Review: July 13th, 1977  - A Day to Remember in NYC!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 8, 2013
HIGH HEAT - A REVIEW WITH NO SPOILERSI am a big fan of Jack Reacher, and on balance liked this clever novella despite some misgivings described in this review.I understood that the publication was timed as a promotion for the release of the next book in the series, and there is an excerpt from that book at the end of this story. It certainly works as a backstory to provide readers with more information about Jack (a 16 year old looking for adventure while in the city before visiting his brother who is at West Point), but I think that it is much more likely to appeal to readers who are already fans than to readers with no "Reacher background". I would suggest if you are interested in the character and the series, get your introduction by reading KILLING FLOOR, the introductory novel in the series, or ONE SHOT, my introduction and still one of my favorites.The story takes place within a very truncated time period, the evening of July 13th, 1977 and the night and early morning of July 14th. This compressed time frame works quite effectively, and basically simply the action flows non stop and there is minimal character development.(Which is one of the reasons why a familiarity with Reacher as an adult helps provide context, quite the opposite of the usual relationship between a backstory and the current narrative time period.)If you are a New Yorker in your mid 40's or older, or a local history buff, you will immediately recognize the significance of July 13, 1977 in the history of NYC - not only that date but its larger context in the history of the notable events of the period. If not, I advise you to ignore the urge to Google it or reference Wikipedia, simply read the story and enjoy the history lesson as it unfolds. I think Child's use of the historical backdrop was a fantastic plot device that held my interest and added to my enjoyment, in fact it made me overlook my skepticism and is why I rated the story 4 stars rather than 3+ stars. In fact, he cleverly weaves together two different extremely memorable story strands from that era.Otherwise, the story is a fairly typical Reacher story, although very abridged in time duration and length. There is a woman (and also a girl, after all, he is 16 years old) an unexpected scenario, a villain, several violent confrontations and action sequences, and as often happens, a bittersweet conclusion, one element of which caught me totally by surprise and the other was completely predictable. It moved fast, kept my interest, and also had a few unexpected plot twists (sometimes difficult to accomplish in a story of this length).My major negative reaction was that the exploits of Reacher required the suspension of belief to a much greater degree than the average Reacher story. While they are often barely credible, they are always internally consistent and in keeping with the character that the author Lee Child has created. In this case, I felt that this was a 16 year old with the insights, abilities, strengths and strategic understanding that as a package at that age even someone with Jack's history would be almost impossible to possess. I kept thinking to myself during several sequences in the story, could and would a 16 year old think and act like this? Whereas, in the novels in the series when I read about Reacher's feats as an adult, I simply shake my head in admiration (and occasionally disagreement) and enjoy the story as it races along.So, I recommend this as mind candy for the enjoyment of Reacher fans who want spend time becoming with acquainted with the young Jack during a memorable (for all residents) NYC evening.Tucker Andersen August 8, 2013