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A review by hirvimaki
Better off Dead by Lee Child
1.0
One and a half stars.
In "Better Off Dead," Lee Child continues the transition of handing over the reins of the Reacherverse to his younger brother, Andrew, which began in the previous novel, "The Sentinel." While some readers found "The Sentinel" to be different from previous Reacher novels, the disparities seemed mostly cosmetic to me and didn't significantly affect my enjoyment. However, in "Better Off Dead," the variances between Andrew's style and Lee's are more pronounced and notably detract from the series.
Having encountered series transitions before, such as with the Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker and later continued by Ace Atkins and Mike Lupica, and the Leaphorn/Chee novels by Tony Hillerman and later continued by Anne Hillerman, I'm familiar with varying degrees of success of passing the authorship baton. The transition from Parker to Atkins felt subtle yet enjoyable, akin to listening to a cover band performing familiar tunes, while Anne Hillerman's takeover of the Leaphorn/Chee novels resulted in a loss of the original essence, making them all but unreadable.
"The Sentinel" represented a transition akin to Parker to Atkins, mostly maintaining continuity and familiarity. However, "Better Off Dead" more closely resembles Anne Hillerman taking over the Leaphorn/Chee novels, completely losing the quintessence of the original work.
In "The Sentinel," it seemed as though Lee was guiding Andrew's hand, maintaining cohesion and a semblance of plot progression. However, "Better Off Dead" feels like Andrew was given free rein without supervision, resulting in a narrative that lacks the essence of what makes Reacher novels so engaging and enjoyable.
If you are reading through the series, in my opinion, this is one you can skip, as it neither contributes to Reacher's character arc in anyway meaningful nor tells an even remotely interesting story.
***
As a side note: This might have been my last Reacher novel, however I decided to give the next Lee/Andrew collaboration, "No Plan B," a try and am happy to report that Lee seems to have reeled his younger brother in and it feels much more pre-Andrew. Fingers crossed.
***
In "Better Off Dead," Lee Child continues the transition of handing over the reins of the Reacherverse to his younger brother, Andrew, which began in the previous novel, "The Sentinel." While some readers found "The Sentinel" to be different from previous Reacher novels, the disparities seemed mostly cosmetic to me and didn't significantly affect my enjoyment. However, in "Better Off Dead," the variances between Andrew's style and Lee's are more pronounced and notably detract from the series.
Having encountered series transitions before, such as with the Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker and later continued by Ace Atkins and Mike Lupica, and the Leaphorn/Chee novels by Tony Hillerman and later continued by Anne Hillerman, I'm familiar with varying degrees of success of passing the authorship baton. The transition from Parker to Atkins felt subtle yet enjoyable, akin to listening to a cover band performing familiar tunes, while Anne Hillerman's takeover of the Leaphorn/Chee novels resulted in a loss of the original essence, making them all but unreadable.
"The Sentinel" represented a transition akin to Parker to Atkins, mostly maintaining continuity and familiarity. However, "Better Off Dead" more closely resembles Anne Hillerman taking over the Leaphorn/Chee novels, completely losing the quintessence of the original work.
In "The Sentinel," it seemed as though Lee was guiding Andrew's hand, maintaining cohesion and a semblance of plot progression. However, "Better Off Dead" feels like Andrew was given free rein without supervision, resulting in a narrative that lacks the essence of what makes Reacher novels so engaging and enjoyable.
If you are reading through the series, in my opinion, this is one you can skip, as it neither contributes to Reacher's character arc in anyway meaningful nor tells an even remotely interesting story.
***
As a side note: This might have been my last Reacher novel, however I decided to give the next Lee/Andrew collaboration, "No Plan B," a try and am happy to report that Lee seems to have reeled his younger brother in and it feels much more pre-Andrew. Fingers crossed.
***