The Hard Way - Lee Child

Lee Child is an ex-pat. Traitor! Originally from Coventry he moved his family from their home in Cumbria and relocated across the pond in New York having lost his job in television where he has since become the author of twelve novels - each of them featuring the indomitable Jack Reacher. In this, his 10th book, Reacher, the ex-military policeman, witnesses a transaction involving the handing over of a million dollars and, as a consequence, is hired by Edward Lane, director of a private miltary company, whose wife and stepchild have been kidnapped. As he searches for any clues as to the whereabouts of the two abductees he learns that the director is keeping ...  Read the complete review

Background: I always believe you can't judge an author on just one book. Recently, I read Lee Child's 'One Shot', which I enjoyed. So I was keen to try a second one by this author to confirm or alter my opinion of his work. About the author: Lee Child was born in Coventry in 1954. He had a successful career at Grenada Television for many years before redundancy led him to a new and successful life for him and his family in America. He has now written 11 thrillers with the same charismatic hero in Jack Reacher. About the book: Jack Reacher is sitting outside a Coffee Shop in New York, when he notices a man cross the ...  Read the complete review

When you watch a film with a person from the UK using an American accent you often find that they do a decent job. No doubt this because we are bombarded with American media and are able to get an ear for it. The same if not often true for American's impersonating the Brits. Too many times they fall on cliché and span the globe from Swindon to Sydney and back. It may be that we notice the anomalies because we are British and that the Americans can also easily tell our fake US accents? The idea of Brits impersonating Americans is also seen in other media. Lee Child is an Englishman who moved to America and quickly began to write US based thrillers as if he was a ...  Read the complete review

'The Hard Way' fits well into Lee Child's writing style. It is classic Jack Reacher, although I only know this with hindsight...It happened to be the first Child novel I read, and it was a true page turner... I am interested in American culture, both present and past, and this book conveys both perfectly. It is surprisingly well written, and the plot is well motivated as are the characters. I have now read three 'Jack Reacher' books written by Child and I think that his character development (our of the army, into nomadic crime fighter) is genuinely interesting and reminiscent of Jack Bauer in 24. (In fact, if you like this style of story telling you are bound ...  Read the complete review