Die Trying by Lee Child
Die Trying is the second Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, published in 1998. It is the first Lee Child book I’ve ever read. I see Lee Child books in Waterstones and Sainsbury’s (my two usual places for buying books) all the time, but have never thought to read one before. But then my secret Santa got me a couple for Christmas, so of course I was going to give them a go.
Jack Reacher is being a gentleman and helps a young lady, walking with a crutch, to carry her dry cleaning. Seconds later, he is caught up in a kidnap. Wrong place, wrong time. The woman, Holly Johnson, isn’t what she appeared to be at first. She is much more than a vulnerable victim. And Reacher is going to do everything he can to get out alive.
Very early in the book, there was a very long description of a Glock 17 gun and I thought this was going to be one of those cliched thrillers aimed at a very male audience – all guns, bombs, army and helicopters… I love a thriller and I don’t mind them being pretty gruesome, but that’s not my cup of tea.
But then it got good. I really liked the descriptions of the early hours of the kidnap and everything Reacher and Holly went through. It was well written and interesting – a proper page turner.
But then it got caught up in all that stereotypical male thriller stuff. Reacher and Holly got stuck, you wondered how they would escape. They nearly escaped, they didn’t escape… And there were plenty of guns along the way. I was reading it quickly, but mainly because I wanted to finish it!
I really wanted to like Die Trying and, after enjoying the early chapters, I did enjoy the last 75 pages. I know these books are really popular. On the one hand, I can definitely see why. And on the other hand, I can see that it wasn’t quite for me. As secret Santa bought me two Reacher books, I’ll give the other one a go and decide whether I will read more Lee Child or whether he’s just not my cup of tea!
If you prefer your thrillers with less guns and helicopters, I would recommend Ian Rankin or Val McDermid.
