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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Riveting stuff. One of the best in the series for me.
4 Stars
The Hard Way (Jack Reacher #10) by Lee Child.
2021 reading challenge- review to come.
The Hard Way (Jack Reacher #10) by Lee Child.
2021 reading challenge- review to come.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Jack Reacher walks softly and carries a big stick in the name of justice. He has a take-no-prisoners attitude and a warrior toughness that stands him in good stead - and he needs it because he always finds trouble.
In this book, Reacher digs into the history of a small Nebraska town. Somethings been rotten there for decades. The bad guys are on to him, but it doesn't matter. Reacher's on the case.
I enjoy thrillers, and this one was especially easy to keep turning the pages. The high body count was a bit much for me, so it wasn't a full five star favorite for me.
In this book, Reacher digs into the history of a small Nebraska town. Somethings been rotten there for decades. The bad guys are on to him, but it doesn't matter. Reacher's on the case.
I enjoy thrillers, and this one was especially easy to keep turning the pages. The high body count was a bit much for me, so it wasn't a full five star favorite for me.
My first Jack Reacher book. I liked the character quite a bit and a good story. I plan to read more by this author.
The Hard Way seems to be doing things without coincidences and solutions falling into your lap. Working the clues, examining the evidence, as I think Reacher is fond of saying. That's all very well...
But...what is it and Lee Child and British people's teeth, for fuck's sake?! Lee Child is - or was, he may have changed now - English and presumably still has English teeth. OK, we don't look like the bleeding Osmonds, but then who wants to? British teeth are, in my experience, no better, no worse than American people's teeth. Given the portion sizes - and arse sizes - over there and the amount of fast food Americans eat, I'd venture that English teeth are more likely to me markedly better than US teeth. But, and maybe because Child has taken US citizenship and there is a clause therein that says you must take on board the teeth cliche (you probably have to call English people Limeys as well), Mr Child labours (with a fucking U) the point, again and again. And again. That's what kept it off a five from me. Unnecessarily repeating a false cliche. He's probably after a job in Trump's government (I use the word 'govern' in its most shambolic sense, obviously).
Other than that...it's very good. Hangs together very well indeed. I do like that Reacher gets absolutely nowhere for most of the book. Obviously, there are a few clues scattered here and there and - and only because I tried to do it - I managed to figure it out before the reveal, which at least made me feel good. Lee Child has cut back on the filler again, as I've noted before, it's still a satisfying getting your money's worth size, but there's not a lot of wastage. The writing style can be a little mechanical at times, but the improvement over the first two or three, is noticeable. There are whole sentences nowadays, for instance. They could even film this one as well, I'd say, the stuff about the private army and that, would go down very well these days (even though this is now 11 years old). Maybe that's what's good about Reacher, what appeals, he is timeless. There is technology in the story, Reacher is largely aware of it, but he has pretty much chosen not to be either aware of it, or use it. So, brain-power and working the clues will never date him. Maybe that is what has taken Reacher to such a wide audience. The hook of the first few books, of Reacher being able to beat just about anyone up he wanted to, when necessary, has been absent for a while now (though there was a bit last time out), so it's all about plot and Reacher's brain-power these days.
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But...what is it and Lee Child and British people's teeth, for fuck's sake?! Lee Child is - or was, he may have changed now - English and presumably still has English teeth. OK, we don't look like the bleeding Osmonds, but then who wants to? British teeth are, in my experience, no better, no worse than American people's teeth. Given the portion sizes - and arse sizes - over there and the amount of fast food Americans eat, I'd venture that English teeth are more likely to me markedly better than US teeth. But, and maybe because Child has taken US citizenship and there is a clause therein that says you must take on board the teeth cliche (you probably have to call English people Limeys as well), Mr Child labours (with a fucking U) the point, again and again. And again. That's what kept it off a five from me. Unnecessarily repeating a false cliche. He's probably after a job in Trump's government (I use the word 'govern' in its most shambolic sense, obviously).
Other than that...it's very good. Hangs together very well indeed. I do like that Reacher gets absolutely nowhere for most of the book. Obviously, there are a few clues scattered here and there and - and only because I tried to do it - I managed to figure it out before the reveal, which at least made me feel good. Lee Child has cut back on the filler again, as I've noted before, it's still a satisfying getting your money's worth size, but there's not a lot of wastage. The writing style can be a little mechanical at times, but the improvement over the first two or three, is noticeable. There are whole sentences nowadays, for instance. They could even film this one as well, I'd say, the stuff about the private army and that, would go down very well these days (even though this is now 11 years old). Maybe that's what's good about Reacher, what appeals, he is timeless. There is technology in the story, Reacher is largely aware of it, but he has pretty much chosen not to be either aware of it, or use it. So, brain-power and working the clues will never date him. Maybe that is what has taken Reacher to such a wide audience. The hook of the first few books, of Reacher being able to beat just about anyone up he wanted to, when necessary, has been absent for a while now (though there was a bit last time out), so it's all about plot and Reacher's brain-power these days.
The best Book Blog on the web: Speesh Reads
The best Facebook Page: Speesh Reads
The Hard Way, Jack Reacher# 10 by Lee Child.
.
.
My first Reacher book (this year's going to have a lot of firsts in store for me) and it didn't dissapoint.
.
.
“ Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived at his table he saw a man’s life change forever.”
.
.
Sitting in a cafe and looking across the busy city through the look through glass while waiting for his coffee to arrive, Reacher sees something that might come across to a normal person as a normal possible everyday phenomena, but something UNUSUAL struck Reacher to register that event taking place complacently, which later proved to make him a valuable witness coming to the aid of a mercenary corporation full of illegal ex-officers from different special units. Following the breadcrumbs trailed all the way in forms of basic clues left behind a final showdown, Reacher finds himself getting intangled so deep into the past of the career of his psychopath employer that he finds himself impossible to stop and as he continues to dig deeper in the case that appearently seems to deal with having the employer's wife and stepchild gone missing primarily, Reacher discovers that it has the hell of a world more to it.
.
.
"You think you've been in deep shit before, and then you realise you have absolutely no conception of how deep shit can really be.”
.
.
This book is an absolute page-turner. Kept me intriguing, kept me hooked. Pacing was satisfactory. Characters were perfect intense. But I had already some things figured out before Reacher and thus, I found some parts annoying, repetitive- just meaningless blabber till Reacher got to those things. It was mostly how systems worked, mostly law procedures and some sort of slipshod action at the end. Obviously I stuck around till the last to see how things went and turned out, I can't help saying that it felt quite dull towards the end. Maybe its just that my reading game is getting tilted offbeat in the sideways these days, but I just don't feel this stood up to my expectation. Of course the twists and turns had me gagged at times, but some useless lengthy descriptions of roads, sky etc made me force read the book to get to the bottom line. All those complex phrasing of actions made it felt stretched for me. But it was compelling for sure, and that sometimes overshadows the shortcomings.
Rating: 3.5 stars
.
.
My first Reacher book (this year's going to have a lot of firsts in store for me) and it didn't dissapoint.
.
.
“ Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived at his table he saw a man’s life change forever.”
.
.
Sitting in a cafe and looking across the busy city through the look through glass while waiting for his coffee to arrive, Reacher sees something that might come across to a normal person as a normal possible everyday phenomena, but something UNUSUAL struck Reacher to register that event taking place complacently, which later proved to make him a valuable witness coming to the aid of a mercenary corporation full of illegal ex-officers from different special units. Following the breadcrumbs trailed all the way in forms of basic clues left behind a final showdown, Reacher finds himself getting intangled so deep into the past of the career of his psychopath employer that he finds himself impossible to stop and as he continues to dig deeper in the case that appearently seems to deal with having the employer's wife and stepchild gone missing primarily, Reacher discovers that it has the hell of a world more to it.
.
.
"You think you've been in deep shit before, and then you realise you have absolutely no conception of how deep shit can really be.”
.
.
This book is an absolute page-turner. Kept me intriguing, kept me hooked. Pacing was satisfactory. Characters were perfect intense. But I had already some things figured out before Reacher and thus, I found some parts annoying, repetitive- just meaningless blabber till Reacher got to those things. It was mostly how systems worked, mostly law procedures and some sort of slipshod action at the end. Obviously I stuck around till the last to see how things went and turned out, I can't help saying that it felt quite dull towards the end. Maybe its just that my reading game is getting tilted offbeat in the sideways these days, but I just don't feel this stood up to my expectation. Of course the twists and turns had me gagged at times, but some useless lengthy descriptions of roads, sky etc made me force read the book to get to the bottom line. All those complex phrasing of actions made it felt stretched for me. But it was compelling for sure, and that sometimes overshadows the shortcomings.
Rating: 3.5 stars
So I'm on a bit of a Jack Reacher reading jag at the moment. I think it's probably a combination of being interested, being on holidays and the fact that I'd forgotten that formula crime novels can be so much fun!
Don't get me wrong here; Child has done something just a little bit special creating this character and a loner wandering America after years of being tied into the military way of life offers a lot of opportunities for running into trouble. Unlike some others, it doesn't seem unreasonable for Reacher to be running into one violent conflict after another.
This is probably my favourite installment in the series so far - there's plenty of 'Reacher' in the action; you feel like what he's doing is being driven by his particular personality, and you start getting invested in the outcomes. There is a little bit of flattery in the way the story is structured: the reader can work out long before the characters what is going on, but can't anticipate what will happen when all the stories start to get put together by the characters.
I'm always a little hesitant to give anything in this sort of genre a rating above 3/5 stars, but honestly it's difficult to justify less than a 4 for something that I found very readable and interesting. Not to mention motivating...I might need to do a little more exercise if I'm going to keep reading books where the characters that prevail are the ones in peak physical condition!
Don't get me wrong here; Child has done something just a little bit special creating this character and a loner wandering America after years of being tied into the military way of life offers a lot of opportunities for running into trouble. Unlike some others, it doesn't seem unreasonable for Reacher to be running into one violent conflict after another.
This is probably my favourite installment in the series so far - there's plenty of 'Reacher' in the action; you feel like what he's doing is being driven by his particular personality, and you start getting invested in the outcomes. There is a little bit of flattery in the way the story is structured: the reader can work out long before the characters what is going on, but can't anticipate what will happen when all the stories start to get put together by the characters.
I'm always a little hesitant to give anything in this sort of genre a rating above 3/5 stars, but honestly it's difficult to justify less than a 4 for something that I found very readable and interesting. Not to mention motivating...I might need to do a little more exercise if I'm going to keep reading books where the characters that prevail are the ones in peak physical condition!
Much more of an interesting plot that the one before. This one was a little predictable through the last third or so. Also, the ending was very anticlimactic.
I really just can't say this enough: I love Jack Reacher. He is by far, the best male protagonist in the history of literature. He is just such a bad ass and a good, good man. I have read all the books up to this one and in every single one, the last 20 pages always has my heart beating super fast with suspense. I LOVE IT!