Reacher is no idle Child

We all have guilty pleasures. One of mine is mystery novels. And one series of sort-of mystery novels is the Reacher series by Lee Child .

I’ve been working my way through the series haphazardly, not caring whether I’m reading them in order. And, in fact, Child seems to have structured his novels in a way that time frames don’t seem to matter. Each tells a story that is set in a particular era, sometimes past, sometimes present day, and all seem to add a bit more to the Reacher history.

Reacher’s basics are this: a U.S. Army brat, born to a French mother, Reacher is a self-professed wanderer. After his own military career flamed out after 13 years, ending his run as an elite Military Police investigator, Reacher now roams the world. Kind of like Caine in “Kung Fu,” as Jules Winnfield tells us in “Pulp Fiction.” As a man of honor, one who stands 6-feet-5 and weighs a tough 240 pounds, he fights injustice - not because he is driven to do it but more because he’s simply incapable of walking away in the face of it.

As for author Child’s use of time, in “The Enemy,” for example, Reacher is still the the Army, investigating an officer’s questionable death. Set more or less in the present, “Bad Luck and Trouble” has Reacher reuniting with some of his old MP crew to avenge the death of three former colleagues. And so on.

In “Running Blind,” which I’m now reading, Reacher is living a sedentary life, united with the daughter of his old mentor. But you know that can’t last. He is drawn into investigating the deaths of women who had once been in the Army, and the case brings him, of all places, to Spokane.

Child clearly isn’t creating literature here. But the novels are notoriously readable. Almost addictive. And now one takes place, in part, where we live.

I’m on page 257 (of 518). Can’t wait to get back to it.