Where Jack Loses His Memory

In Too Deep by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a pretty good read that got better as it went along. I was leaning 3 but the last 100 pages or so hooked me, so a 4 is probably the right call.

I've only read a couple Jack Reacher books, and I only got this one because I was wasting time at the drugstore and wanted something to do. I wasn't hoping for too much, actually. But it moves along with a pretty good pace, and though I don't have a strong attachment to the main character, he is growing on me. Also, the plot gets more interesting about halfway through, so my interest in the story also grew the more I read. It's a solid action-thriller (or whatever category you prefer to put it in) and should satisfy most readers of the genre. I suspect.

Reacher is an interesting character. As a big, smart guy with lots of skills, he's like an underpowered superman, or something of a Sherlock with more punch and an affinity for weapons. Maybe a bit like Doc Savage, now that I think about it, with lots of mental skills, like a great memory and a lot of expertise in investigation. But he has weaknesses that leave him vulnerable in some areas, raising the stakes in many scenes. He doesn't have amazing tech skills or even a phone, so if something needs to be looked up, he has to rely on connections. He also doesn't keep a car, so he's pretty much gotta bum rides. And in this book, he has an injured arm, so he can't come out swinging like he usually does. In one scene, he's in the water trying to climb out onto a dock and just can't manage it with his bad arm, and that changes how he goes after the bad guys. I thought it was a nice touch.

This will probably never be exactly my type of book, but it's pretty good to jump into from time to time, and I enjoyed this one.

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