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The Visitor by Lee Child

by Bunbry 

Posted: 20 November 2014
Word Count: 342
Summary: Number 4 in a series of about 17 novels that are huge best sellers. They are crime/ action books.


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If you haven’t read Lee Child you should!  His books are like heroin for the eyes.  Everyone I know who reads his books loves them with a passion. 
His protagonist is Jack Reacher an ex-military cop who is of no fixed abode and pitches up in a new town at the start of every book and is swiftly engaged in some crime-solving, often in conjunction with local police who recognise his considerable talents.
He doesn’t play by any rules and is usually involved in lots of fights with the bad guys.  And Child tells a very compelling story with lots of hooks to draw you in.
In this one he is ‘blackmailed’ by the FBI into solving a series of murders of ex-army women found dead in a bath of green army paint.  There are no injuries and no sign of a struggle, so aside from catching the bad guy, we also have the mystery of how did they die?

This book is possibly his weakest in my opinion as, having read Agatha Christie’s “ABC Murders”, I recognised the plot and very quickly worked out who the killer was and what their motive was.  However I read to the end, just in case I was to be proved wrong, and to see what fiendishly clever murder method was employed to dispatch these very feisty women without a mark on their bodies.
What a let-down!  I won’t reveal the murder method, but in real life it would be impossible and I feel conned that such tat should be proposed as a murder method.  Also, the reason such an elaborate method was chosen (which would be hard to arrange as lots of paint needed to be stolen and transported around America) was feeble.  In the murderer's
shoes I would have used a simple method like a quick blow to the head and achieved similar results.
Please read Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books, I’m sure you’ll love them, and they can be read in any order, but this one is a big disappointment,  5/10
 






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Comments by other Members



TassieDevil at 16:24 on 20 November 2014  Report this post
 Hello Nick,
I didn't recognise the title or even the author but once you said Jack Reacher I recognised the Tom Cruise movie even though I've not seen it. I shall now mentally add Child's name to possible reads although not this particular title.
You detailed review gave me a great introduction to the MC and enough background to intrigue me.
His books are like heroin for the eyes.
Not sure about for the eyes - possibly the imagination?
In the murder’s shoes
I'm sure you mean murderer's shoes.
Your points about weak plots and methods of dispatching victims shows you are a connoisseur of the genre however a bash to the head is so mundane as a murder device that even Dexter would be disappointed.
I shall definitely check this writer out.
Thanks for the head's up.
Alan 

Bazz at 18:59 on 20 November 2014  Report this post
Hi Nick, interesting review. I've never been keen on ongoing series like this, always feels such a strain to keep the character interesting, but I do see the appeal. There can be something comforting about a main character who doesn't change too much, Holmes and Bond being perfect examples. 
Interesting that you read one crime novel, and that tipped you off on the mystery of another! I wonder if that happens to a lot of people if they start reading too many mystery novels!?

 

Bunbry at 11:31 on 22 November 2014  Report this post
Hi Alan, thanks for taking a look at this.  It sounds like, as a fellow Dexter fan, we appreciate the same kind of suff  and I'm sure you would really like this fellow's books.  I think the first in the series, Killing Floor, is very good and will give you a taste of what is to come.  But any should have you hooked.

Nick
 

Bunbry at 11:35 on 22 November 2014  Report this post
Hi Barry, I've seen Christie type plots in Inspector Morse too and 'Death in Paradise' a recent TV show I really enjoyed too.  There is no way to copyright an idea for murder so I'm not surprised people plunder her work for ideas.  If you use a bit of smoke and mirrors you can freshen things up enough to keep everyone happy!

Nick


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