Reviews tagging 'Death'

Running Blind by Lee Child

4 reviews

enrproc's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This one’s a slow burner: not too fast paced, focused on a murder mystery, with great Reacher-style dialogues and a well-thought plot. Enjoyed it a lot.
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theinfamousj's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The universe sure does seem to like handing me Jack Reacher books lately. On my travels, I always bring a book from home to trade for a book from there in one of the free book trading spaces available, and the past few times it has been a Jack Reacher book I have walked home with. But I digress. This one came from the book swap shelf at the Zurich Airport Hilton in Switzerland, on the executive floor, in the executive lounge.

This book opens with the shocking information that Reacher has a girlfriend. Yes, our wild tramp has actually made a commitment, and with it came a physical grounding. But that is soon dispensed with when the FBI enters the picture doing every passive-aggressive thing they can think of except being direct and just asking Reacher to assist them in determining who it is that is killing women veterans.

Because I'm always looking for the plot twist, I guessed it was
a woman
about halfway through the novel. Too much was being assumed about the gender presentation of the murderer and that seemed to me to be obvious foreshadowing, especially since there wasn't any concrete evidence offered for this assumption other than
that the world is male normative
.

In addition, I had one other quibble. In the drawn out scene where we are able to witness a murder, the murderer asks
the victim if she'd ever eaten an oyster and then instructs her to swallow her tongue as if it were an oyster. But what would have happened if the victim said, "No." I've never eaten an oyster. If I were the victim, I'd be looking at the murderer like, "And what would you like me to do with that? You going to teach me how to eat oysters by serving me some while I'm standing here in this pea soup green water?"


All told, four stars!
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celbl8o's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

So far, probably my favorite in the Reacher series. Not because the mystery really threw me for a loop, but mostly because I simply couldn't put it down. I was eager to know the how and why, and how the story would wrap itself up. I also enjoyed that this one asked us to think a little more about the implications of Reacher's lifestyle. Parts of the ending may have been the slightest bit disappointing to me, but not so much so that it impacted the thrill I felt while reading The Visitor.
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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Running Blind might be the best Jack Reacher novel so far. It's a bit different than the rest, with Reacher being forced into helping the FBI find a serial killer targeting women who left the Army after pressing charges after being raped. Reacher laughs at the FBI until they threaten Jody, the girl from the previous book, saying they might just give the organized crime boss her name and address if Reacher doesn't cooperate. They also spend several chapters insulting Reacher and accusing him of crimes he didn't commit, and making him out to be a very different person. 

Once pressganged into helping at Quantico, Reacher is ignored and put down, even after there's another murder and he figures out a key part of the story. Running Blind is a fast-paced thriller that you won't want to put down. 
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