It should go without saying, but – “spoilers ahead” .
Lee Child is one of my guilty pleasures.
No doubt about it, he is a novelist, not a literary giant. He walks in the footsteps of authors such as Alistair Maclean, Ian Fleming, Louis L’Amour, and maybe even a little Clive Cussler. If you’ve read and enjoyed those authors, you would probably enjoy Lee Child.
The hero of his books is Jack Reacher. Do not confuse him with the character from the movies. They are only distantly related. Jack Reacher (normally just called ‘Reacher’) is the ultimate minimalist. His only possessions are the clothes on his back and a folding toothbrush. He is a samurai, wandering the world and ‘accidently’ getting involved in one adventure after another. He never fails to choose the correct side of a battle, and he never loses.
Because of the fact that he never loses, the books are very formulaic. He meets someone, something mysterious is going on, he gets involved against his will, he gets beat up, and then he wins. There’s really no suspense. You don’t worry about whether he’s going to come out okay because he ALWAYS comes out okay. That makes this a perfect summer afternoon book. No pressure – no complicated plot lines to try to keep straight.
That being said, ‘The Midnight Line’ was not one of my favorite Jack Reacher novels. The main plot deals with a US Army veteran suffering from battlefield wounds and dealing with an opioid addiction. Child paints a VERY sympathetic point of view of opioid addiction. And even for a Jack Reacher novel, the characters are very one dimensional, especially the bad guys.
Bottom line, if you’ve read all his other books, you’re going to read this one as well. After all, you have to know what happens to Reacher next, right? But if you’ve never read any of his books, don’t start with this one. I’d recommend “Killing Floor” or “61 Hours” instead.
I’ll try to read something more worthwhile next, I promise.