Tag Archives: Lee Child

Lee Child, “Personal”

Posted on September 11, 2014 by carolwallace

Apparently deep in the shadiest corners of the U.S. Army there is a very old and neglected  general named O’Grady who refers to Jack Reacher as “Sherlock Homeless.” Which just goes to remind all of us that one of Lee … Continue reading →

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Robert Harris, “An Officer and a Spy”

Posted on February 10, 2014 by carolwallace

You know those historical events you should understand but don’t? The ones you try to read about but abandon when your mind kind of slides away from the confusing facts (too many names, too many shifting stories, too long a … Continue reading →

Posted in French, historical fiction, thriller | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Lee Child, “Never Go Back”

Posted on September 7, 2013 by carolwallace

A lot of people were disappointed by the filmed version of Lee Child’s Reacher novels, probably right down to the improbably-cast Tom Cruise. If I remember correctly, the premise was that Reacher on film needed to be a blockbuster that … Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, contemporary fiction, thriller | Tagged | 7 Comments

Helen MacInnes, “Assignment in Brittany”

Posted on February 16, 2013 by carolwallace

Oh, so retro! These Helen MacInnes thrillers were everywhere when I was a teenager — she might even be comparable to the Lee Child of the era, which says a lot about cultural changes in the last 50 years. I … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, thriller | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Lee Child, “A Wanted Man”

Posted on September 24, 2012 by carolwallace

I cheated on Patrick O’Brian, with Lee Child. But anybody can tell this is a momentary diversion — for the long haul, who would select Jack Reacher over Stephen Maturin? (For one thing, the movie stars who play them? Tom … Continue reading →

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Patrick O’Brian, “The Mauritius Command”

Posted on September 12, 2012 by carolwallace

Are you getting bored with Patrick O’Brian yet? Because I have to warn you, I’m not. I’ve got Lee Child’s new novel on my Kindle, but what’s in my purse when I leave the house? Yes — that would be … Continue reading →

Posted in anglophilia, historical fiction | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Monetizing My Fiction Habit?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by carolwallace

I have to love a blog post from the Harvard Business Review that mentions Lee Child in the first paragraph. Evidently social scientists have found that habitual readers of fiction are better-attuned to the emotional states of their co-workers than … Continue reading →

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April Smith, “Good Morning, Killer”

Posted on October 3, 2011 by carolwallace

April Smith’s Good Morning, Killer has made me think hard about the creepiness factor in crime novels. Actually, it might have been reading Smith back to back with Lee Child — I have just experienced a lot of mayhem at … Continue reading →

Posted in mystery | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lee Child, “The Affair”

Posted on September 28, 2011 by carolwallace

There’s always been something especially satisfying about Lee Child’s thrillers. Child writes good, clean prose and he’s a master with the pacing. He understands how much we love inside information (my favorite is still Without Fail, the one set in … Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, thriller | Tagged | 4 Comments

Lee Child, “Worth Dying For”

Posted on October 22, 2010 by carolwallace

“He had never taken aspirin and wasn’t about to start. He had been banged up in the hospital a couple of times, with IV morphine drips in his arms and he remembered that experience quite fondly. But outside of the … Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, thriller | Tagged | 4 Comments