Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, No. 1) Reviews

• Some minor quirks but a rousing good read.

  
  By A53FKXES8SAD5 on 2005-06-23
  I'm new to the Jack Reacher series but I have to say that I enjoyed this first book. I was interested in reading what other reviewers had to say: Author was charged with using the word "shrugged" too much. I never noticed, I was busy turning the pages I guess. Author was charged with using short, choppy sentences. Is that a literary offense? Because if it is, it's time to take Hemingway's work out and burn it, he having been critically lauded for years for that short, choppy style which is supposed to be very manly -- in a literary sense, I suppose. All I know is that I find old Hem's work mindnumbingly dull. At least Mr. Child keeps me awake, those choppy sentences lend a sense of urgency to the story. (Just like Earl Emerson's short chapters in 'Pyro'!) Author is charged with not being an expert on America. Neither am I and I've spent 48 out of 50 years here. Oh, and one review bemoaned the fact that somehow the author failed to realize the US has no Marines stationed in Europe, that we have no naval base there. Hm, I don't keep up with the exact locations of all US bases but I spent two years at Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, and when I was there, the US had a naval base at Rota. Author is charged with having a written a very violent book. Well. There you have me. It IS violent. If violence disturbs you, what the heck are you doing reading books in this genre in the first place? There was a great honking picture of a bloody handprint on the cover of the paperback I bought -- I would have thought that was a (you'll excuse the pun) dead giveaway as to the nature of this book. Oh, almost forgot. The author is also charged with too much coincidence in the brother/killing plot point. Stranger things happen every day -- gee, Bush got elected twice. I think THAT's stretching coincidence!
  
  Yes, Jack Reacher is an anti-hero. Yes, the books has some flaws (as most every book I've ever read does). But I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing Reacher's character progression in the next book. Do I think he's the next Lucas Davenport? Nope, not unless he gets a stronger sense of humor and a lot more sexy. But Reacher is verrrry interesting!
  
  OK, I'm done defending the book. Now, here's the bit that bothered me: A top gun in the Treasury Dept drops out of sight and the Feds don't swarm all over looking for him when his prints come across the computer? A second Treasury Dept worker is brutally murdered in an airport and (1) it's the busy airport at Atlanta and no one sees it??? and (2) the Feds don't follow up on this either? Still -- I was able to suspend my disbelief long enough to overlook these things, just because I wanted to see what Jack would do next.
  
  

• Jack Reacher can have my number !

  
  By AAF5PEMY7R49Y on 2000-09-27
  I started with "Running Blind," Lee Child's third book, and finished it off in record time to jump back online to see what else Lee Child had written. The hero, Jack Reacher, was a military brat growing up, a military career man until the army downsized, and then became a drifter by choice. He's a one-man swat team correcting injustice as it finds him. In "Killing Floor" he just happens to get off the bus near the intersection of a small town in Georgia and after wandering on foot into the town of Margrave he is immediately arrested for a brutal murder which he obviously did not commit. He digs his way through several mysteries at one time including the identity of the murdered man. The suspense never lets up; there is a girl (a cop) that he loves but leaves with good romance and dialogue throughout. The only problem I had with the hero is that he arrives without any luggage and only occasionaly needs to buy a new outfit of clothes as he thows away what he has on at the time. He gives new meaning to traveling light. I'm going to quit writing now and start reading the next book..."Die Trying" I hope to see more of Jack Reacher after I have caught up with the next two.
  
  

• What a Book!

  
  By A3LZGLA88K0LA0 on 2000-09-05
  Wow, what a book! Lee Child has given us perhaps the most interesting and complex hero in some time. Jack Reacher is Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled into one...but with much more personality and pizzazz! I'm only sorry it's taken me so long to read Mr. Child's book!

  The story is a riveting one, focusing on Jack's involvement in a crime in a small town in Georgia. Boy, does he make a mistake in deciding to stop off in this little burg, just to find out about a blue singing legend named Blind Blake. But, what a story unfolds. The dialogue is brisk, economical, and very involving! Along with Jack, there are a ton of characters that are so remarkably fleshed out and described, you would think this was a true crime story!

  There are scenes of nail-biting action; very graphic and disturbing scenes of violence; and amidst all this some really well-written scenes of sensitivity and poignancy. Jack's meeting with an old lady who once knew the old blues legend is outstanding in its emotional punch! Paul Hubble, the neurotic banker; Roscoe, the beautiful policewoman; Finlay, the chief of detectives; and the evil villains are some of the best written characters in recent mystery fiction.

  What is so amazing about this book is the way Lee Child has not only woven a complex murder mystery, but also a chilling tale of greed, madness, and lost loves and lives.

  This is an emotional, wrenching debut, and I cannot wait to start in on the rest of this series!

  An outstanding piece of fiction!
  
  

• Lee Child not as good as I had expected

  
  By A2F4ADOINJUXKR on 2007-06-27
  Lee Child's Killing Floor has gotten rave reviews as has Child for most of his work within his genre. To be candid, I just don't get it. What the book does have going for it is that it is a "page turner". That hardly makes up for its deficiencies in many other areas.
  
  Cliché. This book is loaded with cliché in both plot and dialogue. With a simple red liner, an editor could have taken this from a fair book to a good book by taking out trite dialogue that is eye rolling and mind numbing. Flaws in plot can be overlooked but the numerous times where characters state the utter obvious and "go macho" is a killer to this book. In fact, the only reason I finished it was some general need to find out what the author was going to do with the Stuart Woods type of plot and the fact that it was so highly recommended to me by readers who typically have my taste. Not with old Jack Reacher.
  
  Character development. Only in its very nascent stages. We don't really know why any of the main characters are who they are, or where they are, save a few explanatory sentences. That hardly creates a sense of intimacy with a cast of characters we are expected to care about for a few hundred pages. The romance that occurs in this book is without real reason, other than time and place (good enough for some I suppose).
  
  I am glad I finally read Lee Child. It will take a lot of convincing to get me to read him again. Mysteries are supposed to be fun - not make the reader into a critic, which is exactly what Killing Floor did to me.
  
  

• A total waste of time....

  
  By AAUQZQLS39YOA on 2005-02-06
  I picked up this book based on the reviews here on Amazon, and I wish I hadn't.
  To be honest, I'm surprised at the good reviews that this book has received. I'll admit, the first chapter of the book, I was prepared to be sucked in. But, the plot and details in the book were so poorly done, that the positive first impression I had quickly evaporated.
  The main character is laughably unrealistic, and it's obvious that the author was not in the military, and made no effort at research or proofreading (note to Lee Child: it's .22 "caliber", not "gauge"; corporals are ncos, and wouldn't do an officer's laundry; MPs are not "elite soldiers expected to take down green berets, etc"; MPs are analogous to "patrol cops" in the army. Reacher would more realistically be CID if he's investigating; etc.). Also, there's a point in the book where Reacher puts his pistol and ammunition in an oven to dry. I'm not going to even bother pointing out why this is a bad idea, especially considering Reacher's "military expertise".
  The plot is similarly full of holes, and the key point of suspense _still_ makes no sense (the "sunday deadline").
  
  In short, rather than waste more time with this book pointing out everything the author got wrong, I'll just say to prospective readers that for "brain candy thrillers", there are so many examples out there that do a better job, why waste your time?
  Pick up a De Mille, a Cornwell, etc, or better yet, a Westlake, a n Ian Rankin, a Robert B. Parker ( for something more than brain candy)
  
  
• Great new hero, great beginning, fine plot, fun reading !
  By A1XGJ7TLP5Y3XC on 2004-02-12
  This was our first Lee Child, and his first work introducing leading man Jack Reacher. Jack is a retired homicide investigator for the military police, and as this book opens, just roaming the country looking for something to grab his interest in life. We meet him minding his own business eating brunch in a diner in Margrave, Ga., where after a few minutes, the police storm the eatery and arrest Jack for murder! We all know he's absolutely innocent, but our attention was riveted by Child's technique of having Reacher actually start working the murder case as he himself is being interrogated as a suspect!

  Spending a day in the slammer as a material witness, along with an unfortunate banker named Hubble, whose phone number being in the murdered man's shoe makes him a suspect as well, Reacher kills (in self-defense) another inmate, the first in a series of brutal slayings depicted throughout the novel. So now we know Reacher can more than take care of himself both physically and mentally.

  Soon the police discover Reacher's got an airtight alibi for the murder; then it's discovered the victim is by total coincidence Reacher's brother Joe, a US Treasury special agent in charge of counterfeiting. And so the plot is off and running. Before it's over, some bad cops are unearthed, with we readers often getting to smell out the rat in advance, which was fun. Police Officer Ms. Roscoe, who took a shining to Jack upon sight, provides our hero a stirring and sexy romance, which was an interesting sub-plot with which we anxiously awaited resolution.

  To us, Child's writing skill, his pace and ability to sustain action and suspense, and his crafty plot with just the right amount of complications, has given us a page-turning, stellar new series to enjoy. Can't wait to read our next Reacher!
  
  

• Repugnant
  By A1CPXDDAK7OK57 on 2005-07-18
  It's clear that, since this book has garnered so many rave reviews on Amazon, it appeals to a niche of people that are easily impressed when they read thrillers. But, not to sound condescending, don't read it if you're a serious reader who expects something more than a book written by someone with an eight-year-old's understanding of the world.
  
  I am a big fan of the mystery and noir genre, but I was not able to suspend my disbelief for this book. The hero, Jack Reacher, is basically a perfect human being. The worst part about it is that, even though he is a retired MP and has no authority whatsoever, he somehow manages to take complete control of a police investigation, WITH THE COPS' COOPERATION! The characters were so unbelieveable; as if any real cop would let some yahoo off the street, who was only recently cleared of being a murder suspect, handle their investigation.
  
  Also, the plot was completely ludicrous, the mystery turning out to be a conspiracy that nearly everyone in town was involved in. I also grew extremely tired of the love affair between Reacher and the female cop Roscoe, who had sex no less than twenty times, in explicit detail. I normally like the main character to have a romantic interest, but Lee Child's incessent descriptions of their sexual exploits did nothing but bog the story down.
  
  I was thoroughly unimpressed with this novel, but I guess it's what you can expect from an British author who clearly has little to no understanding of the American military and legal system. If I could give this book a rating lower than 1 star, I would in a heartbeat.
  
  
• Lucky Find
  By A3BX2N9R6P3CTF on 2006-05-20
  I picked up "Killing Floor" in hardback on the clearance rack at Half Price Books for $1.00 about 7 years ago (good luck finding it now!) I knew nothing of the author and really just needed something to pass the time between Dark Tower installments. Little did I know...
  
  I literally couldn't put this book down from the time I opened it until it was complete. "Killing Floor" has an original plot, contains an interesting "hero", and kept me guessing to the finish.
  
  Since "Killing Floor" I have bought and reads ALL of Lee Child's books, all in hard back and all as soon as they were available, and have never felt cheated.
  
  I was concerned that the books would get boring after several installments (as with James Patterson's books, when you have the same indestructible character over and over, sooner or later you get tired of reading about them). Fortunately, each "Jack Reacher" novel has had a completely original premise, and I haven't gotten bored yet.
  
  I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
  
  
  
• JACK REACHER -- MY NEW HERO
  By A8WX6M9VK4EXR on 2002-09-12
  Even though I read about fifty books a year in the Mystery/Thriller genre, this is my first introduction to Lee Child. He comes highly recommended and I'm now wondering why I waited so long to pick up one of his books.

  My immediate thoughts on this author are that I like his writing style. He writes like we speak -- shorter sentences and gets right to the point. My second discovery is his use of surprises. There's nothing I like more than reading a book where I don't know what's going to happen at the end of a chapter. I love having some of those "Oh, No" moments when settling down with a mystery. My third and probably most important reason for liking this book is the main character. Finally, I meet Jack Reacher -- 6'4", 36 years old, a former military policeman and, best of all, he's not a wise-guy. I don't know why most authors think they have to resort to the wise-cracking main character in order to have a successful book. To me, Jack Reacher is a refreshing change.

  The setting of this book, Margrave, Georgia, is reminiscent of a Stepford town. Everything is perfect, everything is clean, everyone is happy with their lives....until dead bodies start showing up. Reacher, who just happens to be wandering through Margrave, is immediately considered a suspect simply because he's an outsider. But little does this town know that it's the "insiders" they have to worry about as Reacher sets out to prove his innocence and seeks revenge for the death of someone from his past. And when Reacher sets out to seek revenge, he means it, as he has no problem at all in killing bad people.

  In the beginning of the book, he won't know whom to trust and neither will the reader. As the story progresses, however, you will become amazed at Reacher's intelligence and will become attuned to his deciphering of even the smallest clue.

  Jack Reacher has now moved right up on top of my list of favorite main characters in a mystery series. I've looked past the fact that he has no problem killing people.

  I'm just so glad that this is a series because it means that I get to visit with this pantheon of human pulchritude again and again and again. Next up....Die Trying.
  
  

• Just discovered this author
  By ADSVALYHEFEEI on 2006-06-12
  "Who is this Lee Child?" Because of the enormous recent publicity for this author, I asked this of a friend I saw at a party. He drew back in obvious surprise. Within an hour I had his whole library of Lee Child.
  I had already started Killing Floor when I learned Lee Child would be appearing at a local bookstore. So I took a teenaged budding writer with me to hear Child. I was concerned that perhaps no one would show. NOT TO WORRY! More chairs! More chairs!
  Child is a tall Englishman with a great sense of humor, is quick on the uptake and totally entertains his admirers with a very funny presentation. After a query about Reacher from a tight-jean female, he seemed baffled of why women were so "crazy" about this character. He wonders? Jack Reacher is the alpha male. Say what you want about the metro man, the sensitive man, the poetic guy, women love a man of decision and principles, especially an attractive one who is 6'5" (despite occasional heavy-duty grime). Subsequently, I've sold Child to numerous friends who are enjoying his series immensely, as do I.
  Now, who is this Jack Sheldon?
  
  
  
• I shrugged, he shrugged, she shrugged
  By A3S583K80QN1VG on 2006-10-18
  Short sentences. Incomplete. He likes them. Loves them, really. Six word limit. Good for some folks. Not for me. No short attention span here. How about you? I shrugged. Why did I finish it? Dunno. I shrugged.
  
  If that type of writing appeals to you, then this is the book for you. It drove me crazy. The main character, Jack Reacher is really not very likeable. The plot is predictable and not very interesting. It just plods along in short, incomplete sentences with everybody shrugging. Blah!
  
  
• Five Stars ? ! - I don't think so .....
  By AQ36OBN7CM8P0 on 2000-01-05
  If this is what it takes to get published then I'm hitting the keyboard tonight. This would have to be the most disappointing read I've had in a long while. It started with enormous potential but I got a sick feeling half way through that there wasn't going to be a twist at the end - and I was right. And it's got one of those Rambo heroes - you know the ones, he has the intelligence of Einstein, the fighting ability of Tyson and Holyfield combined, and can use any weapon known to man ! The plot could have been so much more devious and more full of intrigue - but it was a clanger ! Keep away from this one - maybe Lee's others are better but I doubt it.
  
  
• Jack Reacher's debut novel.
  By AC1K4OQOZ90RS on 2001-08-05
  Having already read three other Jack Reacher novels, I finally got around to reading "Killing Floor," the first in Lee Child's popular series. Here is the Jack Reacher that we know and love--macho wanderer, man of few words, quick with his fists, an expert at weaponry, fearless and unforgiving.

  Jack is passing through Margrave, Georgia. It is a town that is surprising clean and well-kept, considering that most of the residents have little visible source of income. Jack intends to stay for a brief period to look up some history about a blind musician, and then he intends to move on. However, Jack is arrested for a vicious crime that he did not commit, and he then becomes embroiled in a murder investigation that involves his brother.

  It turns out that Margrave is a corrupt town, rotten to the core. With the help of a few good police officers (one of whom makes for a sexy love interest), Reacher gets to the heart of an extremely profitable criminal operation run by some very ruthless and powerful men.

  "Killing Floor" is a fast-moving, engrossing and extremely violent thriller. Reacher is quick-witted, unerring in his instincts, and relentless in his pursuit of justice. One of Reacher's quirks is that he rarely changes his clothes, since he hates to be bothered with laundry. Since he never carries luggage and he only showers when he gets a chance, he must be fairly malodorous. Surprisingly, no one seems to notice.

  I enjoyed "Killing Floor," recognizing it for the entertaining fairy tale that it is. Child does not try for realism. If you can stomach tremendous carnage and you like non-stop action, then you will enjoy "Killing Floor".
  
  

• How much can you suspend your disbelief?
  By on 2001-10-03
  To enjoy this book you have to buy into a whole lot of coincidences. Huge coincidences. The first being that the main character just happens to get off the bus in a small town in the middle of Georgia, gets arrested for murder, then finds out the dead guy is someone he knows and hasn't seen in years. You have to buy that a police officer will fall instantly in love with a murder suspect/drifter. You have to buy that the police routinely go along with the execution of the bad guys without even bothering to take them in for questioning. You have to buy huge leaps of logic that are passed off as reasonable deduction. You have to buy that no one else in the federal government would be involved with this particular investigation. I could go on, but I don't want to give away too much of the plot for anyone that still might want to read the book. I'd give it one star but I'm cutting the author some slack since this is his first book.
  
  
• Too much shrugging, but don't shrug this book off!
  By AHTL5T7XV8IWI on 1998-05-21
  50 pages into this book, I called my sister. Why? Because as avid readers, we've made a sacred vow to one another. We have promised to alert one another in the event of an exceptional book. And "Killing Floor" is just that. I did not recommend the book to her. I COMMANDED her to read it. It is supremely entertaining. Thanks to the ride it gave me, I am off to the local bookstore tonight (sorry, Amazon.com, but instant gratification is the one thing you unfortunately cannot provide) to try (probably in vain) to find another book that captivates me as much as "Killing Floor." I also deeply appreciate the fact that, despite its rough edge, this book did not contain one single "f" word. See, Hollywood? IT CAN BE DONE!!!

  One, and only one complaint, Mr. Child -- what the heck was with all the shrugging?! It was your book's only distracting element ; unfortunately, I found myself in the midst of adrenaline-laden scenes trying to think of other gestures you could've used. But hey! Your use of the word "the" was pretty heavy, too. :-)

  A phenomenal debut. The only reason I did not give the book a ten is that I reserve that rating for books that have moved my soul. A "9" is the highest rating I give a book that I've read for entertainment purposes only.

  A recommendation for those who have enjoyed this book: order a copy of "The Day After Tomorrow" by Alan Folsom. It's the only book I can think of that gave me a ride like the one "Killing Floor" did.

  Thank you, Amazon, for providing this great service! You've enhanced the reading experience ten-fold.
  
  

• Far from a five star book!
  By A268QG7A1MYEVQ on 2001-08-31
  Look, this is just not a well written book. The hero is super human (and tells you as much every other page), the plot hinges on huge coincidences, and the author's style reads like a bad film noir script. If you want a quick read that won't make you think much, go for it.
  
  
• Not as smart as it pretends to be
  By A28ZOPMBX2H0NH on 2002-07-20
  What is it with British genre writers? They love to set their stories in the U.S., but actually researching the country seems to be too much work. So they wing it. Or they invent silly plot gimmicks to explain their lapses. Lee Child does both.

  The big gimmick here is that Jack Reacher has spent his entire life outside the U.S., first as a Marine Corps brat, then as an officer in the U.S. Army MPs. This is supposed to explain how he's "exploring America" and relatively ignorant of its ways.

  It's a pretty bogus gimmick (I can't think of any more "American" place to grow up than a U.S. miltary base -- even the ones overseas). And it doesn't do anything for a lot of related lapses, like the fact nobody investigating a counterfeiting ring seems to have ever heard of the Secret Service!

  There are more lapses of a more logical nature. The story begins with a very engaging scene where Reacher is arrested by a group of heavily-armed well-trained cops. The scene is interesting because Reacher spends the arrest critiquing the police technique of the arresting officers (they're colleagues after all!). His assessment is that they're very-well trained, with a few minor lapses that turn out to be crucial to the plot.

  Except that it makes no sense. It turns out that the cops work for a backwater city with no history of violent crime, and every reason *not* to want well-trained cops around.

  Add to the mix an unlikely scheme for buying off every single inhabitant of the town, a lot of flawed logic as Reacher and his cohorts "deduce and detect", a fair number of coincidences and improbabilities, and you end up with a story that's just plain dumb.

  There's also a lot of violence. It struck me as realistic enough -- actually too realistic for my taste. If that's what you like in your thrillers, by all means, buy this book. But lets not pretend there's anything deep here.
  
  

• Dimwit Hero in Kingdom of the Even More Dimwitted
  By on 2004-05-15
  That the "who's the traitor" plot cleaves too closely to cliche to be a mystery is forgivable (well, not really), but the fact that none of the characters -- including two Ivy League professors who spend a year thinking about it -- can puzzle out the incredibly obvious plan the bad guys have in motion is embarrassing. The book moves decently, though, and the action is above average. I would definitely try another "Jack Reacher" book -- at least as soon as another "Harry Bosch" or "Lucas Davenport" book -- but I would bail out if I thought Child was being this lazy again in plotting. A better book than this is the original "The Killing Floor" (70s) by Jacob Asch, or for that matter Geoffrey Household's "Courtesy of Death" (60s) with which this book shares a number of similarities.
  
  
• THE NIGHT THAT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA
  By AN3D3M8MJ07BQ on 2008-02-24
  Driving along Interstate 15 and enjoying another adventure with Jack Reacher made the miles just fly by. Didn't realize that "The Killing Floor" was the inception of the Jack Reacher character and series since I had either read or listened to other books by this author that featured this tough ex-military cop character and the stories are such that they do not have to be read in any particular order to be enjoyed. I did notice that a lot of the Reacher adventures seem to begin with our heroic drifter sitting in a restaurant enjoying a cup of coffee or eating breakfast when a chance occurrence pulls him into yet another crime situation awaiting his particular brand of expertise. This one is no exception.
  
  Jack takes us down south for this thrill ride, to a sleepy little town called Margrave, Georgia. A murder has been committed and of course our hero is arrested for the foul deed since he is the only "stranger" in the area............and of course none of the upright town folk could have possibly committed the dirty deed. It appears that everyone has a part to play in this escapade from the local police chief and his assistant (a black cop who has relocated from the Boston area) to a couple of ancient town barbers, to a bank executive and even the FBI.
  
  The story is liberally peppered with vicious bad guys committing brutal acts, damsels in distress, slimy town fathers, an ingenious scam, and enough action and surprises to keep you interested and on your toes (like the identity of the victim for whose murder Jack has been arrested).
  
  Our fast thinking hero's abilities are put to the test, and of course he passes with flying colors. Give Jack and his creator, Lee Child, a B- on this one. 3 ½ stars.
  
  
  
• Visceral, violent, and very suspenseful
  By A11ES13Y64903L on 2006-07-10
  Having seen Lee Child out promoting his current book, The Hard Way, I felt sufficiently intrigued to search out this, the first of his Jack Reacher novels. Mr. Child seemed the very personification of his main character: a man's man, Hemingway-esque; more comfortable shooting rhinoceros and chugging back scotch than sitting and discussing his books. Hmmm. Must investigate.
  
  Indeed, the Jack Reacher character is all that and more. A former military policeman and spec ops Jack Palance type, Reacher, clearly in the grips of PTSD and social alienation, is, in this first novel, on a vagabond walkabout when he stumbles into the town of Margrave, Georgia and promptly is arrested for murder. Turns out the dead guy is Reacher's estranged brother, who was a covert op for the US Treasury. This is the first of many coincidences and plot devices which stretch credibility to the breaking point, but hey, with such impressive writing, suspension of disbelief comes easily. Even when I guessed the next step (as is readily done) there was no break in the delicious tension.
  
  Well crafted action scenes are in abundance as Reacher aligns himself with the only good guys in town to uncover an international counterfeiting scheme. James Bond, played by The Rock, meets Deliverance. Aficionados of Guns `n Ammo will delight in descriptions of weaponry, fighting tactics, and spook stealth. There are also scenes of gruesome gore, so the squeamish should be warned and set the book down now.
  
  An improbable love interest adds a little spice, but be advised the romance scenes are written entirely from an almost comical stereotypical male perspective, and as such are likely to be unimpressive to woman readers.
  
  All in all, a tightly crafted suspenseful read, worthy of the awards Mr. Child received on its publication ( Anthony Award, Barry Award).
  
  
• A riveting read
  By on 1999-12-29
  Powerful writing with a strong plot and great dialogue. Drifter Jack Reacher stumbles onto a mystery that is multi-layered and complex. The violence is brutal, the plot intriguing and well-researched. Definitely not for the cozy lover. Reacher has the background and size to make his actions believable. I can't wait to travel down the next road with Reacher to see where he takes me!
  
  
• Looking for a few hours of great entertainment? Read on!
  By on 1998-11-11
  I enjoyed this book so much that the minute I finished it I went looking for his newest novel "Die Trying". "Killing Floor" is packed with action & suspense, with a great hero, Jack Reacher. Don't be taken by any harsh reviews. Although outrageous in some spots with one or two "over the top" coincidences, it's great entertainment all the same. A super read! One minor criticism. The "stacked" sentences (one very short sentence after the other) are a bit annoying. Although effective in some parts, it gives you the feeling that, like Grisham, Lee Child was asleep during most of 7th grade English. But the reader gets over that because the story is so good. The plot is unique and well thought through. Incredibly entertaining. Reacher is a wonderful character, especially when read from the "first person". I caught myself asking "how did Mr. Child think of that?". If you like Grisham, you'll probably really enjoy this book. Well Done!
  
  
• shrug
  By on 2000-10-04
  I got about three quarters through the book and just couldn't go any further. How did this get rave reviews? It is simply awful. There is so much shrugging going on that it's amazing anyone got anything done. I began to think that maybe the water was contaminated and was causing all this involuntary shrugging. And his characters shrugged at the most gawd awful inappropriate times. Shrugging is usually used to show complacence, but they would react to the most DIRE situations with a simple shrug. Not just the hero, but EVERY PERSON in the book SHRUGGED. And aside from all that, the story was thin, thin, thin. And frankly, boring.
  
  
• Not your typical hero.
  By A2KOS7S5ZL9QSI on 2002-10-20
  As mentioned in other reviews some of the coincidences that make up the core of the story are a little hard to swallow. But it does little to hurt what is otherwise a very intriguing story. Jack Reacher is a pleasant departure from the usual action hero. He does what he must to get the job done without wrestling his conscience. When he dispatches a bad guy,and they're very bad, there is no clever little quip, no dramatic showdown. He has no qualms about shooting first without warning or throwing the first punch. Jack is a very interesting character and I look forward to reading more of his adventures.
  There are a few minor details that I hope get cleaned up in future stories. jack just wanders the country with only the clothes on his back, no shaving kit, no change of socks and underwear, no deodorant. The notion of the wandering loner is romantic but in reading about Jack I began to think that he must reek! Obviously he doesn't as Officer Roscoe will attest but for the sake of nit picky jerks like me... give the guy a knapsack or something! It won't slow him down any.
  
  
• Shrugged
  By A2DXV9SVE3IDPX on 2006-04-20
  Holy 'shrugged' batman. He must have said 'shrugged' 300 times in this one. He shrugged, she shrugged, it shugged....the gas station shrugged...the freaking birds in the trees shrugged. He should have named this one 'shrugging on the killing floor'. By the end of the book I could not get past it. It really was edited very poorly...too bad too, the book was very good, especially for a first time author.
  
  cool use of violence though. 3 stars.
  
  
• Commendable first novel, with a few annoying flaws
  By A2FEE88JZLDLXZ on 2004-04-02
  KILLING FLOOR is a real page turner and Jack Reacher is a man's man. It has a lot of action and great fight passages...Reacher whupped 5 guys at once in chapter 7 alone! The plot twists and turns and leads you away only to bring you back in a totally surprising way. Mr. Childs is an excellent writer and knows how to keep the reader interested. OK I noticed a few things which bugged me, the excessive use of the word "shrug." I started to count the shrugs and gave up after about the thirtieth time Jack or Finlay or Roscoe shrugged before, or instead of speaking. The other thing that bugged me was something Jack mentioned about his background, his youth. He and his older brother Joe were Army Brats. They traveled around the globe from base to base wherever their Dad was stationed. Mostly Europe, Asia, and the US. I assumed they were army posts. On page 188 of the paperback, he says the Marine Corps took care of his father's funeral arrangements. As far as I know there are no Marine Corps units stationed in Europe, since we have no US Navy ports in Europe. The 6th Fleet does something called a "Med Cruise," which means the fleet goes to the Mediterranean for a few months. They are not based there, hence no US Marines stationed in Europe. Both Jack and Joe served in the US Army as officers. Where did the Marine Corps come from? Just a few flaws, but nothing that ruined the excitement for me.
  
  
• A rarity...a book I couldn't put down.
  By ALAFR9RRKEUZP on 2004-09-28
  This was an excellent, suspenseful, action-packed book. I really enjoyed it.
  Reacher, an ex-military cop, is passing thru a small Georgia town and is falsely accused of murder. He eventually is set free but he finds himself in the middle of a corrupt, organized group of thugs which includes the mayor and the largest business owner in the town. Coincidently, this group of thugs has killed his brother.
  Reacher sticks around to seek revenge on the killers and figure out what led him to this strange place to begin with.
  Lee Child does a great job on this premier. He has you at the end of your seat from the start.
  I am really looking forward to the next one of this series.
  
  
• Amazing First Novel
  By A2B277MLV0BP5O on 2005-06-29
  Lee Child has written an amazing first novel. His main character Jack Reacher is not only believable but likeable. We are able to identify with him and be on his side from the outset. An honorable man who was released from the Military after an exemplary career because there was nothing left to do in the now peaceful world. Reacher being arrested in the first line of the novel made for a fast start to what proved to be a fast paced and adrenaline filled ride.
  
  Reacher is accused of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He arrived into the small Georgia town in his new life as a drifter, after being cut loose from the army and his lengthy career there. Being the new guy in a small town would make him stand out and be a plausible scapegoat. Reachers strong personality and Military Police background make his stoic acceptance of his early fate conceivable.
  
  It was somewhat unrealistic that Reacher and the Hubble could be put into the general prison population but that is where literary license comes into play. I think the portrayal of prison violence, although graphic, was very true. Having recently watched a documentary on prison violence, it really put the scene into perspective and provided a very realistic illustration.
  
  Seeing Reacher's detective skills come into play was very impressive. Being allowed to have almost free reign over the investigation was unbelievable but worked for the story. Jack Reacher works as a big, scary police officer.
  
  I was left thinking throughout this book as to the next step. As I have said in previous reviews of other books, I don't really try to figure the mysteries out. My preference is to let the auther weave the tale of suspense and I get to enjoy the ride.
  
  This is the first in the Jack Reacher series and has proven to be a very fine novel. The series should stand out amongst it's peers as one of the best. I look forward to reading more from Lee Child seeing the continual growth of Jack Reacher.
  
  
• I would want to be on Jacks side !
  By A2MUZOG2NNUBUB on 2005-12-29
  It is rare for me to finish a 520 page novel in a couple of sittings, but that is what Lee Child and Jack Reacher can do for me. There is never a dull moment and I, for one, am totally hooked on Reacher, his way of dealing with things, and his most unlucky co-incidences.
  
  Written in the first person, with a single linear plot progression, the story is easy to read, easy to follow, and I must admit it was great that there were enough clues along the way that it was possible to work out what was going on before the hero. Whilst this was a very enjoyable aspect of the book, it did have the reverse effect of making otherwise intelligent detectives who did not work it all out look a bit stupid, but that is a minor point.
  
  Sure .... I agree that the sequence of events in this small town would have bought just about every law enforcement agency down in their hundreds ... but what the heck? You have to suspend belief in most book genres or else your intention must be to read a book to criticize it, rather than enjoy it. I know if I have just paid for an adventure / thriller novel with a big nasty ( but very likeable ) hero I expect him and the author to thrill and captivate me with an exciting, complex, and interesting story. Killing floor does this perfectly, and I am not at all bothered that the story does not meander off into sub stories involving new characters. I want to know what JACK REACHER is doing!!
  
  Violence ? you bet .. I love it. Jack "zero tolerance" Reacher is my sort of hero. The action scenes are fantastically well written, OK, not perhaps with the cultured prose and flowery writing of a Booker prize winner, but superb writing in order to portray the events taking place. Fast paced, all the details but not `detailed', jerky, nervous, graphic.
  
  After reading "Die Trying" I can see a pattern building with Reacher's love life .... But at least we are spared salacious details of the sex scenes. Not that I am averse to salacious details, you understand, but Lee Child knows that in HIS books they would be padding, and there is very little if ANY padding in these books.
  
  Great fun, and if you don't mind your action adventure spiced with violence ( some of which does border on sadism, I suppose) and bloody scenes then I thoroughly recommend Child's books. If you want action adventure where there is very little real blood and guts, I suggest Dirk Pitt and Clive Cussler.
  
  
  
• Ugh
  By A3RDS9GADUKFAH on 2006-08-12
  Maybe my expectations were too high; The Killing Floor did win the Edgar for best first novel, but I guess it must have been a weak year. Lee Child's first offering is typical of a first book, and that's the problem the story is typical. Nothing surprising or new here. It is both predictable and implausible. The book's hero, Jack Reacher, is boring. I think he is supposed to be mysterious and troubled, but I found him grating and arrogant. The book reads like a B action movie. The whole plot not only stretches the imagination, but also one's grasp of reality. It seems that Child has never left New York City and understands neither the American justice system nor small town life. Maybe I missed something, but I found The Killing Floor to be a sub-par thriller with flat characters and rather large plot holes.
  
  

• Tripwire (Jack Reacher, No. 3)
• Die Trying (Jack Reacher, No. 2)
• Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4)
• The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8)
• Without Fail (Jack Reacher, No. 6)