Jack Reacher books - any good?

[AnonYonimousBird]

I know I am late to the party, but I keep hearing about JR books - are they for kids/teens, or are they "grown up" books?

And, furthermore, are they actually any good or just holiday/beach fodder to read with only one eye open? I genuinely know nothing about them and as the name keeps popping up I am interested to know!

Looking for some reading material for DH for over the holidays, he always leaves it til the last minute and I suspect deepest rural France may not have a massive supply of books in English!

[ChillieJeanie]

Jack Reacher is a briliant character, and the books aren't exactly hard going so the perfect holiday reading. Lee Child does go a bit OTT on the details of weaponry at times though, but I don't really mind that. One Shot is my favourite of the series so far, so I was really annoyed that that was the one they decided to make with Tom Cruise.

[TerribleTantrums]

Die Trying was the first one that I read, and it's still my favourite. I think some of the later ones try a bit too hard to convolute the plot.

Liam Neeson is perfect for older Reacher, but Philip Winchester is the embodiment of younger Reacher.

[interregnum]

If you like Reacher may I recommend Tom Wood with his three
Victor books, you won't be disappointed.

[AnonYonimousBird]

Ooo, I reckon DH will get irritated by annoying Jodie (not that I've met her!) so maybe we need to skip over those!

[TheMoonOnAStick]

Oh good lord yes isn't Jodie annoying??

I'd rather she wasn't in the books. Her presence doesn't bring out the best in Jack. I want him free to roam. Not squirming with indecision and being a bit of a prat about it.

[ZacharyQuack]

Tripwire and The Visitor (which was published as Running Blind in the USA) are both very good too but didn't make my top list because of the annoying Jodie with her skinny arms and skippy wee legs. Those two kind of go together because of annoying Jodie, but with standalone storylines.

Die Trying is set in Montana, Worth Dying For is set in Nebraska.

[AnonYonimousBird]

He's read every McNab going!!! But we've only just discovered Jack Reacher and it seems he has a year's worth of reading already set out in front of him......

[bamboobutton]

Love them! My fave is the one set in Montana, can't remember if it's called die trying or worth dying for

Your dh might like Andy mcnab too, books about an ex army guy being all hard and heroic.

[AnonYonimousBird]

Next three are:
Die Trying
Tripwire
The Visitor.....

Zach, you only have one of those on your list - maybe we should jump ahead a bit? Decisions, decisions!

[AnonYonimousBird]

Thanks Choc - I think I am just going to order 2, 3 and 4 from Amazon... though suicide bomber one sounds brilliant. I may even read one myself when we go away!

[ZacharyQuack]

My favorites (though I would happily re-read any of them) are:

Die Trying - this was the first one I read - read much of it standing in a book shop on my lunch break then bought it and read the rest that evening.

Bad Luck and Trouble - Reacher gets together with his old army unit, so I liked the extra characters

One Shot - good plot with the sniper, I'm pretending the Cruise parody never happened.

Gone Tomorrow - the suicide bomber on the train and Crocs!

61 Hours and Worth Dying For - These two plus A Wanted Man sort of go together as their timelines follow immediately on from each other, but are separate plots.

The Hard Way - Reacher goes to the UK

[ChocChaffinch]

signs of a bomber nb spoiler avoid if you haven't read

[ChocChaffinch]

better to read in order if you can;
the story of Jacks ups and downs are fascinating
the last book needs to be last read

I liked the terrorist on the train one the best, the 11 signs of a terrorist or sommat 'Gone Tomorrow'

[ChocChaffinch]

Liam Neeson is my Jack

Tom Cruise wasn't awful in the movie, just wrong.

Have read them all, agree formulaic but V interesting, I know a lot more about weapons and military assaults now

[AnonYonimousBird]

DH is officially hooked and I am going to order him 3 more for holiday! Which to choose?!

Easiest thing feels like just going in order but if there are any particularly excellent ones, then please let me know!

[JackieTheFart]

I love them. I've read them all, started with number five I think and wasn't too impressed but was persuaded to start again from the beginning of the series.

What I like is that some are written in first person, some in third person. I only figured out one of them before I got to the end!

I liked the last few the best, with the exception of the latest one which disappointed me.

[AnonYonimousBird]

DH is at least a third into the first book. He's not given me much feedback other than a) actually reading it which tells me something and b) "pretty punchy"! Which I think was a positive....

Thanks all. I am at the library later, so may see if I can hunt down a couple more for holiday.

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Absolutely what diablo said!

Think he's brilliant, but disappointed with the Teenytom sell out, though.

Someone suggested Jim Cavaziel(sp?) and yup, he'd be ideal.

But, hey, Butler could do it with friffing knobs on, and I know there's at least one other poster who would utterly agree with me on that.

[ChewingOnLifesGristle]

Not being very up on rugby I wasn't sure who Lawrence Dallaglio was ( I knew the name but not the face) but just Googled and yes yes he'd be a perfect Reacher.

[diabolo]

NightOwl - Lee Child wrote the character with Dallaglio in mind.

[CoteDAzur]

Liam Neeson would have been good. He fit that role in Taken perfectly.

[Gravity1]

And Liam Neeson my fave suggestion so far - has to be rugged! Tom Cruise? God no!

[Gravity1]

There's a quote in one of the books blurbs that says 'Men want to be him, women want to be with him.' And it appears to be true - as a character he seems to have universal appeal. Not a hugely intellectual read admittedly, but so far as pure escapism and good plotting goes, Reacher is fab!