Safe
Enough by Lee
Child Mysterious
Press, 2024 Lee Child is best known as the creator of Jack Reacher,
which makes sense because estimates place the number of books sold north of
200-million. This, along with a couple big budget Hollywood movies and a hit
television series, have made Reacher a pop-culture icon. But—and many of you
will disagree with me here—my favorite of Lee Child’s writing are his standalone
short stories. I like them because they showcase Child’s craft, the precise
plotting, and the subtle and ironic humor without the built-in expectations
of a series character. All of this is why Child’s new collection,
Safe Enough and Other Stories, featuring 20 of his standalone tales, made
me happy when it crossed my desk. The stories, published between 2004 and
2020, are easily categorized as mystery and thriller and there is nary a dud in
the pack. “The Greatest Trick of All” is a wicked-ironic take on an altogether
too greedy hitman. The titular, “Safe Enough,” is a smashing story about
murder and betrayal, but it ranges far from the expected and it left this
reader with a smile. “The .50 Solution” is another hitman job but this time the
surprise is—well, it’s better left unsaid, but it is a surprising, if somewhat
violent, solution. “Me and Mr. Rafferty” is a cockeyed serial
killer tale about the symbiotic relationship between detective and deviant. “Addicted
to Sweetness” is about drugs and murder and, ultimately, just rewards (of a sort).
“My First Drug Trial” is a clever take on marijuana use and laws in the United
States. It felt just about right, too, with the added benefit of being fun. “New
Blank Document,” which is the most serious story in the collection, is about
racism and secrets. And my favorite story, “Normal in Every Way,” is about a
brilliant but awkward policeman relegated to file clerk duty in the San
Francisco of the 1950s. He was the police department’s database before
everything was moved into the ether, but did he get any of the credit? Safe Enough and Other Stories is
the kind of collection that reads easy. Most readers will devour its stories
in a few sittings and enjoy every second of it, but don’t take my word—read it
yourself. |
Click here to
purchase the Kindle edition or here for the hardcover at Amazon. |
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