a world-weary, tough-as-old-boots hero who’s seen and done just about everything there is to see and do during his five decades of tramping around the earth (and is thus, very rarely surprised by anything or anyone) would start getting a little old, some fifteen books in. You’d be wrong to think that, though-- at least, when the heroic fellow in question is none other than Lee Child’s veritable force-of-nature and one-man distributor of revenge and retribution, ex-military policeman Jack Reacher --because, like fine wine, Reacher just gets better with age. Of course, there’s also the fact that age is such a relative concept with someone like Reac...

He’s like Yellowstone’s Old Faithful, popping up at the perfect moment to do his thing (which typically entails saving the proverbial day). He’s the Timex of heroes, taking a licking (and another, and another), but continuing to keep right on ticking. And, in true Weeble-like fashion, no matter how many times he’s knocked down, he (eventually, anyway) bounces back up. He is, in a word (okay, two words), Mr. Reliable.  Who is he? Why, he’s Jack Reacher, of course--the no-BS, ex-Army MP who regularly fixes problems and makes things hunky-dory again, all while pursuing a vagabond existence of roaming wherever the wind blows him, carrying all his worldly possessions on his back. There’s never a scrape or a tight spot that Jack can’t--sooner or later--wriggle out of, never a trap from which he can’t spring himself. (Not that he’s invincible or anything; he bears plenty of scars for his troubles.) Years of experience combined with an ability to think and act rationally and to harness hi...

When I was a kid, the first I ndiana Jones movie came out. There were chills and thrills galore, as Indy went gallivanting all over the globe (exotic locales!), chasing bad guys (evil Nazis!), helping out a feisty ex-girlfriend (who could drink men twice her size under the table-- so cool! ), and, you know, saving the world and stuff.  But, what really made it so awesome was that Indy wasn’t the stereotypical super-spy or super-hero... there were no James Bond gadgets or gizmos, none of that too -incredible luck (the kind that makes you wince, because it’s just so contrived), and no special powers a la Superman. No super- anything .  Indy was just a regular guy--a smart, bookish, sort-of-nerdy professor of archeology--who almost magically transformed into more than the sum of his parts (erm, so to speak... not that those individual parts weren’t pretty darn fine) when he set out on his mission to make things right in the world (and save humanity, in the process). His success ...

Perhaps Jack Reacher and I would get along smashingly, were we to meet through some twist of fate in an out-of-the-way diner... two people who happened to be eating solo, until we happened upon a more pleasant way to pass the time by munching our burgers or grilled cheese together, chatting companionably in a vinyl-covered booth.   Or maybe we’d be standing next to each other in a dimly-lit, down-on-its-heels bar one evening, waiting to catch the sullen bartender’s attention, and we’d strike up a friendly discussion about the poor service--only to find the conversation turning naturally to other things, and continuing in just such a convivial manner for the next few hours.  We might talk of mutual interests, or about places we’d been or people we’d met... or maybe we’d just be content to ramble on about nothing much at all.  Yes, it pleases me to think that this fascinating, enigmatic man and I would be able to while away a little idle time together, in such a way that le...