The Reacher Creature

There was considerable muttering on her part once the first movie came out. She made it very clear that, for her, Jack Reacher and Tom Cruise did not equate. Even though I could not understand why she found the choice of actor so immensely disconcerting, I was pretty sure that had I known what she knew, I would indubitably agree.

When the second movie came out, the indignant muttering persisted. She was completely annoyed by the casting of Cruise as Jack Reacher, the character she had come to know and appreciate over the course of twenty novels by Lee Child.

The Reacher paperbacks I've read

Every now and then, the topic would resurface. We might be watching a Tom Cruise movie, or she might be reading a new Jack Reacher novel. She had urged me several times to read one of the novels so that I might offer an enlightened perspective on her source of dismay. Last August, I finally agreed to read a story starring Jack Reacher.

I read “Midnight Line”, at the time, the latest of the Jack Reacher novels. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed him.

Then Susan suggested I start at the beginning of the series, which I did. The first book, a little too gruesome for my liking, is titled, “Killing Floor”.  You never know what the book plots will bring, I’ve learned to “hope for the best and prepare for the worst”.

Eight Reacher novels in, I got a Kindle for Christmas

Lee Child explains the thinking behind his creation of the Jack Reacher character, “I wanted the kind of vicarious satisfaction that comes from seeing bad guys getting their heads handed to them by a wrong-righter even bigger and harder than them.” In one of the novels, Reacher is described this way, “He was huge, for a start. He was one of the largest men she had ever seen outside of the NFL. He was extremely tall, and extremely broad, and long-armed, and long-legged. The lawn chair was regular size, but it looked tiny under him. It was bent and crushed out of shape. His knuckles were nearly touching the ground. His neck was thick and his hands were the size of dinner plates. His clothes were creased and dirty. His hair was matted.”

Like Susan, I’m just not seeing Tom Cruise.

Here are some other descriptive phrases written by Child about Reacher, “Reacher was a big man, six feet five inches tall, heavily built, and that night as always he looked a little ragged and unkempt.” and “He had hands the size of supermarket chickens”.

Cruise don’t cut it.

I’ve sorta got hooked on Reacher; not the movie Reacher, the book Reacher. I’m a fan. When I’m not reading a Jack Reacher story, I miss him. I wonder what he’s up to. I wonder if he’s ok and who might be depending on him, for better or for worse, for justice and protection. I cheer for him. 

I’ve been binge reading - blowing through the Jack Reacher stories one after the other. I’m about to start “Make Me”. I’ve read a variety of authors, including Wilbur Smith and Irving Stone. Certainly, Lee Child’s writing is more functional, but I don’t need more than that and Reacher wouldn’t want more than that.

We occasionally discuss better casting choices. I could accept Liam Neeson in the role, while Susan is leaning more toward Chris Hemsworth.

I always look forward to the next Jack Reacher novel but, due to the aforementioned casting incongruities, I can’t possibly say the same for the movies.