Worth Dying For by Lee Child

I am a huge library person.  Call me cheap, but I find it difficult to justify spending $25+ for a hardback book when I'll be able to get the book from the library in the not-too-distant future.   This is especially true since my tastes in reading tend to the thriller/mystery genre.  (I recently realized that as a young reader, the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey twin series featured high on my list, along with biographies of strong American women--that about sums it up, doesn't it?!!)  So, when I break down and not only buy a book, but pre-order it on Amazon, you know that I am really, really anxious to read it!

Lee Child's Worth Dying For arrived at my front door step about ten days ago.  I was particularly anxious to read the latest in his Jack Reacher series because his preceding book, 61 Hours, was a cliffhanger.  Unlike the TV show 24, it was unusual for one of his books to end with a question as to whether Jack had survived, and I have to admit to being a bit agitated when I finished.  Stephen King's Misery came to mind in which a fan became so upset that an author had killed off her favorite character that she held him hostage in an attempt to get him to resurrect the character (a la Bobby Ewing in Dallas back in the '80s).  But I digress even more than usual.

I am happy to report that Jack is in fact back and he's as smart as ever, although he is suffering the physical after-effects of the events from 61 Hours.  In this latest installment, Jack stumbles upon a town that is controlled by a family that is evil to the core.  He gets involved when he drives a drunken--but not totally incapacitated--doctor for a house call to a wife who has been beaten up once again.  Jack being Jack, he just can't leave it alone until his own brand of justice has been done.  This is the fifteenth book in the Reacher series and I would rate it as good but not his absolute best.  I love introducing people to Jack and cannot urge you strongly enough to read this series from start to finish if you are a fan of thrillers.  For info about the books, just go to http://www.leechild.com/.  Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

Postscript:  In the NY Times Readers' Greetings section appearing on November 26, 2010, Janet Maslin named 61 Hours as one of her top ten favorite books for 2010.  Go, Jack!