My favorite author is Lee Child and Zoë Sharp. Right. That’s two. My two favorite authors … I’ve explained this once.
In Never Go Back, his 18th Jack Reacher novel, Lee Child has written a type of masterpiece. Type because many people think of Mr. Child’s works as mysteries or thrillers. Some are. This one is neither. Never Go Back is a pure, unadulterated retribution story. Beginning to end. A new classification, a new category, maybe we should call it subspecies, one that Mr. Child invented years ago and remains its lone contributor.
From the first chapter where Reacher beats a couple guys into a pulp, to the end, where he beats another guy to a pulp, he transforms you from reader to cheerleader. Mr. Child will bring your feral instincts about retribution to the fore where you will pound your fist on the arm of your chair and think, ‘Yeah, give him another. Kick him in the head. He deserved it.’
And then you’ll look around quickly, slightly embarrassed, because you’re not sure if that was your inside-the-head voice or outside-the-head voice.
It’s one category of books where Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, and new age pacifists (and all the others) come together, set aside their ‘turn the other cheek’ philosophies and cheer for Jack Reacher’s relentless pursuit of justice with/without due process.
What is Never Go Back about? Does it matter? With dialogue like this*:
Person: “ …and some voice in my head was screaming threat threat threat center mass bang and I blinked and found I’d gone and done it, right through the heart. The guy was dead before he hit the ground.”
Reacher: “And you need me right now for what?”
Person: “Are you telling me you don’t offer counseling?”
Reacher: “Not a core strength.”
Jack Reacher. Retribution only. No options. No side dishes. No kind of sensitive guy.
In typical Lee Child fashion, the clues are laid at your feet without your understanding of what they mean. Not big clues to the big question—that one’s not hard to figure out once you’re halfway through—but the little clues that tell Reacher where to go next, who to trust, what to look at, and what to ignore. For example, you’ll find yourself wondering why Reacher needs to have meetings with lawyers. Why he arranges meetings between other people’s lawyers and their clients, people he’s never met. Then Reacher acts and it all becomes obvious: Jack Reacher is a true genius.
Which is the true genius of Mr. Child. Because he has you admiring the genius of a fictional character. He made you forget that he created the character from thin air. All smoke and ink and imagination.
Never Go Back is not a can’t-put-it-down book. That overused phrase implies someone is forcing you to read. Not this one. This one is a don’t-wanna-put-it down book. A don’t-care-if-dinner’s-ready book. A you-take-the-kid-to-the-hospital-I’m-busy book.
Buy it. You’ll love it. Guaranteed**.
And now I’m off to read the Lee Child antidote: Zoë Sharp’s latest endeavor The Blood Whisperer.
Peace, Seeley
* For you writers out there, this will be a test question on the upcoming posting about bringing characters out in dialogue. Join the mailing list.
** Guarantee: If you buy the book and don’t like it, I’ll give you one of mine free! …hey, no need for negativity. It is not a punishment.
