affair

The Affair,  a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, is a prequel that helps answer some of the questions about how Reacher ended up where he is in most of the later books. Child seems to have worked out the story pretty well, and I can only imagine that he started out with some kind of well-thought-out backstory for his character when he begin the franchise, and that backstory has been slowly filling in as he makes his way through the Reacher series. He's had time, in other words, to work the kinks out of this story, so it reads beautifully from beginning to end. I ended up taking this book with me when I thought I'd have a spare moment at lunch, or waiting somewhere, so that I could keep reading it.

Anyone who has read some of the Reacher stories thus far will undoubtedly have some questions about Reacher's earlier days and Lee Child comes through with this one, and then does it again with what the cover teaser calls "exclusive bonus material" which takes the form of a short story titled: Second Son. exclusive? who else is going to have this material? Second Son is also a prequel of sorts, and gives the regular Reacher reader an additional glimpse at the origin story of the ex-military policeman.

This is number 16 in the series so far, and I think that I've probably read a half-dozen or more a few years ago. Only one shows up here on the blog. Its too bad really. One of the reasons I started this blog was to keep track of what I read. The cover art on the Reacher novels (paperbacks, anyway) are so similar, that I don't think I could figure it out without re-reading a few pages. If you're looking for a list in order, take a look at this. the world's strongest library also compared reacher to jack bauer as I did in my other review. You can try here for all of your favorite series, in order. you're welcome

Not the reader type? Jack Reacher is a movie adaptation of the One Shot novel with Tom Cruise as the six-four Reacher. maybe he stood on a box † Not bad, generally, from an entertainment point of view. Not gonna' win any Oscars tho.

Good, clean (sort of) fun that gets your kick-ass and justice-is-sweet nerves jangling. Fun!

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† This is a little aside about Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher. Seems odd because I've read a few of the books, and I think of Reacher as a big dude. And its not that I just think of him that way, its really an integral part of his persona. Reacher is 6-foot 5-inches, and about 250 pounds. Tom Cruise is my height, 5-foot 7-inches, and I know he weighs less than I do, lets say 165, normally, and beefed up for his roll to probably 175-180. My guess is he wanted to make this movie, and is hoping to do some sequels, maybe all of them, but I don't know if he'll get there if he doesn't have the Reacher fans with him. As I said, I think he ended up doing a pretty good job, but you know there are some out there who won't buy him as Reacher at almost a foot shorter, and 70 pounds light. Reacher also has light hair, and blue eyes. Cruise has brown hair and hazel or light brown eyes.

Who do I think would be good? Its a tough one, I can't think of a lot of big, A-list actors
Chris Hemsworth (6'-4"light hair, blue eyes, wrong accent? too young?)
Gerard Butler (6'-2", dark hair, blue eyes, wrong accent?)
Alexander Skarsgård (6'-4 1/2", light brown hair, blue eyes, too slim?)
Armie Hammer (6'-5 1/2" med. brown hair, blue eye, young) his god-damn name is armie 
Josh Duhamel (6'-3 1/2", light brown hair, brown eyes)

All of these guys would have to put on some beef. What do you think?