My role model (see Die Trying), Major Jack Reacher, makes his first appearance in One Shot on page 42. How is that possible? I have no idea. Moreover, I thought I had already read this book before. But no, I missed this volume, and that’s great news because in this early installment, the Major is at his best. And of course, so is Lee Child. And naturally, this is the book that was adapted into the cool movie Jack Reacher (IMDb: Jack Reacher) where Tom Cruise does everything to RISE to the role.)
Child’s book is thrilling from the first page.
How can you tell? Well, despite our beloved hero’s late appearance, you find Lee Child’s story unputdownably exciting from the very first page.
Then Reacher barges in and once again sticks his nose into something he shouldn’t. And once again, he’s nosy, impertinent, and unshakeable… And once again, it turns out that things that seem entirely obvious aren’t so obvious after all.
How does Jack Reacher do it? Using the good old Sherlock Holmes method. Things that would mean nothing to you, spark something different in his mind. Things you would immediately declare as black, he flips around and proves to be white.
One Shot works well as a crime novel
All this results in an incredibly well-crafted crime novel in the case of One Shot, especially since, unlike in later parts of the series, Major Reacher isn’t a one-man detective, jury, judge, and executioner, but mostly just a sleuth sniffing after the truth.
The obligatory epic elements of the Reacher series are present in One Shot too, and perhaps a bit tiresome by now. For instance, as usual, Reacher beats up a few punks. But since this is an early novel, these elements weren’t boring yet. Despite this, we increasingly hope that the Major will sooner or later face an opponent worthy of him. Say, a ninja. Or two ninjas at once. (In The Sentinel, if only halfway, this wish comes true.) Okay, there’s no doubt he would handle the two flailing Japanese guys, but next time, perhaps his self-confidence wouldn’t swell so much. Hmm, though then he might not be Jack Reacher anymore.
8.1/10
One Shot (Jack Reacher #9) by Lee Child
466 pages, Paperback
Published in 2006 by Dell Pub Co