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tvandoren's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.0
Much less fighting than most Reacher books.
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Twenty-second in the Jack Reacher thriller series revolving around a retired military MP, a major, who’s drifting as he wills.
My Take
Child uses a third-person simple subjective point-of-view from Reacher's perspective, so we see the story unfold through what Reacher perceives. A story that first takes a slap at our government officials who take money from lobbyists to protect the pharmaceutical companies and not the people whom they were elected to protect, and second, at the military that doesn’t take decent care of our vets.
Child starts off with two separate strings that merge: Reacher and the ring and Bramall and the missing person. It’s a good blend of two personal missions that become a crusade with a fascinating encapsulation of the history of heroin. Jesus. It's also a good example of how using real events can make a story more personal, bring it alive, for the reader.
I am curious if it’s true what Noble says about his expense account. Seems kinda gruesome…and cheap! Especially considering how our public officials are taking any and all handouts.
I do enjoy Reacher’s assessment and explanations of how he sees a fight going forward. Reacher also makes note of the importance of being able to read a map and making judgment calls based on it. The boy is an anachronism, but Child does make it work.
I did enjoy this story. Well, okay, the storytelling was good. The story itself was so incredibly sad, yet hopeful. Which feels weird to say. I do hope we get to catch up with everyone in another tale, just 'cause I wanna know. Child pulls you in emotionally to these people, and I can't help but care. A sign of a good storyteller. My only negatives were that it was all rather tame. For Reacher, that is. And I never did understand that loose thread about the jewelry.
I do feel as if Child is starting the set-up for Reacher making some changes in his lifestyle. Nor are the implications solely about Reacher, as Child makes noises about the twins’ judge father and his “arrangements”. Sounds like the girls grew up well in spite of their dad.
The Story
It’s a trip of regrets, as Reacher and Chang leave in different directions. Perhaps it’s the looking back, assessing that causes Reacher to break the rules when he sees that West Point 2005 class ring. No one gives up a ring that took that much to earn.
There’s a story there, and Reacher wants to know.
The Characters
Jack Reacher, former major and former CO of the 110th, military MPs. And Reacher…? He does like a good fight. Former special agent Michelle Chang was pivotal in Make Me, 21.
Terrence Bramall, former FBI, is on his second career as a well-paid private investigator out of Chicago. Tiffany Jane Mackenzie is Rose’s identical twin sister and lives in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Rapid City, South Dakota
Detective Gloria Nakamura operates out of the Rapid City PD’s Crimes Against Property unit and has to manipulate her jerk of a boss.
The clever Arthur Scorpio operates out of a laundromat.
Mule Crossing, Wyoming, admits…
…to five or six citizens. Seymour “Sy” Porterfield is a retired Marine due to a wound he took. Serena Rose Sanderson is a junkie and a former army major. Billy drives a snowplow; Mason is his younger brother. John Ryan Headley runs a flea market in town. Stackley will become the new Billy.
Laramie, Wyoming…
…County Sheriff Connelly doesn’t buy the bear story.
Federal DEA Special Agent Kirk Noble is coming south from Billings, Montana. The Defense Intelligence Agency needs to do some housecleaning. Colonel Bateman was with a medical battalion.
West Point, New York
General Sean Simpson is the supe in charge at West Point.
A small town in Wisconsin
Jimmy Rat rides a Harley.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, black, and white. The red is in the series information encased between the author’s first and last name in white and the red of the small-sized title at the very bottom. More white is in the scudding clouds overhead and the rows of electrical poles marching along either side of the road, narrowing in perspective as the road stretches into the distance. The black is the background, and in the blackest of blacks.
The title is where the truth comes out, The Midnight Line.
My Take
Child uses a third-person simple subjective point-of-view from Reacher's perspective, so we see the story unfold through what Reacher perceives. A story that first takes a slap at our government officials who take money from lobbyists to protect the pharmaceutical companies and not the people whom they were elected to protect, and second, at the military that doesn’t take decent care of our vets.
There was a bit more snark about the 'self-righteous' with that comment 'Teddy Roosevelt … the great naturalist, except for when he was shooting things like tigers and elephants.'”I found it interesting that the day after I read The Midnight Line, several pharmaceutical companies were in the news for wrongdoing…that they slid out of. They seem to know too many people in high places in government. Sounds like Scorpio’s networks in Rapid City.
Child starts off with two separate strings that merge: Reacher and the ring and Bramall and the missing person. It’s a good blend of two personal missions that become a crusade with a fascinating encapsulation of the history of heroin. Jesus. It's also a good example of how using real events can make a story more personal, bring it alive, for the reader.
I am curious if it’s true what Noble says about his expense account. Seems kinda gruesome…and cheap! Especially considering how our public officials are taking any and all handouts.
I do enjoy Reacher’s assessment and explanations of how he sees a fight going forward. Reacher also makes note of the importance of being able to read a map and making judgment calls based on it. The boy is an anachronism, but Child does make it work.
I did enjoy this story. Well, okay, the storytelling was good. The story itself was so incredibly sad, yet hopeful. Which feels weird to say. I do hope we get to catch up with everyone in another tale, just 'cause I wanna know. Child pulls you in emotionally to these people, and I can't help but care. A sign of a good storyteller. My only negatives were that it was all rather tame. For Reacher, that is. And I never did understand that loose thread about the jewelry.
I do feel as if Child is starting the set-up for Reacher making some changes in his lifestyle. Nor are the implications solely about Reacher, as Child makes noises about the twins’ judge father and his “arrangements”. Sounds like the girls grew up well in spite of their dad.
The Story
It’s a trip of regrets, as Reacher and Chang leave in different directions. Perhaps it’s the looking back, assessing that causes Reacher to break the rules when he sees that West Point 2005 class ring. No one gives up a ring that took that much to earn.
There’s a story there, and Reacher wants to know.
The Characters
Jack Reacher, former major and former CO of the 110th, military MPs. And Reacher…? He does like a good fight. Former special agent Michelle Chang was pivotal in Make Me, 21.
Terrence Bramall, former FBI, is on his second career as a well-paid private investigator out of Chicago. Tiffany Jane Mackenzie is Rose’s identical twin sister and lives in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Rapid City, South Dakota
Detective Gloria Nakamura operates out of the Rapid City PD’s Crimes Against Property unit and has to manipulate her jerk of a boss.
The clever Arthur Scorpio operates out of a laundromat.
Mule Crossing, Wyoming, admits…
…to five or six citizens. Seymour “Sy” Porterfield is a retired Marine due to a wound he took. Serena Rose Sanderson is a junkie and a former army major. Billy drives a snowplow; Mason is his younger brother. John Ryan Headley runs a flea market in town. Stackley will become the new Billy.
Laramie, Wyoming…
…County Sheriff Connelly doesn’t buy the bear story.
Federal DEA Special Agent Kirk Noble is coming south from Billings, Montana. The Defense Intelligence Agency needs to do some housecleaning. Colonel Bateman was with a medical battalion.
West Point, New York
General Sean Simpson is the supe in charge at West Point.
A small town in Wisconsin
Jimmy Rat rides a Harley.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, black, and white. The red is in the series information encased between the author’s first and last name in white and the red of the small-sized title at the very bottom. More white is in the scudding clouds overhead and the rows of electrical poles marching along either side of the road, narrowing in perspective as the road stretches into the distance. The black is the background, and in the blackest of blacks.
The title is where the truth comes out, The Midnight Line.
rembrandt1881's review against another edition
3.0
This was a solid but not spectacular Reacher story. The usual traipse through the wilderness and coming upon a mystery happens but this one was a little bit more obscure than most. I feel like this was also attempting to somewhat address current affairs issues like opioid addiction although it is very superficial. I felt like for the first time I could tell these stories were for a certain audience, and it isn't me directly. That said the action is good and the story was told slightly differently which gave it some life even if at the end there are just what some would consider loose ends (someone wrote a comment in the library book I had asking about them).
revveryerin's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alyssabug711's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reacher is my favorite thriller star, so I’m always impartial to his adventures. This one is a bit repetitive, but also fascinating in how it unravels narratively and how it explores the good and evil of opiates. The injured veteran angle complicates preconceptions of addiction. I found myself confronting my own biases and trying to see such challenges with more empathy.
Child is brilliant at hinting at character emotions and understandings without having to spoon-feed them to us. Reacher doesn’t say much, doesn’t offer much of what he’s thinking, but somehow…we know. We feel it and we understand it. We’re kept at a distance, yet we feel right there next to him, absorbing the world the way he sees it.
There are true villains in this novel, yet law enforcement kind of bounces between “good” and “bad.” It is a help and a hindrance, working to stop illegality but roadblocking efforts to assist a woman relying on opioids to manage her pain and just generally function. This shifting grey morality is probably the element that most enticed me while reading.
Also…that tumblr dryer scene. I literally think about it all the time. Love. 💅
Child is brilliant at hinting at character emotions and understandings without having to spoon-feed them to us. Reacher doesn’t say much, doesn’t offer much of what he’s thinking, but somehow…we know. We feel it and we understand it. We’re kept at a distance, yet we feel right there next to him, absorbing the world the way he sees it.
There are true villains in this novel, yet law enforcement kind of bounces between “good” and “bad.” It is a help and a hindrance, working to stop illegality but roadblocking efforts to assist a woman relying on opioids to manage her pain and just generally function. This shifting grey morality is probably the element that most enticed me while reading.
kord's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
blindracer's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.25
malvaljun's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lelia_t's review against another edition
3.0
Thoroughly enjoyable! I've tried to read two other Reacher books in the past, but didn't find them interesting enough to finish. Every other line seemed to be, "Reacher said nothing." And he seemed to think nothing, also. So I was quite surprised to find this book completely engaging. "Reacher said nothing" only one time, by my count. And he had lots of thoughts and insights to make him interesting. Plus, the sex scene was only a couple of paragraphs and highlighted Reacher's tenderness, rather than the prolonged scenes in the other books that gave an impression of stamina but no imagination.