Lee Child

Television writer Lee Child's otherwise riveting first thriller, Killing Floor, was criticized by some reviewers because of an unconvincing coincidence at its center. Child addresses that problem in his second book–and thumbs his nose at those reviewers–by having his hero, ex-military policeman Jack Reacher, just happen to be walking by a Chicago dry cleaner when an attractive young FBI agent named Holly Johnson comes out carrying nine expensive outfits and a crutch to support her soccer-injured knee. As Holly stumbles, Reacher grabs her and her garments–which gets him kidnapped along with her by a trio of very determined badguys. "He had no problem with how he had gotten grabbed up in the first place," Child writes. "Just a freak of chance had put him alongside Holly Johnson at the exact time the snatch was going down. He was comfortable with that. He understood freak chances.

En un roman court, Simples déductions, et onze nouvelles, Lee Child nous dit bien des choses savoureuses sur son célèbre héros, Jack Reacher.
On y apprend ainsi dans Le Deuxième fils que c’est sur la base d’Okinawa que, âgé de treize ans, il s’aperçoit un jour qu’en plus d’avoir un cerveau reptilien très développé, il est capable de rosser quiconque voudrait, et oserait, le défier. …