Reviews - Running Blind | The StoryGraph

689 reviews for:

Running Blind

Lee Child

3.79 AVERAGE

courtney_kelley's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

kal1ka's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

nickmbyers's review against another edition

1.0

I haven't read many Jack Reacher novels but I have a feeling this is one of the worst ones. It does away with one of the most endearing aspects of Jack Reacher, him being just a drifter roaming the country who always seems to find himself in the middle of situations and gets out of them by thinking, punching, and shooting his way out. There is barely a single punch thrown or a bullet shot throughout the whole novel.

In some stories characters are written in such a way that you grow to hate them. At first glance they seem fine but then their actions or words make you despise them, but its subtle and nuanced. This novel basically punches you in the face that you are supposed to hate most of the FBI agents. They are obstinate, rude, underhanded, etc. One main aspect of the story is that they coerce Reacher into helping them solve an investigation but then none of them seem to do any investigating and just say "TeLl Us ThE aNsWeR rEaChEr!!1!" over and over. I have no love for law enforcement but the writing for these FBI agents made me want to put the book down many times or have Reacher not help and just let the killings continue because the only people who would benefit from it being solved are those agents.

My biggest gripe with the story has to do with the resolution.

Spoiler

It uses to extremely impossible or debunked things as the method the killer used. One, the killer hypnotizes the women to accept the paint the deliver and basically do whatever the killer says so there is no struggle. Hypnotism is bogus and people who do get hypnotized would not just willing do anything to hurt themselves. It was just stupid and when it was revealed I felt almost betrayed by the book, like I waited all this time for that? Two, the cause of death is literally impossible, you can not swallow your own tongue even by pushing it back with your finger. There is skin under the tongue that prevents it. So if someone was to push it back so far that it does go down their throat it would tear that skin noticeably.

I'm all for suspending disbelief, you have to for things like fantasy and science fiction, but this book is presumably set in reality so I think rules of reality should still be for the most part followed.

stellacaldwell's review against another edition

2.0

Enjoyed most of the ride but the twist was so bad. Made me google whether you can kill yourself by swallowing your tongue and you CAN’T. Hypnosis was dumb. Also, made Reacher pretty unlikable. Really, almost all the characters were unlikable except for Harper I guess.