Customer Reviews

Killing Floor (Jack Reacher Series)

5 star:		(163)
4 star:		(97)
3 star:		(50)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I'm new to the Jack Reacher series but I have to say that I enjoyed this first book. I was interested in reading what other reviewers had to say: Author was charged with using the word "shrugged" too much. I never noticed, I was busy turning the pages I guess. Author was charged with using short, choppy sentences. Is that a literary offense? Because if it is, it's time to take Hemingway's work out and burn it, he having been critically lauded for years for that short, choppy style which is supposed to be very manly -- in a literary sense, I suppose. All I know is that I find old Hem's work mindnumbingly dull. At least Mr. Child keeps me awake, those choppy sentences lend a sense of urgency to the story. (Just like Earl Emerson's short chapters in 'Pyro'!) Author is charged with not being an expert on America. Neither am I and I've spent 48 out of 50 years here. Oh, and one review bemoaned the fact that somehow the author failed to realize the US has no Marines stationed in Europe, that we have no naval base there. Hm, I don't keep up with the exact locations of all US bases but I spent two years at Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, and when I was there, the US had a naval base at Rota. Author is charged with having a written a very violent book. Well. There you have me. It IS violent. If violence disturbs you, what the heck are you doing reading books in this genre in the first place? There was a great honking picture of a bloody handprint on the cover of the paperback I bought -- I would have thought that was a (you'll excuse the pun) dead giveaway as to the nature of this book. Oh, almost forgot. The author is also charged with too much coincidence in the brother/killing plot point. Stranger things happen every day -- gee, Bush got elected twice. I think THAT's stretching coincidence!

Yes, Jack Reacher is an anti-hero. Yes, the books has some flaws (as most every book I've ever read does). But I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing Reacher's character progression in the next book. Do I think he's the next Lucas Davenport? Nope, not unless he gets a stronger sense of humor and a lot more sexy. But Reacher is verrrry interesting!

OK, I'm done defending the book. Now, here's the bit that bothered me: A top gun in the Treasury Dept drops out of sight and the Feds don't swarm all over looking for him when his prints come across the computer? A second Treasury Dept worker is brutally murdered in an airport and (1) it's the busy airport at Atlanta and no one sees it??? and (2) the Feds don't follow up on this either? Still -- I was able to suspend my disbelief long enough to overlook these things, just because I wanted to see what Jack would do next.

Wow, what a book! Lee Child has given us perhaps the most interesting and complex hero in some time. Jack Reacher is Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled into one...but with much more personality and pizzazz! I'm only sorry it's taken me so long to read Mr. Child's book!

The story is a riveting one, focusing on Jack's involvement in a crime in a small town in Georgia. Boy, does he make a mistake in deciding to stop off in this little burg, just to find out about a blue singing legend named Blind Blake. But, what a story unfolds. The dialogue is brisk, economical, and very involving! Along with Jack, there are a ton of characters that are so remarkably fleshed out and described, you would think this was a true crime story!

There are scenes of nail-biting action; very graphic and disturbing scenes of violence; and amidst all this some really well-written scenes of sensitivity and poignancy. Jack's meeting with an old lady who once knew the old blues legend is outstanding in its emotional punch! Paul Hubble, the neurotic banker; Roscoe, the beautiful policewoman; Finlay, the chief of detectives; and the evil villains are some of the best written characters in recent mystery fiction.

What is so amazing about this book is the way Lee Child has not only woven a complex murder mystery, but also a chilling tale of greed, madness, and lost loves and lives.

This is an emotional, wrenching debut, and I cannot wait to start in on the rest of this series!

An outstanding piece of fiction!

I started with "Running Blind," Lee Child's third book, and finished it off in record time to jump back online to see what else Lee Child had written. The hero, Jack Reacher, was a military brat growing up, a military career man until the army downsized, and then became a drifter by choice. He's a one-man swat team correcting injustice as it finds him. In "Killing Floor" he just happens to get off the bus near the intersection of a small town in Georgia and after wandering on foot into the town of Margrave he is immediately arrested for a brutal murder which he obviously did not commit. He digs his way through several mysteries at one time including the identity of the murdered man. The suspense never lets up; there is a girl (a cop) that he loves but leaves with good romance and dialogue throughout. The only problem I had with the hero is that he arrives without any luggage and only occasionaly needs to buy a new outfit of clothes as he thows away what he has on at the time. He gives new meaning to traveling light. I'm going to quit writing now and start reading the next book..."Die Trying" I hope to see more of Jack Reacher after I have caught up with the next two.

Having already read three other Jack Reacher novels, I finally got around to reading "Killing Floor," the first in Lee Child's popular series. Here is the Jack Reacher that we know and love--macho wanderer, man of few words, quick with his fists, an expert at weaponry, fearless and unforgiving.

Jack is passing through Margrave, Georgia. It is a town that is surprising clean and well-kept, considering that most of the residents have little visible source of income. Jack intends to stay for a brief period to look up some history about a blind musician, and then he intends to move on. However, Jack is arrested for a vicious crime that he did not commit, and he then becomes embroiled in a murder investigation that involves his brother.

It turns out that Margrave is a corrupt town, rotten to the core. With the help of a few good police officers (one of whom makes for a sexy love interest), Reacher gets to the heart of an extremely profitable criminal operation run by some very ruthless and powerful men.

"Killing Floor" is a fast-moving, engrossing and extremely violent thriller. Reacher is quick-witted, unerring in his instincts, and relentless in his pursuit of justice. One of Reacher's quirks is that he rarely changes his clothes, since he hates to be bothered with laundry. Since he never carries luggage and he only showers when he gets a chance, he must be fairly malodorous. Surprisingly, no one seems to notice.

I enjoyed "Killing Floor," recognizing it for the entertaining fairy tale that it is. Child does not try for realism. If you can stomach tremendous carnage and you like non-stop action, then you will enjoy "Killing Floor".

I picked up "Killing Floor" in hardback on the clearance rack at Half Price Books for $1.00 about 7 years ago (good luck finding it now!) I knew nothing of the author and really just needed something to pass the time between Dark Tower installments. Little did I know...

I literally couldn't put this book down from the time I opened it until it was complete. "Killing Floor" has an original plot, contains an interesting "hero", and kept me guessing to the finish.

Since "Killing Floor" I have bought and reads ALL of Lee Child's books, all in hard back and all as soon as they were available, and have never felt cheated.

I was concerned that the books would get boring after several installments (as with James Patterson's books, when you have the same indestructible character over and over, sooner or later you get tired of reading about them). Fortunately, each "Jack Reacher" novel has had a completely original premise, and I haven't gotten bored yet.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

As mentioned in other reviews some of the coincidences that make up the core of the story are a little hard to swallow. But it does little to hurt what is otherwise a very intriguing story. Jack Reacher is a pleasant departure from the usual action hero. He does what he must to get the job done without wrestling his conscience. When he dispatches a bad guy,and they're very bad, there is no clever little quip, no dramatic showdown. He has no qualms about shooting first without warning or throwing the first punch. Jack is a very interesting character and I look forward to reading more of his adventures.
There are a few minor details that I hope get cleaned up in future stories. jack just wanders the country with only the clothes on his back, no shaving kit, no change of socks and underwear, no deodorant. The notion of the wandering loner is romantic but in reading about Jack I began to think that he must reek! Obviously he doesn't as Officer Roscoe will attest but for the sake of nit picky jerks like me... give the guy a knapsack or something! It won't slow him down any.

"Who is this Lee Child?" Because of the enormous recent publicity for this author, I asked this of a friend I saw at a party. He drew back in obvious surprise. Within an hour I had his whole library of Lee Child.
I had already started Killing Floor when I learned Lee Child would be appearing at a local bookstore. So I took a teenaged budding writer with me to hear Child. I was concerned that perhaps no one would show. NOT TO WORRY! More chairs! More chairs!
Child is a tall Englishman with a great sense of humor, is quick on the uptake and totally entertains his admirers with a very funny presentation. After a query about Reacher from a tight-jean female, he seemed baffled of why women were so "crazy" about this character. He wonders? Jack Reacher is the alpha male. Say what you want about the metro man, the sensitive man, the poetic guy, women love a man of decision and principles, especially an attractive one who is 6'5" (despite occasional heavy-duty grime). Subsequently, I've sold Child to numerous friends who are enjoying his series immensely, as do I.
Now, who is this Jack Sheldon?

This was our first Lee Child, and his first work introducing leading man Jack Reacher. Jack is a retired homicide investigator for the military police, and as this book opens, just roaming the country looking for something to grab his interest in life. We meet him minding his own business eating brunch in a diner in Margrave, Ga., where after a few minutes, the police storm the eatery and arrest Jack for murder! We all know he's absolutely innocent, but our attention was riveted by Child's technique of having Reacher actually start working the murder case as he himself is being interrogated as a suspect!

Spending a day in the slammer as a material witness, along with an unfortunate banker named Hubble, whose phone number being in the murdered man's shoe makes him a suspect as well, Reacher kills (in self-defense) another inmate, the first in a series of brutal slayings depicted throughout the novel. So now we know Reacher can more than take care of himself both physically and mentally.

Soon the police discover Reacher's got an airtight alibi for the murder; then it's discovered the victim is by total coincidence Reacher's brother Joe, a US Treasury special agent in charge of counterfeiting. And so the plot is off and running. Before it's over, some bad cops are unearthed, with we readers often getting to smell out the rat in advance, which was fun. Police Officer Ms. Roscoe, who took a shining to Jack upon sight, provides our hero a stirring and sexy romance, which was an interesting sub-plot with which we anxiously awaited resolution.

To us, Child's writing skill, his pace and ability to sustain action and suspense, and his crafty plot with just the right amount of complications, has given us a page-turning, stellar new series to enjoy. Can't wait to read our next Reacher!

Even though I read about fifty books a year in the Mystery/Thriller genre, this is my first introduction to Lee Child. He comes highly recommended and I'm now wondering why I waited so long to pick up one of his books.

My immediate thoughts on this author are that I like his writing style. He writes like we speak -- shorter sentences and gets right to the point. My second discovery is his use of surprises. There's nothing I like more than reading a book where I don't know what's going to happen at the end of a chapter. I love having some of those "Oh, No" moments when settling down with a mystery. My third and probably most important reason for liking this book is the main character. Finally, I meet Jack Reacher -- 6'4", 36 years old, a former military policeman and, best of all, he's not a wise-guy. I don't know why most authors think they have to resort to the wise-cracking main character in order to have a successful book. To me, Jack Reacher is a refreshing change.

The setting of this book, Margrave, Georgia, is reminiscent of a Stepford town. Everything is perfect, everything is clean, everyone is happy with their lives....until dead bodies start showing up. Reacher, who just happens to be wandering through Margrave, is immediately considered a suspect simply because he's an outsider. But little does this town know that it's the "insiders" they have to worry about as Reacher sets out to prove his innocence and seeks revenge for the death of someone from his past. And when Reacher sets out to seek revenge, he means it, as he has no problem at all in killing bad people.

In the beginning of the book, he won't know whom to trust and neither will the reader. As the story progresses, however, you will become amazed at Reacher's intelligence and will become attuned to his deciphering of even the smallest clue.

Jack Reacher has now moved right up on top of my list of favorite main characters in a mystery series. I've looked past the fact that he has no problem killing people.

I'm just so glad that this is a series because it means that I get to visit with this pantheon of human pulchritude again and again and again. Next up....Die Trying.

50 pages into this book, I called my sister. Why? Because as avid readers, we've made a sacred vow to one another. We have promised to alert one another in the event of an exceptional book. And "Killing Floor" is just that. I did not recommend the book to her. I COMMANDED her to read it. It is supremely entertaining. Thanks to the ride it gave me, I am off to the local bookstore tonight (sorry, Amazon.com, but instant gratification is the one thing you unfortunately cannot provide) to try (probably in vain) to find another book that captivates me as much as "Killing Floor." I also deeply appreciate the fact that, despite its rough edge, this book did not contain one single "f" word. See, Hollywood? IT CAN BE DONE!!!

One, and only one complaint, Mr. Child -- what the heck was with all the shrugging?! It was your book's only distracting element ; unfortunately, I found myself in the midst of adrenaline-laden scenes trying to think of other gestures you could've used. But hey! Your use of the word "the" was pretty heavy, too. :-)

A phenomenal debut. The only reason I did not give the book a ten is that I reserve that rating for books that have moved my soul. A "9" is the highest rating I give a book that I've read for entertainment purposes only.

A recommendation for those who have enjoyed this book: order a copy of "The Day After Tomorrow" by Alan Folsom. It's the only book I can think of that gave me a ride like the one "Killing Floor" did.

Thank you, Amazon, for providing this great service! You've enhanced the reading experience ten-fold.