Killing Floor by Lee Child

Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, #1)

by Lee Child

"This was the first Jack Reacher novel and with its lean, spare prose it has one of the most intriguing heroes of our times and displays a gift for explosive drama." (Daily Express)

Jack Reacher jumps off a bus and walks fourteen miles down a country road into Margrave, Georgia. An arbitrary decision he's about to regret.

Reacher is the only stranger in town on the day they have had their first homicide in thirty years.The cops arrest Reacher and the police chief turns eyewitness to place him at the scene. As nasty secrets leak out, and the body count mounts, one thing is for sure.

They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.

Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, Killing Floor is the first book in the internationally popular series. It presents Reacher for the first time, as the tough ex-military cop of no fixed abode: a righter of wrongs, the perfect action hero.

Reviewed by Stephanie on

5 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterFirst Sentence: I was arrested at Eno’s diner.

Super Brief Review: Amazing thriller that was incredibly hard to walk away from.

Favorite Quotes: Stevenson still on the ball with the pump-action.

“We got us a situation here, Mr. Reacher,” Finlay said. “A real situation.”

Layers of fences separated with plowed red earth. Hubble didn’t look up. I didn’t nudge him. It wasn’t the Magic Kingdom up ahead. – Jack Reacher on going to prison

After twenty years in Boston and six months in Margrave, there wasn’t a whole lot left that Finlay was ever going to raise an eyebrow at.

Slightly Longer Review: You know that you have a great book when you actually forget that the main protagonist is not the author. Jack Reacher was so real to me that I have a hard time remembering that Lee Child has written his story. Jack is a loner but he has a strong sense of justice. Luckily for him he is no longer tied to any agency and therefore is not held back by policy and red tape.

Jack makes a decision to hop off a Greyhound bus at a clover leaf exchange and make a trip down to Margrave, GA. It came close to being the worst mistake of his life. Jack is arrested and thrown in a cell. Apparently he murdered someone last night. Didn’t matter that he was in Florida at the time of the murder. He bides his time thinking that it is only a matter of time before they realize they have the wrong man. Jack is around long enough though to realize that something isn’t quite right in Margrave. He’s enjoying his freedom and doesn’t want to get caught up in business that means nothing to him. That is until Jack Reacher is taken by complete surprise (a difficult feat) and personally drawn into it.

Lee Child is brilliant. I don’t think I can put it any other way. The man deserves all the praise you’ve read about. I didn’t have anything figured out until Jack Reacher himself started explaining it to me. It was amazing. I kept thinking: “There’s something that will go wrong with this book. Some plot line left unresolved, something that will go unexplained.” I am so satisfied with this book that I can’t wait to devour the rest! I gave this book an adults only rating because it is gory and violent and there were parts that made me flinch. If you love a good thriller and have somehow missed Lee Child, do yourself a favor and get your hands on a copy today!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 6 February, 2011: Finished reading
  • 6 February, 2011: Reviewed