Killing Floor
Ratings356
Average rating3.7
Lee Child is the Mariah Carey of hack writers; in the course of his story he hits every cliche in the Bad Writing Inflictionary. I suspect the manner in which some of the characters meet their grisly end faithfully depicts the way he creates his characters and plot with equally gruesome results. If you like your bodies stacked like cordwood, stick with James Ellroy.
TLDR: Killing Floor is an action-packed and gripping introduction to Jack Reacher, setting the stage for a thrilling series. Fans of the Amazon TV show will appreciate this version of Reacher—intelligent, imposing, and relentless—much more than the Tom Cruise portrayal.
Food Rating: Killing Floor is like a good pizza: satisfying, reliable, and loaded with just enough spice to keep things interesting. You’ll want more slices (or books) after you finish.
Killing Floor is a great start to the Jack Reacher series, delivering fast-paced mystery, action, and grit. The story introduces us to Reacher as a drifter turned investigator, unraveling a conspiracy in the small town of Margrave. Reacher’s sharp mind and lethal efficiency are front and center, making this portrayal much closer to the Amazon TV series than the Tom Cruise movies.
The writing hooks you early, and the relentless pace keeps you turning pages. The novel’s tone is dark and visceral, but balances brutality with clever detective work and Reacher’s dry wit. As a series opener, it sets a solid foundation for the character and the adventures to come.
A surprising amount of needing to suspend disbelief, and unfortunately Reacher remains a pretty shallow character in this first novel. Of course, there's more than a dozen more books for that to change. All in all a solid start to the series.
Read this book because of the series “Reacher.”
I didn't like the style of writing very much. There were lots of very short sentences, which disturbed my reading flow a bit.
4.5⭐️
Really really enjoyed this, fast paced, funny and exactly what i needed to read!
This book started as a random 3 star read. Then a twist early on raised it to 4 stars, all the way to chapter 32, when a single conversation between two characters made it 5 stars immediately.
This is your standard well written crime thriller, with your standard tough guy, who's determined, well trained and likes solitude. A few good twists. Very easy to digest writing style from an author, who seems to have done his research on the topic he writes about.
And then there's chapter 32, where we meet a whole new character - for like 3 pages. They talk and it barely has anything to do with the plot. But it was just so beautiful. It made me like this author, and the way he looks at the world so much.
A great first instalment. Made me excited for the rest of the series.
I'm only here because of the Amazon series (which was pure action comfort food) There's such a mythos around Jack Reacher and author Lee Child has reached the lofty heights where his name appears larger than the actual title of the book.
But man, this was not good. I'm wondering if even Jack Reacher fans think this is good. Sure the 6'.5, 250 pound ex military police officer is here, complete with hands like dinner plates - but he feels like a pre-release version. Reacher is a pedantic, overly excited mess, prone to singing out loud and administering high fives. He's a muscular kid's show host, a steroidal Steve from Blue's Clues packing heat.
Yes I do tend to literary fiction, introspective novels pondering the human condition but I was ready for some dad-level action. The dude-bro equivalent of a beach read. Nothing complicated or fancy - I was ready to meet this book half-way. But I just couldn't.
Childs just doesn't let up with the short sentences. Tweets are verbose in comparison to his sentence length, and it just grates after awhile. And yes I fully expect the trouble around every corner and a woman in every port through line but even that reads like a 12 year who's learned about romance from reading letters to Penthouse. It's clear that Lee Childs used to write for TV in the 90s as this has all the internal logic of an episode of the A-Team. I wanted to like this more but I just don't get it.
Good story, competent (sometimes overly so) main character, but a little long-winded.
It is a good fun read, but... the plot has too many coincidence for me to fully enjoy. I'm totally ok with heroes that can take down 5 guys bare handed or that cannot be hit by bullets. I love James Bond as much as the next guys, but the coincidences... that's where I put the line in the sand.
My first meeting with Jack Reacher of a popular series of books by Lee Child.
Jack is wandering here and there and ends up in a small boring town. Or so he thinks. He is quickly involved in a recent murder and jailed. Things went from bad to worse from there.
I enjoyed the book, not so much all the lovey dovey stuff between Jack and a small town policewoman, last name Roscoe. It didn't round his character out for me, but maybe this is just the start that will flesh out better in coming books. i did enjoy the two old barbers who have small but interesting parts.
I wasn't disappointed by the action. There was lots of it and lots of blood and small town secrets. Lee Child's way of writing is something to get used to. Lots of small clipped sentences. But at points, these were really good.
Lots of ‘let me educate you a bit' sidetracks from the main plot slowed down the momentum.
The mystery was nicely complex so you didn't figure it out too soon.
Lots of descriptions that can be pretty gruesome at times.
I first read Killing Floor back in ‘97 when it was first published. I thought it was a powerfully good story then. Still a damn good read 22 years later.
I reckon Lee Child read a lot of John D. MacDonald and Robert B. Parker before he created Jack Reacher. Not a copy of their work at all as Child's style is different; but still, I can feel the ghosts of Travis McGee and Spencer when I read a Jack Reacher story.
4.5 stars on re-read.
A primera vista, Margrave parece uno de esos pueblos apacibles donde nunca pasa nada. Jack Reacher, un exmilitar convertido en trotamundos, acaba de llegar allí y tarda menos de una hora en comprobar que las apariencias engañan. Detenido mientras desayunaba en una cafetería, Reacher, el único fo...
A good thriller from Lee Child introducing Jack Reacher but somewhere it lacks the punch. The storyline is little predictive. I feel that successive Jack Reacher novels are more polished than this. Anyways it is still a goodread and you will enjoy it.
I really wanted to love this as I'd heard how good the series was and was looking forward to going through them...but! Perhaps the later ones are more nuanced but in this one all the characters seem to have been taken out of the big book of clichés and they felt like they had been written by a 15 year old who'd watched too many action films. I don't mean to be overly harsh but it really disappointed me, especially as the plot was easily predicted with not one surprising turn in the whole thing.
A really quite brilliant book. The last 200-250 pages are absolutely incredible as more plot twists unfold and the action ramps up. Imagine Jack Reacher as James Bond but with less tech and not working for anybody but himself. Fantastic read. Arguably the best action story I've read so far. On to the remaining 20-odd Reacher books 👌🏼
A bit ridiculous and American. Reads like a Matt Damon movie, or Tom Cruise it turns out. I don't plan on continuing with this particular franchise.