Customer Reviews

High Heat: (A Jack Reacher Novella) (Kindle Single) (Jack Reacher Short Stories)

I suppose, with Reacher pushing 50, it was inevitable that Mr Child would start dipping into his past again, although I never expected he would go back so far. I suppose we must accept that Reacher would have been very different from other kids as a teenager, although I did find it surprising that he was quite as mature, intellectually, as he's portrayed here. Having said that, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility, given his upbringing and the way his mind works as an adult. This was a clever and interesting little glimpse into his past and an event which shaped him into the man we know now, and although it has it's faults, I am such a devotee that I can't bring myself to dislike it (even though I still haven't forgiven Mr Child for Tom Cruise!)

3 stars because the demise of the FBI agent is too glib, even for a novella, I just wanted this to be a novel and I'm not sure even JR was this well formed as a complete character in teenage. But it was still a good enough read with great atmosphere.

I decided to download two kindle singles today, both by authors I was familiar with but had not read previously, Lee Child is clearly one, the other Chuck Palahniuk. Both very popular, both very different. Now obviously, unless you live under a rock you, like me you will have been aware of the fanfare surrounding Jack Reacher's move to the big screen. Now again I have not seen this film, but I was keen to check out Reacher.
So here I am with a short story about a young Reacher, which I recognise is not the Reacher that has proven so popular with readers over the years, but a good place to start I felt.
Firstly, I loved the fact it is set against real life events of the time, the backdrop of the New York blackouts in this case, and to a point I quite liked the Son of Sam References. The story is also solidly written and has a style that clearly suits the character, in that it is big, bold and obvious, military writing if you will.
The two main problems were the plot, which seemed to be lifted straight from one of those 80s movies where a kid sneaks out into the city and gets mixed up with bumbling gangster types, or loses his dad's Ferrari, while all the while trying to impress the girl (think Adventures in Babysitting or License to Drive). However, instead of an insecure, slightly dweeby but likeable young lad, we have hulking 6 foot 5 man-boy with all the physicality of the terminator, swagger and charm of Bond and the investigative skills of Sherlock Holmes, and all at the tender age of 16. Sorry Lee, I'm not buying it. It is too ludicrous for words.
Now I was going to give this 3 stars as, while its not my cup of tea, I'm sure fans of the series will lap up any addition to the extended Reacher universe, but then I read Chuck Palahniuk's 'Phoenix'...so I'm afraid it is just the two.

i am a big fan of Lee Childs but this is absolutley rubbish.would not recommend this to anybody. waste of money

did not appeal to.me it just seemed to have no punch
it just drifted in from a dull start to an uneventful ginish

Only a short story but I find anything to do with our Jack must be read. I was certainly not dissapointed with this one.

Not the best advert for a Jack Teacher story that I have read but still enough to introduce a new reader into trying a full length novel of which there are many.

Good short story to get in the mood for the next instalment. definitely the best one out of the three short stories. Worth purchasing.

Not sure if every Lee Child release is written with the woefully inadequate Tom Cruise in mind but this had more holes and lazy turns than 'The Affair'.

Still love the Jack Reacher character in the books but have to try really, REALLY hard to get 'little Tom' out of my mind as Jack Reacher doing the Mission Improbable.

More and more the shades are lifted on the dark room that is Reacher's history. Though I wonder now, after so long with him, is he starting to lose his mystique? Originally it was the questions about his Army career, the hints of his past life, that kept me coming back for more. But like a stripper who peels off too much and loses the essence of the dance, so Child is in danger of losing the mystery of this great hero. And becoming just like all the others? I hope not. The man we want to be and the man women want. Just please don't turn Reacher into a cash cow, Lee. You gave us this great character. Lose the circus and give us the hero we (and you) deserve. Warts and all.