Book Review: Die Trying by Lee Child
Apr. 30th, 2006 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
texchanThis is sort of a new thing for me, but I'm hoping I can continue doing it. I thought it would be fun to chronicle the books I've read, especially since I have been making more of an effort during the past year to take the time out for reading. I was keeping a separate book journal (on paper) with a synopsis and thoughts on the books I had read. But, seeing as how I do almost everything here in LJ these days, I figured it was only fitting to include my book stuff in here, too. So ... that's the explanation behind this strangeness. And, you guys can read on if you like ... or you can just ignore my rather mindless ramblings. *silly grin*
Book Review: Die Trying
By: Lee Child
Synopsis:
Chronicling the continuing adventures of Jack Reacher, Die Trying is, pretty much, your standard thriller fare. The story opens with Reacher, our hero, standing on a street corner in Chicago at the exact wrong time. He gets swept up in a kidnapping when a group of four men grab FBI agent Holly Johnson off the street; she happens to be standing next to Jack Reacher at the time. The bad guys drive Reacher and Holly across a good deal of country to Montana, where they are holed up as part of some sort of militia group. You know the kind: bent on overthrowing the US government, spotting conspiracies behind every rock and tree, and ready to declare independence -- literally. This particular group is a bit more radical than most, it seems, as they are led by one truly bad mo-fo, Beau Borken. And, not only is Beau racist, beset on all sides by conspiracies (which are only real in his mind), and an iron-fist sort of leader … but, he is also smart, more than a little bit obsessed, and quite the planner. He’s planned everything in his burgeoning little secession-party, and it’s a good plan. Until Fate throws a wrench into the works -- a wrench named Jack Reacher. Once Reacher and Holly arrive in Montana, it’s up to them to save the US government.
My Thoughts:
This is the second of Mr. Child’s novels that I have read. When I read the first book, I was a bit taken aback by his writing style, which is short, to the point, and, often quite terse. Mr. Child does not employ a lot of description, and, at times, he goes into what seems like mind-numbing minutia with regard to the military equipment involved in his stories. To me, the over-explanation of the guns and various vehicles, as well as the military-style tactical maneuvers involved in the story, got tedious at times. But, overall, I enjoyed the book enough that I was able to overlook it.
When I first read Mr. Child’s work, these characteristics of his writing style struck me as huge negatives. But, after I had gotten a few chapters into the previous book, I realized they weren’t. Mr. Child’s short, punchy style is, actually, a positive. It pushes the story forward. It lends zip and movement to the action in the book. It enables him to convey his story in a way that draws the reader in, and, yet, keeps the plot out there -- in the open and easy to see. This is a good thing, particularly since Mr. Child’s plots, in true thriller fashion, tend to have more than their fair share of twists and turns. Having experienced the hairpin turns and ups and downs in Mr. Child’s previous book, The Killing Floor, I expected more of the same from Die Trying. And, let me tell you -- this book did not disappoint.
Despite Mr. Child’s ability to weave a fairly complex plot that delivers a few surprises, it would be easy to pass off this novel as “just another thriller-action-adventure book”. To me, it seems like a genre that is quite overdone these days, and most of the successful novelists in this arena manage to deliver the same kinds of twisting plots. They have to. If they don’t, they don’t continue writing. Or, they do continue writing, but they don’t get published. It’s a dirty fact of life -- you have to give the readers what they expect or you’re yesterday’s news.
So, what makes Die Trying different? Two words: Jack Reacher. I have to admit I do not consider myself much a fan of these thriller-action-drama sorts of books. I picked up Mr. Child’s previous book, The Killing Floor, on a total lark, because it was in the clearance section at my local Borders. But, through the pages of that book, I formed a powerful and lasting connection with this character.
Jack Reacher is an ex-soldier who, after having spent most of his life in the Army, finds he is unable to stay in one place for any length of time. This leads him to wander around the US -- going wherever his wanderlust leads him, stopping along the way to take whatever odd job he can find to feed himself, and, then, moving on again once he gets the urge. He was the quintessential soldier. He comes from a military family, so he moved all over the world during his childhood, and, then, when he was old enough, he joined up, following the family business, so to speak. He was heavily decorated during the service: Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, and the only non-Marine in history to win The Wimbledon. He’s a big guy, too - 6’5”, and around 220 pounds, and, when the time came, he mustered out as a Major in the MP division. He’s a crack shot, the bravest of the brave, and expert on pretty much anything involving weaponry and tactics. In short, a real hero, and the kind of book character you could really love to hate.
Except for one thing. Mr. Child crafted Jack Reacher so that his greatest strength, his military prowess, is also his greatest weakness. Because of it, he can’t seem to fit into society. He’s not some kind of mercenary guy wandering around and fighting for money, although you could understand it if he was. Instead, he’s just a wandering sort of vagrant who has the bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happened to him in The Killing Floor. It happened to him in Die Trying, and, I suspect, his bad timing will continue to plague him throughout each appearance in one of Mr. Child’s novels. Because of this, despite his almost inhuman skill, Jack Reacher is a character with which you can identify. I mean, who among us hasn’t been in situations we would rather not face, without knowing exactly how we got ourselves into that kind of a mess? Granted, our sticky-wicket situations don’t usually involve crazed para-military groups bent on overthrowing the US government, but, all the same, we can recognize a bad day when we see it. He’s just a guy, stuck in a bad situation, resolved to do what’s right … or die trying. And, for that, you’ve just gotta like him. And, I, for one, will probably continue to read about him.
Synopsis:
Chronicling the continuing adventures of Jack Reacher, Die Trying is, pretty much, your standard thriller fare. The story opens with Reacher, our hero, standing on a street corner in Chicago at the exact wrong time. He gets swept up in a kidnapping when a group of four men grab FBI agent Holly Johnson off the street; she happens to be standing next to Jack Reacher at the time. The bad guys drive Reacher and Holly across a good deal of country to Montana, where they are holed up as part of some sort of militia group. You know the kind: bent on overthrowing the US government, spotting conspiracies behind every rock and tree, and ready to declare independence -- literally. This particular group is a bit more radical than most, it seems, as they are led by one truly bad mo-fo, Beau Borken. And, not only is Beau racist, beset on all sides by conspiracies (which are only real in his mind), and an iron-fist sort of leader … but, he is also smart, more than a little bit obsessed, and quite the planner. He’s planned everything in his burgeoning little secession-party, and it’s a good plan. Until Fate throws a wrench into the works -- a wrench named Jack Reacher. Once Reacher and Holly arrive in Montana, it’s up to them to save the US government.
My Thoughts:
This is the second of Mr. Child’s novels that I have read. When I read the first book, I was a bit taken aback by his writing style, which is short, to the point, and, often quite terse. Mr. Child does not employ a lot of description, and, at times, he goes into what seems like mind-numbing minutia with regard to the military equipment involved in his stories. To me, the over-explanation of the guns and various vehicles, as well as the military-style tactical maneuvers involved in the story, got tedious at times. But, overall, I enjoyed the book enough that I was able to overlook it.
When I first read Mr. Child’s work, these characteristics of his writing style struck me as huge negatives. But, after I had gotten a few chapters into the previous book, I realized they weren’t. Mr. Child’s short, punchy style is, actually, a positive. It pushes the story forward. It lends zip and movement to the action in the book. It enables him to convey his story in a way that draws the reader in, and, yet, keeps the plot out there -- in the open and easy to see. This is a good thing, particularly since Mr. Child’s plots, in true thriller fashion, tend to have more than their fair share of twists and turns. Having experienced the hairpin turns and ups and downs in Mr. Child’s previous book, The Killing Floor, I expected more of the same from Die Trying. And, let me tell you -- this book did not disappoint.
Despite Mr. Child’s ability to weave a fairly complex plot that delivers a few surprises, it would be easy to pass off this novel as “just another thriller-action-adventure book”. To me, it seems like a genre that is quite overdone these days, and most of the successful novelists in this arena manage to deliver the same kinds of twisting plots. They have to. If they don’t, they don’t continue writing. Or, they do continue writing, but they don’t get published. It’s a dirty fact of life -- you have to give the readers what they expect or you’re yesterday’s news.
So, what makes Die Trying different? Two words: Jack Reacher. I have to admit I do not consider myself much a fan of these thriller-action-drama sorts of books. I picked up Mr. Child’s previous book, The Killing Floor, on a total lark, because it was in the clearance section at my local Borders. But, through the pages of that book, I formed a powerful and lasting connection with this character.
Jack Reacher is an ex-soldier who, after having spent most of his life in the Army, finds he is unable to stay in one place for any length of time. This leads him to wander around the US -- going wherever his wanderlust leads him, stopping along the way to take whatever odd job he can find to feed himself, and, then, moving on again once he gets the urge. He was the quintessential soldier. He comes from a military family, so he moved all over the world during his childhood, and, then, when he was old enough, he joined up, following the family business, so to speak. He was heavily decorated during the service: Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, and the only non-Marine in history to win The Wimbledon. He’s a big guy, too - 6’5”, and around 220 pounds, and, when the time came, he mustered out as a Major in the MP division. He’s a crack shot, the bravest of the brave, and expert on pretty much anything involving weaponry and tactics. In short, a real hero, and the kind of book character you could really love to hate.
Except for one thing. Mr. Child crafted Jack Reacher so that his greatest strength, his military prowess, is also his greatest weakness. Because of it, he can’t seem to fit into society. He’s not some kind of mercenary guy wandering around and fighting for money, although you could understand it if he was. Instead, he’s just a wandering sort of vagrant who has the bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happened to him in The Killing Floor. It happened to him in Die Trying, and, I suspect, his bad timing will continue to plague him throughout each appearance in one of Mr. Child’s novels. Because of this, despite his almost inhuman skill, Jack Reacher is a character with which you can identify. I mean, who among us hasn’t been in situations we would rather not face, without knowing exactly how we got ourselves into that kind of a mess? Granted, our sticky-wicket situations don’t usually involve crazed para-military groups bent on overthrowing the US government, but, all the same, we can recognize a bad day when we see it. He’s just a guy, stuck in a bad situation, resolved to do what’s right … or die trying. And, for that, you’ve just gotta like him. And, I, for one, will probably continue to read about him.