Killing Floor

Lee Child’s Jack Reacher action thrillers generally take place in the lawless regions of the American heartland — Jim Thompson territory, but with a stronger sense of morality as Reacher (a former military policeman now discharged and drifting around the country) seeks to enforce his own form of vigilante justice. Child’s books are full of action and violence, but what makes them unique — and superior to others in the genre — is how the action is prefaced by Reacher’s observant analysis of the situation and plan of attack. In Killing Floor, the first in the series and one of the best, Reacher’s nomadic travels on a Greyhound bus take him to Margrave, GA. Reacher is in a local diner when he finds himself accused of a murder he didn’t commit; an investigation soon reveals a network of currency counterfeiting. Killing Floor is fast-paced and action-packed, with enough good scenes and dialogue to overcome wildly implausible plot twists.