My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hard boiled thrillers are a bit hit-and-miss with me. I like some of them but many are off-putting due to their unlikeable main character. I was surprised I liked this book as much as I do. There’s violence, of course, (you can’t have a hard boiled thriller without it), and some of it is a bit gory. But the hero is surprisingly appealing, with just the right mix of vulnerability and mystery to make him engaging. The plot is elaborate, well-researched, and well-paced. The dialogue is crisp but not affected. The secondary characters are well-drawn and fleshed out (this is, in my experience, a rarity in this genre). I look forward to reading more of Lee Child’s works!Killing Floor