As I'm new to the Lee Child - Jack Reacher series, I read
the entire series within the space of a month. Like most other readers, I have
to agree to disliking the descriptiveness of the sex scenes in The Affair - a
major shift away from every other Jack Reacher story.
My only hope is that The Affair was used to introduce the
idea of a now older Reacher who may be ready to settle down -- a bit (i.e. find
out he has a child with Devereaux and take up residence in Carter Crossing with
its’ nearby military base to provide ongoing investigations). As much as I
enjoy Reacher's tough Everyman persona, it would be very nice to have his
character show some personal growth - otherwise he is on the verge of becoming
a caricature of this same Everyman. As in everything else in life, no one
remains stagnant and 15 odd years of being out of the Army and roaming around
begins to get psychologically unsettling. What hidden trauma is taking a
relatively stable character twice as long to overcome?
Lee Child is now faced with the same challenge as Robert
Ludlum in his Bourne series. How do you make an older Jason Bourne/Jack Reacher
relevant given the age and physical limitations of the character (please Mr. Child DO NOT introduce science fiction in pursuing that broadly dropped hint of
Reacher being part of some advance military biological experiment to produce a
Super Soldier), global political changes, technological advances, personnel
changes, etc. Let’s hope/pray Child is able to overcome this awkward real-life
plot twist easier than Eric van Lustbader .
While I agree that the most recent books are not as
enjoyable as the earlier books (after all there are only about 7 universal
plots before repetition sets in), overall I am still enjoying the series
immensely and will give the series a few more stories before making any final
judgments.
