In retrospect, I have always pulled for underdogs and the tough guys/women that help them attain justice. I enjoyed reading Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer books when I was a teenager partly because I felt that he would do whatever it took to get justice. He had moxy and integrity althought he would go around the law to win. I also really like Perry Mason from the 60s. The Perry Mason books are fun and he is drawn differently for the books that the television series. I found Mason to be honest, reliable and dedicated to seeing justice done for his client. A few years ago, my son, Keenan, insisted that I try Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series on Audible, so I tried “The Killing Floor”, Lee Child’s debut novel which won the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for best first novel and the first Jack Reacher story. I was hooked. I have read either on Kindle or listed to Reacher novels on Audible and have completed probably 95% of the entire series (probably closer to 98%). Reacher is perfect – he is an ex-military cop, a wanderer working whenever he needs money, involving himself in situations where people need help, he is poetic, literary, educated, elegant, a big man with a scarred body, hands the size of dinner plates, a chiseled face by a sculpter with limited time (paraphrased), and complete and total integrity. I think that HBO Max or Netflix should do all of the Reacher books as mini-series – they could make a fortune. Of course the right actor would need to be selected and I would have to insist that they stick to the books as written and try to bring an accurate Reacher to the screen. It would be a popular series if done right with the right actor. Fans weren’t too pleased with the Tom Cruise Reacher – and I agree – it didn’t work. It’s almost as though they wanted to get a Reacher story on the screen so badly that they jumped past all the good stuff and gave the audience mere mechanics of the novel they selected. Too bad. I like Tom Cruise – I think that he works very hard to bring characters to life and he does a great job. He’s just not Jack Reacher. So, bottom line: if you haven’t tried a Reacher novel, you gotta! Start from the beginning and work your way forward – you’ll be glad you did.
On Creativity 