Safe Enough

And Other Stories

De: Lee Child

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini

Twenty crime stories by the creator of Jack Reacher, never before collected

For the past twenty years, Lee Child has been one of the bestselling authors in the world, thanks to the popularity of his iconic and instantly recognizable hero Jack Reacher. But even at the height of Reacher's fame, Child's short story writing was not confined to the series; throughout the course of his career, he published tales about a range of characters on both sides of the law, including assassins, a body guard, CIA and FBI agents, gangsters, and more. Meticulously plotted and packed with Child's trademark action and suspense, this collection shows the author's mastery of the short form.

In "Ten Keys," a drug-dealing hit man feels that he must unburden his fears and guilt to a stranger. A rookie cop in "Normal in Every Way" is assigned to the department's file room, where he makes connections to historic dates that could lead to solving crimes. A methodical bodyguard quits his job when he's outsmarted. A military mission is planned to perfection. A potential worker for the Manhattan Project is carefully surveilled by an FBI agent. A killer preys on other killers. Taken together, these stories are a riotous calamity of criminals and crime fighters; individually, they are expertly crafted, piercing tales that hit hard enough to leave a mark.

©2024 Otto Penzler (compilation); copyright 2024 by Lee Child (introduction); all individual stories are copyright of Lee Child (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Mystery endings

Love the Mystery endings. I did not
guess any. Except I anticipated “what would reacher do”

nice 5 hours for the most part

the short series were all pretty good. Not the usual standard of Reacher novels. I appreciated the ones with numbers, figures and equations, like Reacher uses. It was a pleasant 5 hours.

very interesting insight into Lee Child

The short stories in this volume are good but not always great and the child acknowledges that in the forward. they are very interesting though in showing some of the ways he thinks about writing stories. I enjoyed this for the stories, the performance, and the insight.

unsatisfying

these shorts are too short and end in a very disatisfying manner. I'm glad that Mr. Child had fun writing them. I can't say the same about reading them.

Meh

The Bodyguard. 4.5
The Greatest Trick of All. 5.0
Ten Keys. 3.5
Safe Enough. 4.5
Normal in Every Way. 5.0
The .50 Caliber Solution. 3.5
Public Transportation. 4.0
Me & Mr. Rafferty. 3.5
Section 7(a) Operational. 2.0
Addicted to Sweetness. 2.0
The Bone-Headed League. 3.5
I Heard a Romantic Story. 2.5
My First Drug Trial. 2.5
Wet With Rain. 3.0
The Truth About What Happened. 4.0
Pierre, Lucien, and Me. 3.5
New Blank Document. 4.5
Shorty and the Briefcase. 3.0
Dying for a Cigarette. 4.0
The Snake Eater by the Numbers. 2.5

Interesting

Pretty Good. Every story sounded like it could be a piece of a larger novel. Enjoyed 80%

No Jack Reacher

I just didn’t get it all the time I thought it was going somewhere but it never did. So so disappointed. I am wondering at the end of the trail do you just phone it in?I wasted a credit on this. I wasn’t really expecting Jack R, but I was curious. Major disappointment!

Brilliant, bold storytelling

These short stories are not about Reacher, but they reveal exactly what it is about Child’s writing that makes the Reacher series so weirdly compelling. Crisp, masculine prose. Unexpected details that hold metaphors. Deep subject matter expertise. And always a twist.

Nothing!

The author seemed more interested in trying to display his vocabulary prowess and padding the story than developing a tight attention keeping novel.

It all blends together like porridge.

Not too hot, not too cold. Just lukewarm. Like Goldilocks in the home of the Three Bears.