One Shot (Jack Reacher, #9)

I have never read a Jack Reacher novel twice, but this is probably as close to that feeling as it gets. I watched the first movie and this was the original material. I enjoyed the movie and was worried that reading this novel would result in disappointment somewhere. For those in a similar position, don't worry. This is a great novel even if you know what's coming.

I feel we're into the golden years of Lee Child's writing, as the secondary perspectives that come up are strictly there to provide just a bit more suspense, and a bit more excitement... like a garnish to the massive meat and potatoes meal that is Reacher's attempt to solve the central mystery. The antagonists are competent, at times more competent than Reacher, and this really helps with the chess match that is actively in action between the two sides. This is really excellent as there have been Reacher novels where the antagonist was effectively unaware Reacher even existed, or those really bad ones where Reacher was just along for the ride.

I almost finished this novel in a single setting. It grabbed my attention and never stopped. There are more characters, more clever details, and more complexity to the plot than the movie. But the movie was faithful as well and I appreciate what they did.

Highly recommended.

I was most impressed with the fact that by 1/3 of the way through the book, the big twist (how Reacher felt a real military sniper would execute the kills) was already revealed. This was basically the end of the movie, so I was confused where we would go. The expansion of the cat and mouse game between Reacher, the police, and the Russians worked excellently. I appreciated the additional characters -- the Hollywood movie focused on the lawyer but her role was split into the sister and the newscaster. The former being kidnapped makes way more sense, and the latter reminded me how 'Hollywood' the movie had been by making everything about the female lead. What actually kept me from thinking this as a perfect 5 star was how lucky Reacher was written in order to avoid a lot of the antagonists's prep work. As well, the Army Colonel that popped up and didn't do anything except give Reacher a convenient sex scene and a place to stay during the police hunt was... it felt very cheap.