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4.0 out of 5 stars
But did you know there really was a Blind Blake?, Jul 9 2004
I loved this book from the first page. I devoured this book, unable to put it down. I read it in less than a week which is saying a lot for me. I liked Jack Reacher a lot. He's got a past, he's not all good, but he's the good guy. "Sometimes good guys don't wear white." If were to compare him to any character, I'd say John McClane from Die Hard or even Blondie from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (the greatest Western ever made!). He's a bad ass you have to like. He is the anti-hero you want to see in any action flick. I found the other characters likeable but not very deep. Part of this is because Child never explores them much, this is after all a jack Reacher novel, and in part because they all have single-name names, Roscoe, Finlay, Hubble. I didn't mind. I found it easy to follow and not confuse characters. The bad guys were stock, smarmy, and slimy, straight out of The Dukes of Hazzard, easy to hate.The back cover mentions the brutal violence. Many reviewers mentioned the extreme violence. I didn't think that the violence was all that bad. When its there, its quick and brutal, sure, but its not like its in every chapter, a non-stop Quentin Tarantino ode to violence. Certainly not any worse than the Bourne Identity or Point of Impact. Perhaps thin skinned people shouldn't read thrillers. While a minor, minor subplot, though really the anchor of the book, I did enjoy the faint tangent of Reacher searching for the story of blues legend Blind Blake.It added just a hint of depth to Reacher. Overall, a great book. If you are a Tarantino fan, if you loved Die Hard, if you like a fast paced no holds barred action-thriller, you will love this book. Ignore the petty detail stuff like the shrugging and simple names. Otherwise, try Robert Ludlum or Stephen Hunter. I have to admit I am tempted to read the next Jack Reacher novel, after all I want to find the answer to "all Jack knows is he didn't kill anybody. Not in their town, and not for a long time..." For more details, go to aj.huff.org. Thanks.
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