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Jack Reacher was once unique
Book Review
By Derryll White
Child, Lee and Andrew (2023). The Secret.
This is the first Jack Reacher I have seen by the father and son writing team. The Jack Reacher franchise has been well established in 25 plus novels and several movies. Lee Child has been careful in crafting a unique character, set far apart from the crime fiction norm.
Jack Reacher had a singular history that has evolved, and readers have followed (and anticipated) that growth. He has moved from a regimented military life to a new freedom and sense of discovery in a non-military world.
In ‘The Secret’ Reacher is back in uniform and acting pretty much like every crime fighting heavyweight from the past – Harry Bosch, Joe Pike – you name it. These characters are great in their own setting but Reacher was set apart. Now he has lost his special drifter, non-commercial self.
The writing in ‘The Secret’ is blocky, keeping the stories separate as long as the writers possibly can. As a result, the story development is somewhat jerky, not the expected smooth Lee Child narrative. Also, the social lens seems to have disappeared, with almost no commentary on our modern world.
This novel is adequate, a quick read with little that makes the reader pause. The writing as well mirrors the standard A+B+C of storytelling. I haven’t read Lee Child for a while and I can say it will be just as long before I try him again. Too bad, because Jack Reacher was once unique, like Joe Ide’s Isaiah Quintabe (IQ).
– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them. When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org
