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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I liked this better than the first Jack Reacher I read in a way, though it's significant. There weren't nearly as many of those distracting, short, choppy sentences, making the narrative flow a little easier for me. I didn't care for the way there seemed to be no mention of the first book, meaning there is no continuity of the main character's knowledge of things. Also didn't care for the long, drawn out descriptions of (to me) meaningless things. I don't really care what the hallway of the military prison looks like, nor what kind or how many coats of paint are on it; things like that. I also have to admit that while I am likely to pick up a few more of this series, I am kind of over the "I have to be free" credo. What kind of grown ass man wants to wander the country in one set of clothing and a fold up toothbrush (am I the only one who noticed that he wore the same clothes for this entire adventure without laundering them a single time??)? Is this a modern day Kung Fu or Hulk thing? It doesn't really matter, I guess. Just a personal pet peeve. And for the second time in my history of reading suspense/mystery books, I knew who the "bad guy" was before it was revealed.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Several parts of the story were pretty far fetched. And another part just wasn't very cool. I hope his other books are better. Details below.
The way the FBI first approached Jack with threats when all they wanted was his help I thought was far fetched. And again threatening him at the end as well.
And it turns out that Special Agent Lamarr had this very long, very complex plan to get the girls to kill themselves by using hypnosis, just so she could collect some inheritance. Really? Hypnosis does not work like that.
And assuming that the package carriers or car rental companies can't do a database look-up is B.S. Even at the time of this writing.
And for Jack to be kissing Lisa Harper, when he's still technically with Jody is not cool.
Spoiler
The way the FBI first approached Jack with threats when all they wanted was his help I thought was far fetched. And again threatening him at the end as well.
And it turns out that Special Agent Lamarr had this very long, very complex plan to get the girls to kill themselves by using hypnosis, just so she could collect some inheritance. Really? Hypnosis does not work like that.
And assuming that the package carriers or car rental companies can't do a database look-up is B.S. Even at the time of this writing.
And for Jack to be kissing Lisa Harper, when he's still technically with Jody is not cool.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
Good plot, excellent pacing, and a Chandler-like eye for details (just enough and not too many). I'm a little unwilling to buy into the initial violence in this book, which happens right away while Reacher is eating in a pretty nice restaurant (so uncharacteristic for him), and I'm also not so sure I can endorse the killer's method (revealed at the very end), but I liked all the us-vs.-them in Reacher's interactions with the FBI. He really has no respect for them or their psych profiles, but they've got him over a barrel and he's forced to work with them on a case where women (of course) are being serially murdered. This book is more misogynistic than the first three, and I didn't like that. I did really like the story arc, though — it kept me coming back almost obsessively, eager to see where it would all lead. Along with the misogyny is Reacher's fundamental respect for (most) women, especially those who've served in the military.
Spoiler
But does anyone really have the ability to plant a post-hypnotic suggestion as powerful as these would need to be?
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
The pacing of this plot of really on the mark. I enjoyed every minute of this Reacher book!