With a small cast of characters, the plot stayed pretty focused, even if there seemed to be an unusual amount of coincidence that got it there. This was undoubtedly the strength of the book since it was a unique and intriguing twist on a pretty common crime. Jack Reacher himself is probably the majority of this issue, as he’s a drifter with little-to-no connections to anything or anyone, merely acting as a conduit to make action/killing happen.Īs for the core mystery of The Killing Floor, it was a fascinating premise and had a slow unraveling to keep me intrigued along the way. Sure, it’s a fun thrill-ride, but certain elements didn’t invest me in the characters. Consequently, it felt somewhat “pulpy” in that it was entertainment for entertainment’s sake. I certainly can understand its appeal, especially for male readers, since it has plenty of violence and sex while also exhibiting a number of action sequences.
#Killing floor book series
Sylvia Maughan is a retired university lecturer, based in Bristol.The first book in the Jack Reacher series is certainly a thriller, through-and-through. This beautifully produced volume is a worthy product for any collector of Lee Child’s work. These help to create the atmosphere of the times in small-town America and the style perfectly suits the clipped nature of the narrative. This Folio Society edition of the book has the added bonus of full-page illustrations by Oliver Barrett interspersed throughout the text.
In this regard the reader is required to concentrate. Even the cars in which he travels are described in detail and become an important feature of the solution. Consequently, the reader can see clearly the picture he is painting: the house with the front door staved in, the motel room where he takes detective Roscoe for safety, the area under the highway where he hides in order to observe a suspect warehouse, the hobo whom he almost doesn’t notice, the barber’s shop where the old barber gives him a shave. In addition to his skill in the fights, Reacher observes his surroundings in a meticulous and detailed way. The stories wouldn’t work if he couldn’t do this as he needs to consistently overcome his many enemies and survive until the end of the book. He is able to see them almost in slow motion and thus work out the winning strategies each time. A well-known aspect of Reacher’s thinking is his ability to analyse the openings and moves in a physical fight, and there are plenty of these. He has a very logical, analytical mind, and so it is a joy to travel with him working out what is going on at each stage. Reacher is the narrator and so his thought processes form the backbone of the text. There is not a clue out of place and the unravelling of the crime occurs steadily and carefully, making sense at each new step. The crime has real substance, not only involving a huge array of characters, but also raising awareness of financial arrangements of the utmost importance to national governments. The plot slowly unravels, maintaining suspense right to the last page. When the details of the supposed crime become apparent, Jack realises that his own brother had been killed at a local warehouse. Initially he and the other guy are put in a cell on the wrong floor of the prison, hence the book’s title. He ends up being held in prison over the weekend with another guy who asks for his help. He walks to the little town of Margrave, calls into a diner, and then is suddenly surrounded by cops and gets arrested. He travels around following his whim and on impulse gets off a long-distance bus in the middle of nowhere, in order to go and look for an old guitar player he has heard of, with the name of Blind Blake. Jack Reacher is a retired military policeman who has yet to settle down.
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