Book Review: The Midnight Line by Lee Child

I finished a new book this week and thought I’d drop a quick review. Lee Child has written 21 novels featuring the character of Jack Reacher, as well as a collection of short stories about him. Twelve of these have reached the #1 position on the New York Times bestseller list. Two movies (starring Tom Cruise) have been made from the books and more are supposedly in the works. His latest, The Midnight Line, is a solid addition to the series.

My brother has read the entire collection, but in all honesty, I have read considerably less than half. I have just enough OCD to think that a series like this should be read in the order they were written to follow the character throughout the trials and tribulations he is put through by his author/creator. Unfortunately, I have broken my own rules this time. After reading two books from somewhere in the middle of the chronology, I went back to read the first, and have since read several others in no particular order. Fortunately, the books read well as stand-alone adventures. There are very few ongoing storylines and recurring secondary characters, so it is easy to pick up any book in the series and start without worrying too much about the sequence.

Despite my lack of ordered reading, I have greatly enjoyed each of the books I have come across, and even have a couple of more from earlier in the series that I plan to read shortly. Perhaps at some point I will make a concentrated effort to fill in the gaps and get the whole set to read. But enough about me!

Jack Reacher is a really fascinating character. First appearing in Killing Floor, Reacher is an ex-military policeman/investigator and the ultimate drifter. Moving from place to place across the country, he finds adventure wherever he goes. It struck me while reading this one that he is the modern version of Don Quixote’s Knight Errant. He travels the countryside righting wrongs and rescuing damsels in distress, the everyman super hero. Some of Child’s critics echo the same complaints I had about Don Quixote, that the adventures are repetitious and at times predictable. I disagree.

Child has a way of dropping his hero into the middle of situations that require a hero and Reacher, although what he most wants is just to be left alone, is compelled by his sense of honor to step in and do the right thing. In this novel, he stumbles upon a West Point class ring sitting in a pawn shop in a small town in Wisconsin. He sets out to find the owner and return the ring, believing that giving it up could not have been an easy or simple decision. Besides, it’s a woman’s ring.

Tracing the movement of the ring brings Reacher in contact with a variety of characters both good and bad, and eventually leads to a confrontation with various members of a complex drug smuggling operation. Local police, a private investigator, an attractive client, and a slew of others round out the cast. And at the center, the mysterious owner of the ring.

I like the Reacher books for several reasons. First, I like the characters. Reacher himself is great, and in his travels, he always encounters interesting people. Second, Child is a strong narrative writer. He tells a good story and he tells it without frills. If you like books with lots of straightforward action, you will like the Reacher series. And finally, like the old Westerns I grew up on, the good guys usually win. Or at least, they live to fight another day. The Reacher novels I have read all end basically the same, with our hero either boarding a bus or hitching a ride out of town, heading for his next adventure.

I have read other novels that follow a particular character and could easily recommend many of them. James Patterson’s Alex Cross (25 novels) is excellent, as is John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport (28 books). Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch (20 novels) is another great character. Unlike the Reacher series, I would recommend reading these in order. These characters feature friends, family, loved ones, and enough recurring characters to form a chronological narrative. Reading these out of order can result in some major spoilers.

If you prefer a shorter series, I would also recommend Stephen King’s trilogy featuring Bill Hodges, and Elmore Leonard’s Raylan Givens four book series. If you have a favorite series, leave me a comment and I will check it out. Until then, keep reading. It’s good for the soul!