Killing Floor

Jack Reacher, Book 1

By: Lee Child

Narrated by: Jeff Harding

Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

**NOW A MAJOR PRIME TV SERIES STARRING ALAN RITCHSON**

Killing Floor is the first book in the phenomenal best-selling Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. It introduces Reacher for the first time, as the tough ex-military cop of no fixed abode. Trained to think fast and act faster, he is the perfect action hero for when times get tough.

Margrave is a no-account little town in Georgia. Jack Reacher steps off a bus and walks fourteen miles in the rain to reach it, in search of a dead guitar player.

But Margrave has just had its first homicide in 30 years. And Reacher is the only stranger in town. He seems the obvious fall guy. As the body count mounts, only one thing is for sure: they picked the wrong guy to frame for murder.

Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, Killing Floor is the first book in the internationally popular series.

©2013 Lee Child (P)2017 Random House Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"Races along, spattering blood and body parts on the way." (Sunday Telegraph)

"These books are absolutely addictive. When you pick them up you can't put them down." (George R.R. Martin)

"All [Reacher thrillers] are ripping yarns, but since this is the first, it seems the logical place to start." (Stephen King) 

Disappointing after hearing so much about Reacher.

What disappointed you about Killing Floor?

Every conversation was written with "I said" "he said" "she said", all the way through the book. I was expecting more sophisticated language.

Has Killing Floor turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not the genre, just Lee Child.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment due to the lack of imagination about the language.

Good story, horrible narration

I only finished this book because I was curious how it ends. In the most of it the narration sounds like shopping list or user manual being read out loud. Gets little better in the second half but still not very pleasant experience.

Disappointing experience

The whole book would be one third in length if ‘I said, he said’ and repeating phrases were excluded. The narration did not help as well, the worst combination possible. It was like reading out loud a TO DO list.

He said she said

The “he said she said “ though out the story was very off putting and I felt spoiled the overall story and was not really required .

I did enjoy the book

Horrible reader

The book is written in I format and the readers voice does not match the figure in the books age, persona or way of talking. Story awesome, but read it yourself.

macho classic. makes the movie look like a spoof.

l love Jack Reacher. 6ft 4 with a look that gets him into trouble without even trying. He is a credible and likeable hardman. Basic to the bone. Sympathetic but scary. Reacher is always the hero without any fanfare. How anyone decided to replace a bulky 6ft 4 , ex army hardman with 5ft 2 (in lifts) Mr Cruise with perfect teeth and coiffered hair is beyond me. I love the books. When I heard who was cast for the movie I literally felt sad for the character. Damn you Hollywood. Why can't you just tell it like it's written???

None stop listenenin

Fantastic story, but if a character like Finley was in story - in other books of the series, and the unnecessary blaspheming the Man Who came and died for me, and rose again, if he blasphemed Muhammad, his head wud be cut off. But the saddest thing is that swearing doesn’t bother us too much, but against my Saviour and Lord, is just unbearable and hurtful

Narrator does not do the author justice

The narrators voice is extremely monotonous. I have read the book, find it much more entertaining than the audible version.

Heroically, silly super-super hero. Really??

Definitely did not like. Struggled to finish. Definitely did not like robotic narrator. Returning book.

Great story - just one problem

It’s a great story ... but the ‘he said’ ‘she said’ just gets to you ! I wish they could just edit that part!

Faithful narration to the very last "he said"!

When reading this book I never noticed how many times "he said" "she said" "he said" is written down.
Having fetched my twenty year old copy of the book I can confirm they are all there in black and white. On the page I must have stopped seeing them, how I wished I could stop hearing them in the audio version.

Maybe we need a new category - 'Unabridged except for removal of superfluous and flow interrupting he said/she saids'?

Otherwise, it was a good story to revisit and I enjoyed the narration. I shall continue with the series.

My First Encounter With Reacher

This is what it is. Lee Child isn't trying to be Cormac McCarthy. The story is fast-paced and the characters don't get on your nerves. There are 4 or 5 excellent and exciting set-pieces and the bad guys are really bad.

Some people claim that the first chapter is one of the best first chapters of any novel of the late 20th century. I don't know about that but it is certainly pretty good

Meh..

Narrator lacks variety in tone.
Writing lacks flow... Constantly adding "he said" to dialogue... Ruins an otherwise fine story

Brilliant

Thought I’d try something new. So decided to go back 20 years with the first Jack Reacher story and I was not disappointed! Gripping from the get go - good reading performance (I’m quite fussy about the voices on Audible) and great continuous story I was never bored. So happy now as I have loads more to listen to

Great book

A great book however I'm must say as much as I love Lee childs passion for Jack reacher I feel that if it isn't narrates by Jeff harding then I simply cannot listen to it. The two go hand in hand. Jack reacher is simply fantastic

Very good book

Very good book. hard to turn off and easy to listen to. Recommend this book to all those who like a good crime murder and a bit of mystery.

Too many "saids"

Being a Lee child can and having enjoyed his books both kindle and hardback, I was very disappointed with the narration of Killing floor. There were far too many she said, he said and I said interruptions to the narration which I feel could have been avoided with better editing. I shall continue trying Lee child books on Audible but will vet them with trial listening before purchasing

Great story

Enjoyable and entertaining. Great story, characters a little predictable good guy always wins etc... but great pace and narration.

good story

i said she said becomes really irritating! good story tho worth a listen. ..and first in the series

Read like a menu!

I have never heard a book read so badly! There is no inflection or tone. I had to give up half way through chapter 2. The narrator could be reading a shopping list or menu.