07/29/2024
Child (the Jack Reacher series) compiles 20 previously published short stories in this brooding collection. Featuring mobsters, con men, assassins, and corrupt cops, Child’s self-described “very, very, very short novels” mostly focus on the worst of humanity. In “The .50 Solution,” a hit man is hired to kill a racehorse; in “My First Drug Trial,” an addict gets high before their moment of judgment; in “Me and Mr. Rafferty,” a serial killer leaves behind grisly clues in hopes of forging a connection with a detective. Throughout, Child gleefully toys with readers’ expectations, mirroring his duplicitous characters as he performs a series of satisfying bait-and-switches, most memorably in “Ten Keys,” which initially appears to center on two men in a bar waiting for an assassin. His dialogue, too, has the grit and punch of top-shelf crime fiction, though it’s easy to spot that many of Child’s characters sound alike when reading the stories back-to-back. These stories prove that Child has more to offer than the head-splitting exploits of his most popular action hero. Agent: Rebekah Finch, Darley Anderson Agency. (Sept.)
"The stories are quirky, entertaining, and often frankly a lot of fun. . . . Not a single Jack Reacher story or doppelganger in here, that’s true—and yet maybe this is the collection of stories that Reacher might carry with him next time he sticks out a thumb."
"Stories about cops, hired killers, FBI agents, good people, and very bad people, written in Child’s usual unadorned, minimalist prose style . . . Child’s many fans won’t think twice before picking this one up, but the book might also serve to introduce, to people who prefer short fiction, this deservedly popular novelist."
"For three decades, year in and year out, Lee Child has been the best thriller writer in the world. No question."
"It's Lee Child. Why would you not read it?"
"It's nice to see [Child] spread his wings by stepping inside these many different characters and working his literary magic."
"An enticing snack-like book, full of jaunty tales, twists and violence . . . It is an entertaining read and shows why Child has such a strong following."
"This is a great summer read. . . . There are potentially twenty full-length novels here, or forty hours of screenplays, but you’ll romp through them in a happy afternoon."
★ 09/13/2024
Thriller author Child (coauthor of In Too Deep) slips out of his accustomed large action novel format with 20 imaginative short stories—none featuring Reacher. In another departure from his long fiction, Child shows off his writing chops with stories written from the standpoint of antiheroes. His central characters include a double-dealing bodyguard/assassin who works both sides of a domestic squabble, thieves, and other assorted rough characters. The title story features a woman living with her husband in a wooded rural area. A man seeking solitude nearby witnesses the man hit the woman, and then the husband goes missing. From these bare bones, Child crafts a delightfully complex short story. In the foreword, Child admits to having long overlooked the short story format, which he describes as akin to the fabrication of Fabergé eggs—small, intricate, and perfectly formed. Aspiring to this ideal presents a daunting task for one accustomed to the room to stretch out afforded the novelist; readers will be pleased to find Child makes the grade with this collection. VERDICT This intriguing assortment should appeal to Child's many fans, as well as mystery/thriller/crime readers.—Vicki L. Gregory
2024-09-28
A collection of short stories featuring the seedier side of life by one of the country’s best crime writers.
“Fabergé eggs they ain’t,” Child admits in the foreword, and he’s right. These are unfancy little eggs—to stretch the metaphor—that don’t overshadow his novels, and yet they satisfy our innate craving to read about other people’s failings and misadventures. Some of them end in twists that harken back to O. Henry, such as “Ten Keys,” where a drug-running escapade ends in a surprising way. It also has the book’s best line: “He was a white guy…the product of too many generations of inbred hardscrabble hill people, his DNA baked down to nothing more than the essential components, arms, legs, eyes, mouth.” “My First Drug Trial” is also like that, with a last line that pops off the page. In “The Bodyguard,” a guy is hired to protect a young woman who is the high-value target of a rich and prominent couple. A nice twist at the end makes the bodyguard doubt himself, and the reader might smile. And then, in “The Greatest Trick of All,” there’s a professional killer who can nail you from a thousand yards and thinks he can’t be stopped. Said “greatest trick” is getting paid twice for a hit, but in this case, he might be mistaken. Most of the stories won’t keep you on the edge of your seat, but they’re easy, brief explorations of the darker nooks and crannies of humanity. But one story takes a sad turn into the past: In “New Blank Document,” a freelancer is assigned to write a sidebar about the brother of a modestly accomplished Black American artist living in Paris. The crucial, heart-rending story has to do with the fate of a second brother not everyone knows about; think Jim Crow. Finally, the title tale features a narrator you’d never want to meet in real life.
Twenty tasty morsels, served over easy.
