I like to read, it’s relaxing, informative and entertaining. I’ll read all sorts of book, I’ve just read a book by a woman I met not so long ago. It’s called ‘I’m Still Standing’ by Mel Carnegie. It’s the harrowing story of her life and how she lost both parents at a young age, and then had the misfortune to marry a psychopath. It’s a very interesting read.

I like novels too, Grisham is a favourite, Nick Hornby, J K Rowling, Linwood Barclay, and I also like the books by Lee Child. Lee Child, not his real name, is a British born author who writes about American all action Hero Jack Reacher. A lot of authors are doing this these days, they create a character and then write numerous books featuring the same character. Michael Connelly does it, so does Dan Brown, and many others.

You could argue that this is because the author is lazy and can’t be bothered to think up new characters, or you could argue that it makes for an easier read, the reader being able to get into the new book quickly, already knowing the main character. I tend to agree with the latter statement there.

So Jack Reacher is an ex US Army Military Policeman. He now drifts from job to job, travelling light and drinking lots of coffee on the way. Of course he comes across lots of situations that put him in danger and require all his experience to survive. The reader has in his mind a picture of Jack Reacher, tough, powerful, rugged and strong. A picture that does not, in any shape or form, look anything like Tom Cruise!

Why on earth have the makers of the Jack Reacher film cast Tom Cruise in the role? Tom Cruise is 5 feet 7 inches tall. Every reader will have a different picture in their mind of what they think Jack Reacher looks like, and these books sell in high quantities, so there will be lots of different imagined Jack Reachers. But I would bet that not even one of those images has Jack Reacher at 5 feet 7 inches tall!

So why did they do this and cast Tom Cruise as Reacher? Why have the completely abandoned what every film goer will expect Jack Reacher to look like?

Fear is the answer.

The are frightened that if they cast someone suitable in the role, who is not a well know actor, that fewer people will go and see the film, and they will make less money. So instead they play it safe and have a well know box office draw. Sadly there isn’t one suitable, so we’ll cast Tom Cruise instead.

Crazy! It’s backfired in this household. We may well have gone to see the Jack Reacher film, but we won’t now, I would just laugh at the ridiculous image of Jack Reacher being a short-arse. There are many more of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books that I have not yet read. I don’t want them spoilt by the thought that Jack Reacher has shrunk by about six inches since I last read about him.