by Lee Child
I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Lee Child and his most famous brain-child, Jack Reacher. I hate how much I love him. When you read a Jack Reacher book, you know what you’re going to get, some kind of inciting incident, disgusting villains who deserve all the violence Jack Reacher rains down on them, and brutal justice. They’re not nuanced, but they can be deeply satisfying.
Enter the short story, Eleven Numbers, which is a complete departure from that formula and lets Mr. Child play in a different kind of sandbox, and I’m here for it.
Nathan Tyler is a quiet professor of math who has exactly the right key to open the Russian security for the White House. He’s not built for espionage, or really much more than juggling numbers and teaching a class. But he gets drawn into this high-stakes world against his will, and things go wrong.
Recently, Lee Child has handed off his Reacher books to his brother or some other less-capable writer, and that’s a shame. Because Reacher wasn’t perfect, and the books didn’t always satisfy, but neither Reacher nor the quality of the writing are thriving without Lee Child. However, if this kind of story is what was hiding behind Reacher’s bulk, then he can move aside, because I want more.
5 Reaching-Beyond-Reacher Stars
