The Affair by Lee Child, Book Review

And here I thought that I was up-to-date with Jack Reacher books. Imagine my pleasure when I recently came across The Affair published in 2011, don’t know how I missed it. Lee Child books are my comfort reading when I’m stressed, cheer me up when I am down, and allow me to believe for just a little while in the potential goodness of at least one man. They also keep me company on boring long journeys … I know what to expect and they deliver. 
 

Do you have a series you love? With protagonists who are so familiar they feel like friends? I’ve been pals with Jack Reacher for years now and he’s still the same as ever. It’s like when you move away from home and come back years later, feeling older and wiser or perhaps just jaded, and you meet up with one of your old friends and he hasn’t changed at all. 

What I really enjoyed about this particular book is seeing Reacher just before he decided to leave the army, - the inception of his subsequent disposable lifestyle choices of no fixed abode: the tooth-brush, his travelling without luggage, his dubious sartorial style and his carefulness with money (some would call him mean, or if you are from across the pond, then cheap). And yes, there’s a woman, one who is beautiful, strong and intriguing and obviously doesn’t mind a cheapskate date. 

But what happens when you grow and they stand still? When you are ready to move on and they aren’t? I remember getting writing advice about characters – the idea being that your protagonist should show growth from the beginning of the book to the end. If the timeline of a book is a couple of weeks, you don’t expect great change in a character, but if you read about the same person year after year, you expect some development. Or do you?  Change or growth might not be a priority when you have a hunky ass-kicking hero who rides into town like a lone ranger to set wrongs right. Maybe he drops a couple of dead bodies along the way, still, it’s entertaining. 

What would happen if you picked up the next Lee Child book and Reacher had turned into a sandal wearing vegetarian who settled down in a bungalow with a cat and planted tomato plants in his back yard? Best to leave well enough alone.

Hmm…