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Jack Reacher, anyone??
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So I've been reading the Lee Child's Jack Reacher series for a while, but I find it hard to others who read it too. I've only met a handful of people who actually read the books 
So I was wondering if anyone else out there likes the books? 
I've read:
61 Hours
Worth Dying For
Persuader
The Hard Way
Gone Tomorrow
The Affair
Die Trying
Echo Burning
Looking to read Without Fail and Never Go Back next
So I was wondering if anyone else out there likes the books? I've read:
61 Hours
Worth Dying For
Persuader
The Hard Way
Gone Tomorrow
The Affair
Die Trying
Echo Burning
Looking to read Without Fail and Never Go Back next
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Comments
One Shot was the best and first JR that I ever read.
I thought the Jack Reacher film was really bad, Tom Cruise ruined it.
My best so far is probably either Persuader, Worth Dying for or Echo Burning.
Now waiting for Persuader, from the library (reservation) which seems to take ages.
Always interested to listen in on Lee Child's interviews about his books.
It was weird casting on that movie- Cruise was the worst possible Reacher, but Herzog was the best possible Zek.
Basically, it needed about twenty minutes more Zek, and a foot and a half more Reacher.
Of the three I didn't like, one had a premise that was just stupid, one had him being too violent and the last, the most recent one, well saying any more would be giving out spoilers so I'll stop there.
I read them on holiday as they are an easy read and do not tax my mind too much.
Entertaining enough.
I liked the film even with Tom Cruise in it, I wonder if Lee Child was happy with the choice of him to portray Reacher.
Enjoyed the older ones more. Nearly all of them follow the same formula but its enjoyable escapism.
As for the film its ok, but I tbought of it more as an action film rather than Jack Reacher
I have enjoyed them all, even though they are to a well trodden formula.
I haven't seen the film yet, but will probably watch it once it appears on TV. Tom Cruise is a most unlikely Reacher, as he is far too short. However, I am sure that Lee Child is quite happy to collect the pay-off from having such a major star take on the role.
My favourite is The Enemy.
As for the tapped midget - worst casting in history. Apparently, Lee Child was all for it as he felt that he would bring the essence of Reacher to life. Bullpooh. Clearly it was all about the £££ to him.
That just made me giggle, Tom Cruise acting tough just makes me laugh. I can imagine Clint Eastwood saying a line like that making it really menacing but not wee Tom.
Aye, the scene was lifted from the book, but my problem was that I got a sense of 'fear' from the assailants when Reacher was facing them all - this huge guy saying all that, and the assailants were going for it anyway, and I was thinking "You fools - you don't know what you're getting into" (increasing their level of stupidity for me). However, Reacher's size should have given them an inkling, and they were stupid for not backing down, yet Tom Cruise couldn't physically intimidate a feather duster. So yes, Reacher-in-the-book wasn't supposed to be menacing, yet he is anyway in my mind. Reacher-on-the-screen looked like a scrawny kid next to the real Reacher, and it didn't work.
Anyway, OP, I've read all of them in order and I loved most of them. The ones I didn't love I enjoyed anyway, simply because it's Reacher.
Thing is, normally I'm cool with that kind of change. It's just that with Reacher, his size is stressed SO DAMN MUCH in EVERY OTHER SENTENCE. It's kind of a defining characteristic in the way that it wouldn't be for many other fictional characters, because it's rammed home so often in the books. Having a Jack Reacher who isn't huge is like having a Sherlock Holmes who isn't clever. It's not a cosmetic detail, it's a fundamental aspect of the character.
That said, Cruise was a lot better than I thought he'd be. He's a decent actor, after all, and I thought he played it well, he just wasn't Reacher for me AT ALL. Cruise playing Reacher was like Keanu Reeves playing Constantine- it wasn't his acting that was the problem, he was just horrendously cast.
(As I said above, though, the movie was worth it just for Herzog).
Not very impressed with it as there seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary filler.
There are now nearly 20 full length Jack Reacher books. It must be very difficult to keep thinking of new ways of telling the same story - a very large loner comes into town and defeats the bad guys. Mind you, there must be loads of western (films and books) which have dealt with the same material.
I enjoy the books, but know what to expect at the end - it is just the journey which is slightly different. Sometimes the journey is more interesting than others - I have read some books where I find the "filler", or details, interests me and others where it doesn't.
a void in my stream of reading material. I was given all of
the books and a few short stories/novellas.I read them
through and enjoyed every page;then I re-read them all
straight away,something I hardly ever do!
The only fly in the ointment for me,was that as I neared the
end of my first reading of them, someone lent me the DVD
of the 'dwarf as Jack Reacher' film,which was incredibly bad!