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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Army MP Reacher in a 1992 Prequel
Review of the Random House Audio audiobook edition (October 24, 2023) narrated by Scott Brick, released simultaneously with the Delacorte Press hardcover edition.
[3.5 rounded up to 4]
Reacher Statistics
'Reacher said nothing.' count = 10. I was getting concerned when there had been only 2 of these in the first half of the book, but the count went up significantly in the 2nd half.
Toothbrush mentions = 1. Reacher notices his hotel room has been searched because his toothbrush is not standing exactly on the vertical in the bathroom drinking glass.
The Secret is the 4th & final collaboration of brothers Lee and Andrew Child in a phased-in retirement and handover of the franchise between them. Andrew Child is currently contracted to continue the series alone for at least 4 more additional books. Readers have various methods to monitor how well younger brother Andrew has taken over the reins from original writer Lee. For me, the measure is whether the laconic tagline 'Reacher said nothing' is getting sufficient play and whether there are enough toothbrush jokes in the mix. For the former the count is medium in this outing. For the latter, there is only a single mention. There weren't any lines to top my all time favourite: "Reacher was already packed and ready to go. His toothbrush was in his pocket." (from [b:Blue Moon|43903354|Blue Moon (Jack Reacher, #24)|Lee Child|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552099648l/43903354._SY75_.jpg|67932542] (Reacher #24, 2019)).
Andrew and Lee Child (pennames for Andrew and James Grant) photographed by Tasha Alexander. Image sourced from Parade Magazine (link below).
The Secret is one of the occasional prequel novels that show the later transient wanderer Reacher when he was still serving in the U.S. Army in the Military Police. There is a short introductory section where Reacher solves a case of missing weapons, but he is soon enlisted in a greater manhunt. A series of scientists are being murdered across the country for an unknown reason i.e. 'The Secret' of the title. A group of elite investigators from the military, the FBI, the CIA etc. are called in to try to connect the murders, establish a motive and catch the perpetrators. The reader actually knows who the perpetrators are right away, but the motive remains unknown for the longest time. Of course Reacher & allies solve the case in the end with a few twists along the way.
This was maybe a so-so Reacher as he was not always centre stage in the narrative. It did at least make a change from the standard drifter Reacher template where he stumbles into some dastardly criminal conspiracy and has to rescue various innocents or even entire towns with his vigilante ways and means.
The narration by veteran reader Scott Brick in all voices for the audiobook edition was excellent as always.
Trivia and Links
There is a very short book trailer for The Secret by Random House which you can watch on YouTube here.
There is an October 23, 2023 interview with Andrew Child about The Secret by Barbara Peters at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore's YouTube channel which you can watch here.
Both Andrew and Lee Child are interviewed about The Secret and their other collaborations and the future of Reacher at Parade Magazine by Elizabeth Held, October 27, 2023.
Review of the Random House Audio audiobook edition (October 24, 2023) narrated by Scott Brick, released simultaneously with the Delacorte Press hardcover edition.
[3.5 rounded up to 4]
Reacher Statistics
'Reacher said nothing.' count = 10. I was getting concerned when there had been only 2 of these in the first half of the book, but the count went up significantly in the 2nd half.
Toothbrush mentions = 1. Reacher notices his hotel room has been searched because his toothbrush is not standing exactly on the vertical in the bathroom drinking glass.
The Secret is the 4th & final collaboration of brothers Lee and Andrew Child in a phased-in retirement and handover of the franchise between them. Andrew Child is currently contracted to continue the series alone for at least 4 more additional books. Readers have various methods to monitor how well younger brother Andrew has taken over the reins from original writer Lee. For me, the measure is whether the laconic tagline 'Reacher said nothing' is getting sufficient play and whether there are enough toothbrush jokes in the mix. For the former the count is medium in this outing. For the latter, there is only a single mention. There weren't any lines to top my all time favourite: "Reacher was already packed and ready to go. His toothbrush was in his pocket." (from [b:Blue Moon|43903354|Blue Moon (Jack Reacher, #24)|Lee Child|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552099648l/43903354._SY75_.jpg|67932542] (Reacher #24, 2019)).
Andrew and Lee Child (pennames for Andrew and James Grant) photographed by Tasha Alexander. Image sourced from Parade Magazine (link below).
The Secret is one of the occasional prequel novels that show the later transient wanderer Reacher when he was still serving in the U.S. Army in the Military Police. There is a short introductory section where Reacher solves a case of missing weapons, but he is soon enlisted in a greater manhunt. A series of scientists are being murdered across the country for an unknown reason i.e. 'The Secret' of the title. A group of elite investigators from the military, the FBI, the CIA etc. are called in to try to connect the murders, establish a motive and catch the perpetrators. The reader actually knows who the perpetrators are right away, but the motive remains unknown for the longest time. Of course Reacher & allies solve the case in the end with a few twists along the way.
This was maybe a so-so Reacher as he was not always centre stage in the narrative. It did at least make a change from the standard drifter Reacher template where he stumbles into some dastardly criminal conspiracy and has to rescue various innocents or even entire towns with his vigilante ways and means.
The narration by veteran reader Scott Brick in all voices for the audiobook edition was excellent as always.
Trivia and Links
There is a very short book trailer for The Secret by Random House which you can watch on YouTube here.
There is an October 23, 2023 interview with Andrew Child about The Secret by Barbara Peters at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore's YouTube channel which you can watch here.
Both Andrew and Lee Child are interviewed about The Secret and their other collaborations and the future of Reacher at Parade Magazine by Elizabeth Held, October 27, 2023.
Solid book. Writing felt a bit different. The dialogue didn’t seem to flow as well as typical teacher books and I didn’t love the way that it followed the bad guys for half the book before reacher did anything.
Falls flat compared to the standard Jack Reacher novel.
A little on the short side but a decent read. Better storyline than the last couple.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It took a hair under 90 pages until Reacher had a cup of coffee. As this book is set in 1992, when he's still an Army MP, maybe he didn't increase his coffee consumption until after retirement.
Andrew Grant/Child continues to do a fair job of continuing Reacher's story, though I think you can tell some slight differences between the original and Andrew-era versions. Still highly addictive reading for me.
Andrew Grant/Child continues to do a fair job of continuing Reacher's story, though I think you can tell some slight differences between the original and Andrew-era versions. Still highly addictive reading for me.
I really liked the change of pace - going back to Reacher's army days (if anything it avoids my head scratching about how in modern day a 60+ Reacher can do all that he does and that no one at the FBI remembers him!). I did like the start and the premise (people dying related to a cover up from the 1960s). I also enjoyed the killers for the most part and how creative they were. For me the downsides were some portions of Reacher's dialogue and actions (again just a few times where I thought - Reacher would NOT say/do that!) where I just think Andrew Child is not quite getting the character. Other downside was the task force team. Too much sitting around in an office awaiting faxes.
The Secret is the 28th book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child and Andrew Child. Eight upstanding people have been found dead across the United States. It is not until a victim takes a fatal fall from a hospital window that a connection is loosely made. The Secretary of Defense organizes a task force and enlists the help of Jack Reacher.
We all know Jack Reacher is an exceptional soldier. He is strong, dominating, intuitive, a sharp shooter and skilled. He races to find the killer and link between the deaths before moving into the dangerous line of sight. The best part of The Secret is knowing that Reacher will get the mission done like no one else can.
It's not uncommon for a long-standing series to drift off. The Jack Reacher series has almost 30 books so my expectations are not as high as the first few books in the series. But I still expect some type of plot to hold my interest. Where is the suspense? Where is the character development? Where is the originality?
I am disappointed but not enough to stop reading the Jack Reacher series. I will continue reading the earlier books that are more compelling. Loyal Reacher readers and those watching the TV adaptation may be interested in The Secret.
The Secret is available now.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
We all know Jack Reacher is an exceptional soldier. He is strong, dominating, intuitive, a sharp shooter and skilled. He races to find the killer and link between the deaths before moving into the dangerous line of sight. The best part of The Secret is knowing that Reacher will get the mission done like no one else can.
It's not uncommon for a long-standing series to drift off. The Jack Reacher series has almost 30 books so my expectations are not as high as the first few books in the series. But I still expect some type of plot to hold my interest. Where is the suspense? Where is the character development? Where is the originality?
I am disappointed but not enough to stop reading the Jack Reacher series. I will continue reading the earlier books that are more compelling. Loyal Reacher readers and those watching the TV adaptation may be interested in The Secret.
The Secret is available now.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
The Secret is the 28th book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child and Andrew Child. Eight upstanding people have been found dead across the United States. It is not until a victim takes a fatal fall from a hospital window that a connection is loosely made. The Secretary of Defense organizes a task force and enlists the help of Jack Reacher.
We all know Jack Reacher is an exceptional soldier. He is strong, dominating, intuitive, a sharp shooter and skilled. He races to find the killer and link between the deaths before moving into the dangerous line of sight. The best part of The Secret is knowing that Reacher will get the mission done like no one else can.
It's not uncommon for a long-standing series to drift off. The Jack Reacher series has almost 30 books so my expectations are not as high as the first few books in the series. But I still expect some type of plot to hold my interest. Where is the suspense? Where is the character development? Where is the originality?
I am disappointed but not enough to stop reading the Jack Reacher series. I will continue reading the earlier books that are more compelling. Loyal Reacher readers and those watching the TV adaptation may be interested in The Secret.
The Secret is available now.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
We all know Jack Reacher is an exceptional soldier. He is strong, dominating, intuitive, a sharp shooter and skilled. He races to find the killer and link between the deaths before moving into the dangerous line of sight. The best part of The Secret is knowing that Reacher will get the mission done like no one else can.
It's not uncommon for a long-standing series to drift off. The Jack Reacher series has almost 30 books so my expectations are not as high as the first few books in the series. But I still expect some type of plot to hold my interest. Where is the suspense? Where is the character development? Where is the originality?
I am disappointed but not enough to stop reading the Jack Reacher series. I will continue reading the earlier books that are more compelling. Loyal Reacher readers and those watching the TV adaptation may be interested in The Secret.
The Secret is available now.
Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie
A historical Reacher assigned to an MDT hunting the murderer(s) of a list of scientist and the gradual uncovering of the motive.