3.92 AVERAGE


Set in NY and London. Didn’t enjoy as much as others but still good.

Thought this one was especially good for the Reacher series.

I don’t remember any blues in this book. It would have been nice to see that carry on. It could be that this is a one off, or perhaps he went off it somewhere along the line. I’ll find out someday as I will be reading them all, because these books are compelling. The draw you in and keep you in. I read each book in a few days. I’ll have to give them a month or so in between though as they are too similar to read one after the other.

This book has Reacher in New York where he witnesses an event of little significance. The next night he learns that the event was actually a kidnapper picking up the ransom. This is how he is drawn into the story and although I read along I felt the drawing in was week. Whereas the draw in for Book 1 was solid. However I haven’t read the books leading to this one so it could be that Reacher has developed a personality where he likes trouble for it’s own sake – this is a part of his personality which is certainly there in book one but he denies it. It would be interesting to see he develop into a trouble seeker. For him to acknowledge that he lives by the thrill of life or death situations. Then for Reacher to travel the worlds war zones and getting involved – a fighting version of Grahame Greene.

The Hard Way sees Reacher come to England –it’s interesting to see how Child writes this as he is an Englishman living in America. There are a lot of twists and turns in the plot – possibly less than book one. I did like the way Reacher got a lot of it wrong early on. This is shown nicely through the use of the third person narrative used here.

Both books are neatly planned out. This one is better written than the first (the first isn’t badly written but there are a few clangers in there). I can see why they are best sellers. I have read the three Stieg Larsson books make for better reading. Larsson however was trying to bring to light some problems in his society. Child is writing in the pure escapism. I felt Larsson failed because he became too distracted by sexual perversion and petty details which are reiterated too often. Child’s writing is clean and his stories are to the point. They could be shorter but they don’t repeat themselves in the way that entire paragraphs in Larsson do. I think I’ll read some Jo Nesbo before I read the next Reacher book.

Look, I was sick, okay? I tried comfort-reading Janet Malcolm but it was too much and I defaulted to Lee Child. I have now read every Jack Reacher novel but one I think. I read this in three hours and wasn't bored for any of it. I'd say there are basically two kinds of JR plots, the ones that make no sense and the ones that are pretty obvious. The obvious ones are better, this is an obvious one, for the most part you can suspend your disbelief. You will enjoy it more if you can also suspend your critical consciousness around, like, colonialism, racism, gendered violence, etc.

Brilliant yet again from Lee Child. I was unsure where this one was heading but I loved the twist! I felt like it finished up quite abruptly but they always seem to win in the last chapter! Chapters were short so easy to read.

Great ending

Certainly a quick, easy, mindless read. I don't normally read this style book & I'm not the type to try to figure out mysteries ahead of time, but I figured out various parts of this plot ahead of time. It's ok if you're looking for entertainment of the action movie variety....

Review went missing. How does save not working?
adventurous dark mysterious 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

Very solid book. A good example that you don't need action to tell a compelling story. There's action of course, but thats not the main focus