Killing Floor by Lee Child

I have been reading a number of debut novels recently. Having never read any of Lee Childs’ Jack Reacher novels I thought I would start with his debut, “Killing Floor”. I really enjoyed the book, which stormed along at a tremendous pace, introducing the reader to Jack Reacher, ex-military investigator and action hero.

Child writes in short, sharp clipped sentences. A staccato style, but one which aptly suits Reacher. The resultant effect is suitably hard-boiled; taut and sparse, like a modern-day Mickey Spillane (with Reacher cast as Mike Hammer).

Whilst the plotting was carefully constructed I felt that the plot relied on a number of coincidences which didn’t quite ring true, but then again the veil of reality needs so often needs to be suspended in novels of this type. A word of warning; the book is very violent at times, and to my mind the body-count is somewhat gratuitous. The overly graphic descriptions (often involving fingers plunging into eye-sockets) seem to be to the detriment of the novel; for me sometimes less can be more.

Lee Child is actually the pen-name of Coventry-born Jim Grant.  Given Grant’s background and career progression he has done a remarkable job of re-inventing himself as a hard-boiled exponent of pulp fiction, in the most positive and least pejorative expression of the genre. In the seventeen years between 1997 and 2014 he has written a remarkable nineteen novels, which is a phenomenal work-rate. I look forward to reading a few more of his novels to see how he develops the character of Reacher.