Since not too many people read this blog anyway, I think, without becoming a subject of widespread ridicule, I can admit that Major Jack Reacher is one of my greatest role models!
My role model, Major Jack Reacher, finds himself in the back of a van with an eye-catching FBI agent in the second installment of Lee Child’s fantastic series (which I happened to pick up again after about 20 years, so I accidentally read it once more). The agent has been kidnapped. My role model, Major Jack Reacher, just happens to end up in the van. Instead of throwing him out of the car, the incredibly stupid kidnappers decide to take him along. Little do these idiots know what kind of problems they are bringing upon themselves.
My role model, Major Jack Reacher, is strong, smart, skilled, cunning, and more Sherlock Holmes-like (see The Gods of War) than Sherlock Holmes himself. (Notice how he analyzes the girl right from the start.) His sense of justice is off the charts, and he is also the best sniper. (You can bet that some people will get a bullet in their heads.)
Did I mention he’s strong? (Bro, he’s super strong! Comes in handy when tearing chains out of the wall.)
He can pick any lock. (Okay, not every lock, because one catches him. A HUGE ONE. You think that’s why he can’t get in there too? Don’t worry, don’t worry!)
So, when it turns out that the kidnapping is the opening move of a sinister conspiracy, my role model, Major Jack Reacher, sets out to uncover EVERYTHING and take down this whole mess.
This is the second installment of the series, but my role model, Major Jack Reacher already appears in full armament before us. Well, almost, because at this early stage of the series, he still has some fears – although luckily they don’t hold him back for too long. Sometimes he hits the floor – but these occasions only fuel his desire for revenge even more. And here, generously, he allows himself (Chuck Norris style) to contemplate the possibility of a more ordinary life. Indeed, Holly, the FBI agent, is a woman for whom you’d also give up the wandering lifestyle…
Yeah, speaking of Chuck Norris, you think Reacher wouldn’t handle it with him? You’re wrong, darn it! If the old guy stirred up trouble, he’d get his share of it too!
8/10 (80%)
Yeah, yeah, you’re saying there’s this constant counting going on. Well, maybe there’s a bit too much of it, but who’s perfect? Is the end of the book a bit abrupt? Who cares?! It’s 400 pages, it ends when it ends! And that sometimes it’s overexplained? Okay, enough already!
Die Trying (Jack Reacher #2) by Lee Child
432 pages, Paperback
Published in 2012 by Berkley