Book Report: Nothing To Lose, by Lee Child
This is an action-adventure-mystery novel, one of a series with the same main character, Jack Reacher. In this one, Jack walks into a small town, kicks ass and takes names, unravels a few mysteries, and then walks off into the sunset, shortly after the gigantic explosion. (Into the sunset metaphorically, anyways: he actually heads south.)
The book has fun, action, mysteries, surprises, and many interesting observations about life and the modern world. It was obvious to me after the first few pages that the author is really smart and clever, and Jack Reacher is also. He's an engaging character with a Sherlock-Holmes-like ability to notice details and figure out what they mean. He's also not afraid to get his hands dirty with breaking and entering or other necessary rough stuff. For instance, I picked up many useful tips about fistfights that I plan to use as soon as I grow six inches and gain 100 pounds of pure muscle.
Jack has a minimalist life. He goes where he wants, when he wants, and does what he wants when he gets there. There are many excellent scenes with Jack conversing with a variety of major and minor characters. The dialog is great. He has a light and ironic manner without trying to score off whoever he's talking to. He knows how to treat people as they deserve, if not better, and he does not suffer fools gladly, regardless of how they're armed.
As a plot junkie, I noticed that there is very little description of anything or anybody in the story, unless it is significant to the plot. For example, I have no idea what Jack Reacher looks like: his hair, eyes, face, nothing. He visits a diner in the small town many times, but I have no idea what it looks like either. The only reason I know that there are three chairs in the kitchen of a woman he meets is that it turns out to be an important clue as to what has happened to her husband. On the other hand, he (or the author) seems obsessed with details of time and distance. After reading this book, I think I could confidently draw an accurate map of eastern Colorado, including pertinent bits of Kansas and Oklahoma.
The author ensures that Jack must rely only on himself in this story. For one thing, Jack has almost no possessions, just the clothes on his back and the contents of his pockets. Rather than wash his current clothes, he buys new clothes, usually at a hardware store. Also, he has no super-capable buddy who will help him out of a jam. There are no deus ex machinas to rescue him in this story.
And Jack would know what "deus ex machina" means, too: he's very intelligent and well read. In fact, one thing that hooked me into this book was that he mentions Zeno in about the first ten pages. Okay, granted, it's not the Zeno I had in mind (the one with the paradoxes), but the other Zeno (the Stoic one), but still. When you come across a guy who can fell an ox with a single blow and also converse about Zeno (either one), how can you not follow him around for a while?
The author divides sections up in a way that is both weird and clever. The ordinary way to divide up a book is after each major scene. That's not how the author does it. Instead, he puts a chapter division after, say, a cryptic or significant remark during a conversation. That conversation is not over, but to get to the end of it, you're compelled to start reading section 56, which leads to section 57, and so on. This helps make the book a page-turner. And even though it's over 500 pages, I didn't spend that long reading this book. And enjoyed every moment.
[Gratuitous aside: When I reported on The Golden Compass, I bemoaned how poor a job it did poking fun at religion. Nothing To Lose does it 100 times better. There are some real zingers in here, Jack not being shy at all about pointing out the foibles of self-righteous evangelicals impatient for the end of the world. The funny thing is, you get the feeling that he's a man of some kind of faith. Just not theirs.]
Jack Reacher is a kind of knight errant in the modern world. He uses his might to make right. If he wore a cape and had a wealthy alter ego, he'd be Batman: but that's too complex for him. He's a "what you see is what you get" kind of guy, with a nobility of purpose and a pureness of heart that is encouraging.
This is one of about a dozen novels featuring Jack Reacher. I plan to read more of them, now that I've found them. But I'll space them out a little, so that I can be surprised again each time.
This is an action-adventure-mystery novel, one of a series with the same main character, Jack Reacher. In this one, Jack walks into a small town, kicks ass and takes names, unravels a few mysteries, and then walks off into the sunset, shortly after the gigantic explosion. (Into the sunset metaphorically, anyways: he actually heads south.)
The book has fun, action, mysteries, surprises, and many interesting observations about life and the modern world. It was obvious to me after the first few pages that the author is really smart and clever, and Jack Reacher is also. He's an engaging character with a Sherlock-Holmes-like ability to notice details and figure out what they mean. He's also not afraid to get his hands dirty with breaking and entering or other necessary rough stuff. For instance, I picked up many useful tips about fistfights that I plan to use as soon as I grow six inches and gain 100 pounds of pure muscle.
Jack has a minimalist life. He goes where he wants, when he wants, and does what he wants when he gets there. There are many excellent scenes with Jack conversing with a variety of major and minor characters. The dialog is great. He has a light and ironic manner without trying to score off whoever he's talking to. He knows how to treat people as they deserve, if not better, and he does not suffer fools gladly, regardless of how they're armed.
As a plot junkie, I noticed that there is very little description of anything or anybody in the story, unless it is significant to the plot. For example, I have no idea what Jack Reacher looks like: his hair, eyes, face, nothing. He visits a diner in the small town many times, but I have no idea what it looks like either. The only reason I know that there are three chairs in the kitchen of a woman he meets is that it turns out to be an important clue as to what has happened to her husband. On the other hand, he (or the author) seems obsessed with details of time and distance. After reading this book, I think I could confidently draw an accurate map of eastern Colorado, including pertinent bits of Kansas and Oklahoma.
The author ensures that Jack must rely only on himself in this story. For one thing, Jack has almost no possessions, just the clothes on his back and the contents of his pockets. Rather than wash his current clothes, he buys new clothes, usually at a hardware store. Also, he has no super-capable buddy who will help him out of a jam. There are no deus ex machinas to rescue him in this story.
And Jack would know what "deus ex machina" means, too: he's very intelligent and well read. In fact, one thing that hooked me into this book was that he mentions Zeno in about the first ten pages. Okay, granted, it's not the Zeno I had in mind (the one with the paradoxes), but the other Zeno (the Stoic one), but still. When you come across a guy who can fell an ox with a single blow and also converse about Zeno (either one), how can you not follow him around for a while?
The author divides sections up in a way that is both weird and clever. The ordinary way to divide up a book is after each major scene. That's not how the author does it. Instead, he puts a chapter division after, say, a cryptic or significant remark during a conversation. That conversation is not over, but to get to the end of it, you're compelled to start reading section 56, which leads to section 57, and so on. This helps make the book a page-turner. And even though it's over 500 pages, I didn't spend that long reading this book. And enjoyed every moment.
[Gratuitous aside: When I reported on The Golden Compass, I bemoaned how poor a job it did poking fun at religion. Nothing To Lose does it 100 times better. There are some real zingers in here, Jack not being shy at all about pointing out the foibles of self-righteous evangelicals impatient for the end of the world. The funny thing is, you get the feeling that he's a man of some kind of faith. Just not theirs.]
Jack Reacher is a kind of knight errant in the modern world. He uses his might to make right. If he wore a cape and had a wealthy alter ego, he'd be Batman: but that's too complex for him. He's a "what you see is what you get" kind of guy, with a nobility of purpose and a pureness of heart that is encouraging.
This is one of about a dozen novels featuring Jack Reacher. I plan to read more of them, now that I've found them. But I'll space them out a little, so that I can be surprised again each time.
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