Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) / Lee Child

Some of my favorite moments come from picking up a book or movie with low to no expectations and finding it far more entertaining than I thought I'd be. There's just something very gratifying about experiences like that, the ones that require little investment and yet yield a high rate of a return. It's what happened to me with the third movie in The Fast and the Furious franchise, Tokyo Drift (DVD FAST — hey, don't knock it 'til you've tried it!) and, more recently, Lee Child's Killing Floor (FIC CHILD).

This book, published in 1997, is the first in the bestselling Jack Reacher series. Reacher, an ex-military cop who drifts from town to town, inevitably finds trouble. These scenarios let us see our imposing, 6-foot 5-inch laconic protagonist at his best by showcasing his skills as both an operator and a detective. It's thrilling to follow a character who certainly knows how to handle himself, and who doesn't shirk from danger or mystery. He doesn't necessarily go looking for either of them — they just seem to find him.

Lee Child, the pen name for British writer Jim Grant, spent nearly 20 years as a writer in the television industry before corporate restructuring left him without a job. Child's reaction? To buy $6 worth of pen and paper and sit down and write a novel. Fourteen years later, he's still at it.

Killing Floor introduces us to the 36-year-old Reacher, who's just six months out of the Army. He's been wandering American's highways and byways as a self-described hobo since then. On a whim, he finds himself in the deceptively picturesque town of Margrave, Ga. From the minute he sits down in the town's lone diner, things go rapidly downhill for him. A murder — extremely rare for these parts — took place the night before, and Reacher's the easy suspect. The authorities welcome him by putting him in cuffs and pulling him in for questioning.

I thought: should I be worried? I was under arrest. In a town where I'd never been before. Apparently for murder. But I knew two things. First, they couldn't prove something had happened if it hadn't happened. And second, I hadn't killed anybody.

Not in their town, and not for a long time anyway.

Unfortunately for Reacher, but lucky for action-junkie readers, Killing Floor ratchets him back into the fray. A swath of bodies follows, some by the bad guys' hands and others by Reacher's as he struggles to stay alive while uncovering the town's secrets.

His motivations rely too much on coincidence but if you're willing to set aside your skepticism, the ride will keep you riveted. Child does a great job of pacing the story in a deliberate way, imbuing it with a sense of urgency by mixing slower scenes with moments of explosive action. The brutality of the violence took me by surprise — we're talking Girl-with-the-Dragon-Tattoo-level graphic brutality, so don't expect this to be a cozy mystery.

Once you get over the bloodshed, however, you'll see that Reacher's a pretty likable guy, deadly efficiency aside. He just wants to be left alone to do his own thing. For a loner, he certainly has surprisingly good people skills. He finds partners in two of the officers of the Margrave P.D. and together, the trio race against the clock to thwart the story's antagonists.

As successful as Child has been with the Jack Reacher series, it's no surprise that the character's been picked up for an impending movie. No. 9, One Shot is in development and slated for release in 2013.

The actor playing Reacher? Tom Cruise. Yikes. For now, I think I'll just stick to the books. Lucky for me, there are 15 more of them.

Before I Go To Sleep: A Novel / by S.J. Watson

"The Bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. I don't know where I am, how I came to be here. I don't know how I'm going to get home."

Recurring amnesia is a serious issue with Christine, such a problem that even when she 'knows' the who, where and why, she's still suspicious. Every morning her husband Ben must explain everything about her past, her present and the condition caused by a trauma, an accident some time ago. Recently her work with a new doctor has given Christine the idea to document her the important, key facts in her life, reminding her of things she may not know or remember but which could make or break the rest of her life. Keeping track of daily events, with and without her husband's knowledge, Christine begins piecing things about her story together and some things don't add up, like certain details surrounding her accident. When she one day finds a note-to-self with "Don't Trust Ben" written on it, Christine's situation becomes far more serious than just loss of memory.

This is a very entertaining book, a suspense driven psychological thriller with enough substance to leave readers thinking. Watson digs to the very soul of Christine's problem and, at the same time, to the very soul of truth and existence. The narrative structure isn't the easiest and readers might have a difficult time piecing the mystery together even after reading it, but its a plot driven story with twists at every page, a compelling story and wonderful debut novel. More than a few movie fans may remember the film 2000 Memento starring Guy Pearce, based on an originalshort story by Jonathan Nolan, brother of director Chris Nolan, will reconnect with the synopsis about an individual whose memory is swept away each new day. But with Watson's novel, there is so much more to the character and the story. (FIC WATSON)

Wake Up Dead: A Thriller / by Roger Smith

When car thieves Disco and Godwynn pull a job on a spiffy-looking Mercedes one sweltering Cape Town night, little do they suspect they're stealing more than just a car, because more than one person is just a tad bit interested in this particular vehicle, its contents and passengers. The victims of the carjacking, Roxy Palmer, a former runway model, and her husband Joe had been on their way to deliver a hefty sum of laundered cash to a local mercenary outfit when the hit came, leaving Joe murdered and Roxy temporarily at a loss for her next move before she makes a daring choice to pursue her husband's murderers and retrieve the money.

Meanwhile, Billy Afrika, a marine just returned from a soldiering stint in Iraq, knows that Roxy knows where the money, his money--funds owed him by his mercenary boss--can be found and will stop at nothing to get it. Just out of jail, a dangerous psychopath named Piper is also looking for something of 'his'--former cellmate Disco. Piper does things with regard for his convenience only, evidenced with his exceedingly bloody break out of prison after which he wastes no time in employing the same murdering tactics to find his former lover. As the action and suspense escalates, so does the tension as all the players involved sense that this cat and mouse game will soon culminate in nothing short of an all out bloodbath.

Hailing from South Africa, Roger Smith has crafted a gripping thrillride of a novel and a worthy follow-up to his breakout debut, the unanimously lauded Mixed Blood. Reminiscent of Elmore Leonard where sequencing, action and violence are at the forefront of the story, Smith handily incorporates enough clever dialogue to match his fast-moving characters and their volatile situations. Don't look for too much depth to the protagonists; most won't be around long enough for you to get a feel for anyway. In addition to the rapid pace and sleek narrative, another element adding texture to the book is the setting. Cape Town is currently a burgeoning metropolis, uniquely located, economically lucrative and as socially diverse as any of its Northern Hemisphere counterparts. It's a hotbed for well-conceived fiction like this to use as a background. (FIC SMITH) 

The Friends of Eddie Coyle / by George V. Higgins

Eddie Coyle is a foot soldier in a mid-level Boston crime syndicate. As a utility man and part-time gun-runner for a gang of small timers scoring the occasional bank heist, Eddie's world is the one he's known all his life. It's also the world which has him staring at 3-5 years in prison unless he can cop a plea deal. At 50, Eddie knows he's in no shape to do time, definitely not when his family--a wife and three kids--would have to go on welfare while he's in lockup. His only hope now is his "friends", the fellow hoods and small arms suppliers he routinely does business with. The insider knowledge of said individuals is the only thing Eddie has to trade for his safety. But Eddie's "friends" have their own safety in mind, especially as the heat bears down after a civilian was killed in their latest bank job. No fools themselves, they know Eddie's up against it. They know, just as Eddie does, that to save himself he must rat them out. Consequently, a decision must be made regarding not only his stake in the operation, but his permanent ability to discern and communicate certain information.

Once referred to as America's most prolific crime novelist, George Higgins has authored dozens of the spellbinding suspense thrillers. A prosecuting attorney with the DA's in Boston prior to becoming a full time writer, Higgins has been widely applauded for his ability to accurately portray authentic situations and realistic dialogue from the world of law and order. This book, one of his most popular, expertly conveys a broad spectrum of the criminal element existing in a typical metropolitan underground. The Friends of Eddie Coyle was made into an award-winning 1973 feature film (DVD FRIENDS) starring Robert Mitchum and Alex Rocco. The 2010 film The Town, adapted from the book by Chuck Logan, is basically the same story with only marginally differentiated character archetypes and plot points. Frankly neither's not really on par with Higgins' novel or the film with Mitchum. (FIC HIGGINS)

Tsar by Ted Bell

Alex Hawke, a modern-day James Bond who also happens to be a British Lord, is perfectly content in his quiet, secluded, slow-paced hideaway in Bermuda. A former first-class counter-terrorist , he is slowly recovering from the physical and psychological wounds he suffered at the hands of sadistic terrorists and has withdrawn from the world. But he is soon drawn back into his crucial role of global protector by the ruthless plans of a resurgent and threatening Russia, determined to “reintegrate” former territories and to blackmail the world with its huge oil supplies. Insidious technical inventions, global greed and diabolical genius make this book a nail-biting read!Shockingly current with an unsettling picture of our near future!

After Midnight / by Richard Laymon

Perhaps not so well-known in the mainstream owing to his severity of subject matter, Richard Laymon's still managed quite a cult following among readers of the thriller genre. After Midnight follows a young woman's attempt to conceal her involvement in a murder after a run-in with a night prowler.


Her housemates away on vacation, Alice is left alone in the big house at the edge of the woods. But it's cool. She'll be fine if she just remembers to lock everything, set the alarm, and not get spooked by shadows, right? No dice. Terror soon materializes when a trespasser opts for a midnight swim in the pool...nude. Subsequently discovering her in the house alone, the intruder's attempted break-in coincides with a phone call--a wrong number of all things--causing Alice to lose sight of the would-be predator. Near hysteria and unwilling to summon the police (issues), Alice reluctantly accepts 'aid' from the calm-sounding stranger on the phone, who says he's 'just around the corner'. When ensuing events leave one man dead and another out to get her, Alice's only escape is a path more dangerous than she's ever encountered.

Emphasizing every connotation of the term, this book is downright creepy. Readers seeking a compendium to V.C. Andrews or Dean Koontz should readjust their appetites for Laymon, so graphic is the content. Yet it's Alice's manner as she 'puts things right' through a series of grisly undertakings which most invites or dissuades any sympathy. Far from a one-dimensional character, revelations about Alice never--never--fail to alarm as the story progresses.

While After Midnight isn't quite 'pulp', it still borrows heavily from the noir genre, inherent in its heightened suspense and amplified realism. And yet if things weren't so gruesome, it could almost be comedy. People die off or get mutilated but it's not as if there's a war on. The story's atmosphere is more run-of-the-mill, everyday ennui than murderous mayhem, a sentiment fueled by Alice's mood and demeanor more than the action itself.

Life Expectancy / by Dean Koontz

Jimmy Tock is a man born on the same night his grandfather dies. Simultaneously as he is brought forth from his mother's womb, his grandfather utters his final words; a prediction for his grandson's life. The prediction is a series of five precisely set dates in the future that offer an ominous warning for the infant Jimmy. The string of prophetic days does not begin until Jimmy is an adult and well on his way to becoming a career pastry chef like his father. The book follows each date as events unfold introducing us along the way to Jimmy's nemesis, Beezo the Clown, who lies at the root of each fateful day.

Life Expectancy is, at most, a 'lighthearted' thriller and too radically far-reaching to sense any real danger despite some severely traumatic incidents which attempt to pique the reader's concern. With the exception of Punchonello-- Beezo's son, all the characters are one-dimensional bores as Koontz fails to flesh out any real-ness amidst the various bizarre episodes. Life Expectancy is quirky and absurd but may attract readers who like "fun" plots.