Running Blind by Lee Child

www.leechild.com

Released: July 2000

Running Blind is the fourth novel in the "Jack Reacher" thriller/suspense series by Lee Child. At the time of this writing, there are 18 books in the series. A movie based on the series called "Jack Reacher" was also recently released, starring the 5'7" Tom Cruise as the 6'4" Jack Reacher. Let's just say this is another case in which the movie was NOT better than the book.

If you've never had the pleasure of reading any novels in Child's "Jack Reacher" series, then you're missing out on getting to know the toughest, most hard-core and bad-ass fictional character in existence.

I chose to read Running Blind this month because the title meets the criteria for the Monthly Keyword Challenge over here at Bookmark to Blog. One of the May keywords is "run," so obviously I jumped all over choosing Running Blind for the reading challenge.

In Running Blind, ex-military cop Jack Reacher is arrested for being the suspect of a series of murders conducted on various ex-military women who were once sexually harassed during their careers. After it's made obviously clear that Reacher is not the killer, the FBI brings Reacher on as a consultant, and he ends up traveling throughout the country tracking the killer and warning the other women before it's too late.

What makes the crimes in Running Blind perplexing is that all the victims are found dead in a bathtub full of Army-issued paint with no bruises, signs of a struggle, or trace evidence. It's almost as if the victims willed their hearts to stop on their own so they could die.



As with all of the Jack Reacher books, you'll walk away from reading this novel feeling like a total bad-ass. Since Reacher's character is an ex-military detective, his Army combat skills are supremely elite. Child packs fighting and self-defense tips into each novel that are completely legit - the man has certainly gone above and beyond going his homework for this series.

Thanks to reading Running Blind, I now know that if I'm confronted with a person who has a baseball bat, I should rush them straight on so they can't pack much leverage behind a swing. Also, should I ever fight anyone, I know that I should focus on hitting the side of their head with my elbow. I hope to God I'm never put in a position that requires me to use self-defense, but at least when all is said and done, I'll be able to say "All I need to know about combat I learned from Jack Reacher."

The crime and mystery portion in Running Blind will have you stumped, I guarantee it. There's no way in hell I ever would have figured out how the murders were being committed even if the book had gone on for another few hundred pages. Lee Child is a total genius, and now I'm eagerly waiting for the chance to read the next book in the series, Echo Burning.

Following Running Blind in the "Jack Reacher" series are Echo Burning, Without Fail, Persuader, and The Enemy.

Click on any of the books below to review them in more detail on Amazon.com.



What are your favorite thriller and suspense novels? Have you read any novels in the Jack Reacher series, and if so, what did you think?