Killing Floor by Lee Child (novel #221)

I wanted the open road and a new place every day. I wanted miles to travel and absolutely no idea where I was going. I wanted to ramble. I had rambling on my mind. ~ Jack Reacher

 

By his own admission, Jack Reacher is a hobo but not a vagrant or a bum. There’s a difference, and he takes exception. He was recently separated from the U.S. Army, honorably discharged. He served as a homicide detective. Now he lives on his severance and wits, has no home, no job, no friends, no family. He travels when and where the mood strikes him – a hobo.

 

He wanders into a small southern town, finds a diner, orders breakfast, and is quickly arrested for murder. The local cops are a mixed bag of competence and indifference, not clichéd southern bosses. Reacher has a solid alibi that eventually clears him, but before he beats town, the shocking identity of the murder victim gives him a personal stake in the case. In a more stereotypical fashion, Reacher, who is not a public officer or even a private detective, does not concern himself with due process, just his version of justice.

 

I liked him and his justice. The author grabbed my attention immediately and never let up. I wouldn’t call this a mystery novel, as some do. It was pretty obvious who the bad guys were, most of them. The suspense was more about the danger to Reacher and the few allies he made along the way. I'd call it crime/suspense. It was fast-paced, intense, and had at least one major twist I didn’t see coming.

 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

 

 

 

This novel satisfies the category: the title mentions one of the Seven Deadly Sins in the What’s in a Name 2023 Challenge.

 

Killing Field is the first in the Jack Reacher series. I’ll probably read more. The title is from one grisly scene that an officer describes as being like the killing floor in a beef slaughterhouse.

 

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