high heat

high heat
jack reacher
lee child #17.5
fiction/novella/crime
delacorte press
published 2013

July 1977.  Jack Reacher is almost seventeen, and he stops in New York City on the way to visit his brother at West Point.  The summer heat is suffocating, the city is bankrupt, and the mad gunman known as Sam is still on the loose.  Reacher meets a woman with a problem and agrees to help her....but then the power grid fails and the lights go out, plunging the lawless city into chaos.  What does a visiting teenager do in the dark?  If that visiting teenager is Jack Reacher, the answer is plenty.

An interesting little snippet into Reacher's life more than 30 years ago.  There is absolutely no reason to write these stories about him as a teenager, except, I think to insert such events as the terror that David Berkowitz caused in the 70's.  I say this because there is no difference between him as a 16 year old and him as a 46 year old.  You would never think that you were in the mind of a 16 year old because he think exactly like he does as an adult.  He's basically the same size as he is now so even that isn't different.

Of course, that's not to say that this isn't a fun Reacher read.  He's coming to the rescue and the results are....surprising.  I was a little disappointed in the ending, but it is what it is.  Reacher's not really known for his happy endings, right?

festive in death

festive in death
in death #39
jd robb
putnam adult
published 2014

Personal trainer Trey Ziegler was in peak physical condition.  If you didn't count the kitchen knife in his well-toned chest.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas soon discovers a lineup of women who'd been loved and left by the narcissistic gym rat.  While Dallas sorts through the list of Ziegler's enemies, she's also dealing with her Christmas shopping list - plus the guest list for her and her billionaire husband's upcoming holiday bash.

Feeling less than festive, Dallas tries to put aside her distaste for the victim and solve the mystery of his death.  There are just a few investigating days left before Christmas, and as New Year's 2061 approaches this homicide cop is resolved to stop a cold-blooded killer.

It's harder to be invested in finding a killer when you really just can't stand the victim.  Which is quite the point of this case.  Eve will stand for the dead, no matter how much of an asshole he is.  And the suspects are sympathetic, except one who doesn't really seem to get what they deserve.

For me, this time, I was more absorbed in the personal life part of the story than the case.  I found myself wishing she'd just wrap it all up so we could move on to the Christmas party and all the festivities afterward.  I wanted to read about her hanging out with Peabody and McNab just chit chatting and having some dinner.

These characters have become so familiar to me that I don't even really need a story.  I can just read about what they're doing.  But in my opinion the case seemed to unnecessarily drag on and I was ready for it to wrap up.  She consults with far too many friends who are 'experts' in their fields.  Even Mira, this time, felt kind of unnecessary to me because the victim seemed to apparent.  But it is what it is.