“One Shot,” by Lee Child

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 9
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 10
4. Characters 10
5. Overall 10

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is smart writing. The prose is smart because it’s extremely “readable.” It’s just a bit shallow, partly as a consequence of its accessibility. But we don’t miss the depth of the prose (or the fact that the characters could have been explored a little more deeply) because the storyline is so compelling and the interest level never flags. Lee Child has perfected the Hero in Jack Reacher. Everything about Jack Reacher is impressive, yet he remains quite human. (And Tom Cruise is a great choice to play him in the movies, despite the fact that he’s about a foot too short and about 80 pounds too light for the role!) The setting is described in great detail, but it’s done so well, we don’t get bogged down at all. This is not as easy as Child makes it look. We are treated to some fascinating insights into several esoteric subjects without getting lost in the details – also a smart feat, displaying a very broad knowledge base on the part of the author. Beautiful writing; almost made me go out and pick up another Jack Reacher book immediately! But, alas, my backlog of to-be-read books is screaming for my attention…