Speaking of Lee Child...

Speaking of Lee Child...(well, he was mentioned at the October 30 discussion) I have just acquired a copy of "Personal" which is his latest novel, #18 in the Jack Reacher series.  

I know Bill is not a fan (yet), but I have read most of the previous titles in this series.  For anyone else who also reads these thrillers, you may have shared my great disappointment when I learned that Tom Cruise was chosen to play Reacher in the 2012 movie  based on the 2005 novel "One Shot."

I originally felt that Cruise was a bad choice, mainly because of size.  Every book describes Reacher as a big man who is 250 lbs  stands easily 6' 5".  Tom Cruise weighs 170 lbs soaking wet and stands at a mere 5' 7".  It was startling to me when I read that author Child himself had actually approved of the casting on Cruise in the title role.   I guess you could say I was skeptical, but went to see the movie and it would not be a spoiler for me to say that I was wrong.  Cruise sold his role perfectly and made me forget about the height issue completely.  

If you have not read Child yet, I would recommend 2 things:

1) Do NOT read "Never Go Back" the 17th in the series.  It was definitely not "up to snuff" for me.

2) begin with "One Shot."  If you like it,  you will enjoy many of his other installments, prior and post.

I have yet to crack the new one, but will review it when finished.



PS

Just wondering if anyone else is a fan of the thriller genre? 
I find that my reading has been dominated by a few authors,
Michael Connolly
James Lee Burke
Walter Mosley
Daniel Silva
Robert Parker   
  ...to name a few

One of the things these authors have in common is a hero that re-appears in subsequent series.
Why do I prefer these?  So the story doesn't have to end?


Dennis Noonan 

Sunday Afternoon Update

Le Carre Fan

Musical Philosopher

Between the weather and the anticipation of the Patriots' game, it's been a somewhat quiet afternoon in the store today.  While you may be gearing up for Tom versus Peyon XVI, as well, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss a couple of interesting tidbits in the Sunday papers.  First, the Boston Globe Bibliophiles column  interviewed John Cleese about his new memoir, "So Anyway..."  Turns out he's a big John le Carre fan.  Must be his understated English sensibility.  Secondly, Bruce Springsteen is the author of a new picture book called "Outlaw Pete" and is interviewed in the "By the Book" column in the NY Times Book Review where he lays out a most impressive reading syllabus.  He's just finished reading "Moby Dick" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" in parallel.  He riffs on all the major Russian writers as well as Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy, and Richard Ford.  I was thinking he would be a great addition to the Book Group when he mentioned Bertrand Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" as the book that you might be most surprised to find on his nightstand.  So given the connection, I was thinking maybe Mark could approach him and let him know the next date for the Book Group.