Trying to get Jack Reacher out of my head...

No, I'm not trying to get the "real" Jack Reacher out of my head, I'm trying to get the movie version of Jack Reacher out of my head. I have enjoyed, loved, every single one of Lee Child's Reacher novels. When I read the first one of his books quite by accident (picked it up at a used-book sale in a rush thinking of Preston Child), I couldn't believe I'd missed the series. I went on a hunt and found all the ones I had missed and have not missed one since.

Now they've made a movie.

I made the mistake of watching the trailer.

It's like a bad taste in my mouth that no amount of gargling and brushing can remove.

Novel Jack Reacher is "an unkempt giant...", six foot 4 inches or so... maybe 220 pounds. He's not described as being good looking in any of the books, although, of course, he attracts his more-than-fair-share of attractive women. He's not flashy. I might picture Liam Neeson as a fairly good movie type to play Reacher (although Reacher's nose has never been broken and Neeson's nose may have been). Matthew Fox of Lost fame might fit the bill fairly well (I've never watched him in action so basing that purely on his photo and description). Daniel Craig, minus the British accent, looks the part although he's only 5 ft 10 in. (that's not short, but in comparison to Reacher it is). I know there are others who would fit the bill but they're not popping into my mind at the moment.

One of the LAST people I would choose to play Reacher would be Tom Cruise.

That's who they chose. Pretty boy, 5 ft 7 in., Tom Cruise.

I would accuse them of not reading the books when they cast the characters, but Lee Child is working with them.  I "assume" he had some kind of discretion on vetoing the choice or that they pitched it to him with Cruise as the lead. However it happened, I'm sure Child is wanting the movie to be a hit and/or is legally constrained so he won't be dissing the lead in "his" movie.

The movie has Jack Duvall in it, which is good. Shoot, he might make a better Jack Reacher! They guy laying in the hospital bed in the trailer would make a better Reacher.

I've re-read three Jack Reacher novels since seeing the trailer. I'm trying to get the picture of Cruise as Reacher out of my head. I can't. I keep seeing this little guy acting tough instead of the strong, commanding, Jack Reacher I had always pictured. Cruise is absolutely nothing like any description of Reacher in any of the books.

They've also hyped Reacher up in the movie, hollywooded his dialogue up quite a bit, turned him into some action figure.

I'm guessing that those who have never read the books will probably like the bang-bang, tough guy who talks tougher, hot shot car driver in the movie. I keep seeing the scene in the trailer where Cruise is surrounded by five guys, all of them bigger than he is, the hokey comments he makes, and I flash back to the "real" scene in the book (One Shot) with BIG Jack Reacher, minimalist talker, heavy thinker, taking on the guys. I know in a movie you can't "read" the thought process so they have to make the character say the words and try to make them realistic, but oh, yuck. Not a thing like novel Reacher at all.

Based on the trailer I'm guessing they used "One Shot" as the basis for the script. I'm a little over half-way through re-reading the book and wish I had not re-watched the trailer so I could write about it. Mental mouthwash needed.

OK, here's the trailer. Judge for yourself. I know I will NOT be going to the movie and I guess I'll have to give up my Reacher reading if I can't get Cruise out of my brain.

Discovery... Peter David

I've just discovered a new author. He's not new to the rest of the world, just to me. I grabbed a copy of Fall of Knight at the library when I made my last run-through. I wasn't sure about it, but the idea of knights and their ilk in a modern day setting intrigued me.

It was a fun, thought provoking and enchanting tale.

King Arthur, Merlin, Percival and friends are alive and well in our current day. There is magic, a laudable (and credible in the context of the story) attempt to marry up religion with ancient beliefs, and villains who try to destroy humanity. Oh, and humor, excellent threads of humor.

I loved the book and loved the way Peter David told the tale. I started out a little skeptical that I'd finish the book as it didn't quite fit my mood. I couldn't put it down. It was a perfect break from the intense novels I've been reading, and yet it was intense in its probing of human nature, religion, and the state of the world.

After I read the book I read the jacket. I try not to look at pictures of authors or to read about them before reading a book by an author I haven't encountered before. I want to go in fresh to my new story, not knowing what else they've written or anything that might intrude in my perception of the book. Thus, it wasn't until after I read Fall of Knight I discovered that Peter David is a prolific writer, just in genres that I rarely read these days. I love science fiction and fantasy, used to read it almost exclusively. However, I've been glutting myself on mysteries and similar for quite some time so just skated by sections that included David's books!


David has written sci fi scripts for, among others, Babylon 5 and Crusade. He has written some Star Trek books and is "the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels". He has written fiction, non-fiction, comic books and more. I will be adding Peter David to my list of authors to keep up with and read in the future. If you'd like to know more about David, here's a Bibliography link: http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/bibliography/. I guarantee that just scanning the list is going to make you tired! How can one person write so well and so much?

After reading Fall of Knight I noticed a list of other books in the front that you may want to read first before picking up Fall. Howling Mad, Knight Life, and One Knight Only are listed as previous ACE titles by David.

Author: Peter David
Title: Fall of Knight
The Berkley Publishing Group
Ace Books
ISBN 0-441-01402-X
First edition: June 2006