Series Sunday: Killing Floor

(Jack Reacher #1)

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.

• Read an installment of a series.
• Share your review/recommendation below.
• Include the title, author and series name.

My Series Sunday pick is Killing Floor, the first book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. Ex-military cop/current drifter jumps off a bus on a whim and walks fourteen miles down a country road into Margrave, Georgia. In town less than a half hour and Reacher is arrested for the first homicide the town has had in 30 years. Even with no driver's license, no credit cards, no address and no job, they picked the wrong guy to take the fall.

"I felt like somebody in a kid's book who falls down a hole. Finds himself in a strange world where everything is different and weird. Like Alice in Wonderland. Did she fall down a hole? Or did she get off a Greyhound in the wrong place?" ~ pg. 35

I was introduced to the Jack Reacher series by Sistah K, one of my co-hosts of Sistah Speak: After Show and Sistah Speak: Big Brother podcasts. We were randomly discussing book series adapted to movies where the main character did not fit the book's description. I was whinging about Alex Cross (played by Samuel Jackson then later Tyler Perry) and she brought up Jack Reacher (played by Tom Cruise). We recommend both series but the movies, not so much. However, Sistah K was definitely on the mark when she recommended I begin reading the Jack Reacher series. I pass this recommendation on to you, bookhearts. Add this mystery series to your TBR list. Hold off on the movies.

Rarely do I rate a book a full 5 hearts. When reviewing a book, I consider everything from its cover to the story line consistency. Most importantly, I have to like (or love to hate) the main character. Jack Reacher is a drifter with not much of his background story revealed in book one. However, I was able to pick up on enough clues to peg his characteristics thanks to Lee Child's descriptive writing. He mastered the "show, don't tell" writing rule. Lee Child allowed me to draw my own conclusions through his words. This writing technique built suspense and kept me turning the pages into the wee hours. Over 500 pages be damned–I was on a mission to finish! Bottom line, Jack Reacher is a smart muthaf'er. I already like him and want to read more about him after this intro book.

"Waiting is a skill like anything else." ~ pg. 401

Lee Child, you have earned every bit of 5 hearts for Killing Floor. How did I ever miss out on this internationally popular series for umpteen years? Immediately after finishing Killing Floor, I downloaded the remainder of the series (21 books) and plan to take my time catching up. Check back here soon for more Jack Reacher reviews on my Series Sunday bookish meme.

Title: Killing Floor
Author: Lee Child
Published: March 1997
Pages: 536
Edition: eBook
Challenge: Popsugar A Murder Mystery
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥