Confession time.

For the past few weeks I've become addicted to reading crime thriller/action/mystery/espionage/assassin novels.  My friend, Candice Fuhrman turned me on to Lee Child.  His writing really "reaches" me! I am bent on reading through every one of his books.

Child's character, Jack Reacher, is an ex-military policeman.  He somehow always falls into nefarious adventures, in which he must use his natural physical strength, feral wits, and military know-how to bring the bad guys to a just dessert.  He shows restraint and a qualified compassion by sometimes only smashing the arm and hand of some bad guy to disengage their trigger finger instead of killing them. Reacher wanders without a settled place to live; owns no possessions beyond a fold-up toothbrush. Manages to operate without a cell phone or credit card or driver's license.  Keeps him under the radar. Always a useful position for a guy prone to deep cover living.

What I love about Lee Child's writing is his attention to detail (noting, for examle, that the drug dealer he just conked out dropped to the floor with a thud. "Conscious people always try to break their fall.") Persuader is particularly riveting.  He's undercover in a remote stone mansion on the edge of the Atlantic ocean, tracking a maniacal psychopath.  Child's observations put you right in the middle of the action and you never get out. 

"The cop climbed out of his car exactly four minutes before he got shot.  He moved like he knew his fate in advance.  He pushed the door against the resistance of a stiff hinge and swiveled slowly on the worn vinyl seat and planted both feet flat on the road.  Then he grasped the foor frame with both hands and heaved himself up and out.  He stood in the cold clear air for a second and then turned and pushed the door shut again behind him.  Held still for a second longer.  Then he stepped forward and leaned against the side of the hood up near the headlight.  

The car was a seven-year-old Chevy Caprice.  It was black and had no police markings.  But it had three radio antennas and plain chrome hubs.  Most cops you talk to swear the Caprice is the best police vehicle ever built.  This guy looked like he agreed with them."

You have to love this almost cinematic immediacy!(Child used to work in television.)

I checked Wikipedia to get a list of book titles for Lee Child, and found that his real name is James Grant.  Not only that but I discovered that he has a brother who also writes mystery novels under the name Lincoln Child.  I wondered why I kept seeing this author's name next to the Lee Child section on the shelf!  They are brothers--wow, I guess I'll have to start reading some of Lincoln's books as well.  It's fun finding out surprising facts about favorite authors.

I guess genres create a thirst for more.

Yesterday, Robert and I went to an afternoon matinee of George Clooney's new movie, The American.  Here's another sub-rosa character character, an assassin, with a troubled conscience. His love interest with the beautiful name, Violante Placido, is unbelievably gorgeous (so Italian!) It's worth seeing. The sometimes silent, moody photography evokes constant tension.  I had questions about how it ended, so maybe I missed something in the plot!  I often do.  I might read the book next by Martin Booth, A Very Private Gentleman.