Finished book #128 in 2025

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Book #128
Safe Enough book cover		 Book: Safe Enough Author: Lee Child
Source: Library loan
Format: Audiobook		 Pages: 237 Duration: 12/18/25 – 12/19/25 (2 days)
Rating: ★★★★★ Genres: fiction, short stories, crime, mystery, thriller, suspense, anthologies
📕10-word summary: 20 crime mystery short stories by the Jack Reacher author.
🖌6-word review: Diverse stories quickly pull you in.
💭A memorable quote: “My faith has no room for superstition.”
Description:* For the past 20 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, the stories show the author’s mastery of the short form, and they’ve never been collected before now.*From goodreads.com’s synopsis.
Thoughts: I’ve been dancing around this author’s Jack Reacher stories for about a year now. But after reading his short story, Eleven Numbers, earlier this year, and now this “non-Jack-Reacher” collection of short stories, I’m going to read Killing Floor, the first in the 30-book (to date) Jack Reacher series in 2026. The 20 short stories in this anthology comprise:

  1. The Bodyguard: A methodical professional bodyguard goes private to protect a wealthy 22-year-old Brazilian woman named Anna, whose family has many enemies.
  2. The Greatest Trick of All: A highly skilled hitman, mentored by a man named Ryland, must use everything he was taught to master one final trick to survive.
  3. Ten Keys: A drug-dealing hitman feels compelled to confess his guilt and fears to a complete stranger while waiting in a bar.
  4. Safe Enough: Wolfe, a man from the Bronx now living in the country, is hired by a woman to find her missing husband, but he must determine if she can be trusted.
  5. Normal in Every Way: Relegated to file clerk duty in 1950s San Francisco, a brilliant but awkward rookie cop uses his unique talent for connecting historic dates to solve crimes.
  6. The .50 Solution: An assassin is hired to kill a racehorse and clashes with his client over the high-caliber weapon requested for the job.
  7. Public Transportation: A journalist and a police officer have an unofficial conversation that reveals the truth behind a “conveniently” closed murder case.
  8. Me and Mr. Rafferty: A serial killer narrates his habit of leaving subtle, grisly clues for the detective hunting him, seeking a twisted form of connection.
  9. Section 7 (a) (Operational): An operative meticulously assembles a team for what appears to be a high-stakes military or covert mission.
  10. Addicted to Sweetness: A powerful criminal leader named Socrates interrogates a thief about stolen sugar, exploring the unexpected consequences of harsh punishments.
  11. The Bone-Headed League: An FBI agent stationed in London is challenged by a colleague to solve a murder case using clues inspired by a Sherlock Holmes story.
  12. I Heard a Romantic Story: While lying in wait for a target, an assassin overhears a romantic story that provides a backdrop to his mission.
  13. My First Drug Trial: Before a court appearance for drug possession, a defendant struggles with his internal monologue about whether or not to get high one last time.
  14. Wet with Rain: Two men traveling to Dublin to buy a house find themselves disrupted by a Special Branch officer who suspects the property hides something serious.
  15. The Truth About What Happened: Set in 1942, an African American man working on a top-secret national security project (the Manhattan Project) is interrogated about what he knows.
  16. Pierre, Lucien & Me: A tale centering on art fraud, past regrets, and the relationship between the narrator and two other men.
  17. New Blank Document: A freelance writer in Florida is hired to find and interview the secret, unacknowledged brother of a famous jazz pianist.
  18. Shorty and the Briefcase: An injured police officer uses his analytical skills and brainpower to assist his colleagues in a major bust.
  19. Dying for a Cigarette: A short, punchy tale involving a high-stakes situation where a cigarette plays a central role.
  20. The Snake-Eater by the Numbers: A rookie London police officer is mentored by a corrupt sergeant who prioritizes high arrest numbers over actual justice.

See the rest of the books I’ve read in 2025 and previous years: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019.

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