Applauding Lee Child!
Jim Grant aka Lee Child, the British author famous for his Jack Reacher series, recently won the 2011 Theakstons Old Peculier crime novel of the year award for 61 Hours. The book is the fourteenth in the highly popular novels featuring ex-MP Jack Reacher, who made his maiden appearance with Killing Floor in 1997. And me being a huge fan of this character, I have lapped up most of the books in the series (only after John Grisham!) - One Shot, Running Blind aka The Visitor, 61 Hours, The Hard Way, Nothing to Lose..., the list goes on.
Born in October 29, 1960, Jack Reacher is quite a peculiar character unlike other protagonists. His physical personality is greatly intimidating: standing at 6'5'' with a 50-inch chest and weighing close to 115 kg, he is nothing short of a leviathan! Having served in the US Army Special Forces for 13 years for the (fictitious) 110th Special Investigations Unit, Reacher has been the recipient of several gallantry awards including the Silver Star.
Born in October 29, 1960, Jack Reacher is quite a peculiar character unlike other protagonists. His physical personality is greatly intimidating: standing at 6'5'' with a 50-inch chest and weighing close to 115 kg, he is nothing short of a leviathan! Having served in the US Army Special Forces for 13 years for the (fictitious) 110th Special Investigations Unit, Reacher has been the recipient of several gallantry awards including the Silver Star.
He has no surviving relatives. With his Marine Captain father (name unknown) passing away in 1988, mother Josephine Moutier Reacher succumbing to cancer in 1990 and his elder brother Joe Reacher getting killed in a secret operation, Jack Reacher has been a drifter ever since he retired from the Army in 1997. He is very careful not to leave a paper-trail and his only possessions include an expired U.S. Passport (after 9/11), a foldable toothbrush and some ready cash.
Known for his brutality and fighting prowess, Reacher is also a one-man army. But he has admitted to being a bad runner and a slipshod driver many a times. His stoic and impassive nature aside, one thing is evident. Even though he doesn't go around looking for trouble, the fact is that trouble finds him, and thus born are these creative and ingenious thrillers!
Writing a series is no facile task. Once the protagonist and the overall theme gets accepted by the audience, they run a risk of turning out to be very predictable and rife with cliched, done-to-death situations. Dan Brown's Robert Langdon is a case in point. He is shown to be a claustrophobe, an aspect which Brown exploits in every novel. Stereotypical and boring isn't it? At the end of it all, readers are nowhere close to understanding the Harvard Symbology professor beyond the exposition machine that he is.
Lee Child's, in contrast, has endured the test of time. Not only has it grown hugely successful, it also seems to be getting better with each book. One of the main reasons for this increasing acclaim can attributed to the way Child has added new dimensions to Reacher's character. The gambit has successfully paid off very well, for instance in 61 Hours, where Child throws up an interesting link to Reacher's past that has been never disclosed before (no spoilers here!).
Known for his brutality and fighting prowess, Reacher is also a one-man army. But he has admitted to being a bad runner and a slipshod driver many a times. His stoic and impassive nature aside, one thing is evident. Even though he doesn't go around looking for trouble, the fact is that trouble finds him, and thus born are these creative and ingenious thrillers!
Writing a series is no facile task. Once the protagonist and the overall theme gets accepted by the audience, they run a risk of turning out to be very predictable and rife with cliched, done-to-death situations. Dan Brown's Robert Langdon is a case in point. He is shown to be a claustrophobe, an aspect which Brown exploits in every novel. Stereotypical and boring isn't it? At the end of it all, readers are nowhere close to understanding the Harvard Symbology professor beyond the exposition machine that he is.
Lee Child's, in contrast, has endured the test of time. Not only has it grown hugely successful, it also seems to be getting better with each book. One of the main reasons for this increasing acclaim can attributed to the way Child has added new dimensions to Reacher's character. The gambit has successfully paid off very well, for instance in 61 Hours, where Child throws up an interesting link to Reacher's past that has been never disclosed before (no spoilers here!).
"It's a masterclass in how to plot a thriller". The countdown plot is set in motion when Reacher's coach crashes in the middle of the snow swept Dakota prairie and finds himself co-opted by the local police. The ex-army cop – who drifts across America without phone, credit card, or any baggage – runs into trouble again, but according to Mitchell, the novel marks something of a departure for Child, and it was his achievement in taking the character into new territory which clinched the award... It's very easy to become a little bit stale, a little bit predictable after 14 titles," she said, "but he's really refreshed it brilliantly." A crisis leaves Reacher thinking he's a failure, she continued. "He's discovering doubt. You're really feeling his back story now, his emotion, his pain."
- Crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell, one of the judges (Source: The Guardian)
But this again entails another risk. Introducing such twists to a character that has gained solid acceptance may backfire when the author tries to go overboard in an attempt to present something innovative. This is probably one of the reasons why many writers don't attempt anything of that sort. To adroitly handle such facets and come up with a plot that retains the originality of the character, yet offer something novel and sustain readers' enthusiasm is an uphill challenge indeed. And it would be an understatement if I were to say Lee Child's Jack Reacher is an exception.
But this again entails another risk. Introducing such twists to a character that has gained solid acceptance may backfire when the author tries to go overboard in an attempt to present something innovative. This is probably one of the reasons why many writers don't attempt anything of that sort. To adroitly handle such facets and come up with a plot that retains the originality of the character, yet offer something novel and sustain readers' enthusiasm is an uphill challenge indeed. And it would be an understatement if I were to say Lee Child's Jack Reacher is an exception.
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