I was told that the Jack Reacher books were entertaining, and this was. I was also told I could just jump in anywhere in the series, and I'm not sure that part is true. I might have had more understanding of Reacher if I'd started somewhere earlier. Instead, I found him not only an odd duck, but somewhat off-putting. I'd be willing to give another one of the series a try, though. ( )

The plot is kinda, err, thin... and isn't really very logical, and I'm not sure that the justifications for the townspeople's behaviors were ever explained.

But...

Reacher kicks some butt, gets some luvin', lays down some justice, and moves on in search of his next cup o' coffee.

What more could one ask for in a Reacher novel? ( )

Okay, I admit I'm a Reacher fan. This may not be my favorite Reacher book, but it's still darn good. People have said the plot is a lot like Rambo, and I have to agree that it is. That being said, I still enjoyed it.

All Reacher wants to do is to eat lunch, that's it. Just eat and move on. To bad that didn't happen. Soon Reacher is hip deep in small town politics. It seems that everyone wants him out of town for no good reason.

Or is there?

What's going on at the local plant? Why does everyone want Reacher out?

If you know Reacher, then his back is against the wall, and he has to come out fighting, Reacher has Nothing to Lose.

As I said, this may not be the best Reacher book, but it's still a darn good read. If this is your first introduction to Jack Reacher, then I'd say skip it until you're familiar with Reacher, then come back to it. ( )

If they'd only served him a cup of coffee, the citizens of Despair would have had a typical day. It would have been a bad day, but not Reacher's problem. A little caffeine and he'd have moved on. But these people want to run him out of town—back the way he came. Bad idea.

What does Despair need to hide so desperately that just one look at Reacher scares them stupid? ( )

Guys love Jack Reacher, the recurring protagonist in a series of thrillers by Lee Child. He’s an ex-military policeman, big, strong, attractive to and successful with women, and nobody can knock this guy down. He observes the tiniest details about people and places, has an unerring internal clock and distance calculator, and a near photographic memory. Otherwise, he’s just like you and me.

Reacher, not working since his military days, decides to cross the country diagonally from Calais, Maine, to San Diego, California. On the way, he stops in the little town of Hope, Colorado. He finds that the next town over is called Despair, and is unable to resist seeing it as well. But the townspeople aren’t so welcoming. He is picked up by the police for “vagrancy” and driven back to the line marking Hope Township. There, he is met by a Hope policewoman, Vaughan, who drives him back into town.

Reacher doesn’t like to be told what to do, and decides to go back to Despair and find out why they’re running visitors out of town. He keeps trying, and keeps getting attacked. Nothing stops Reacher though. In a bar where it is six big guys against just him (or, as Reacher analyzes it, “twelve hundred pounds against two-fifty”), he easily repels all six, then finishes his beer.

Repeated incursions into the town with the help of Vaughan (who can’t resist him, needless to add), reveal a religious cult, a military conspiracy, and an environmental disaster. All routine diversions for Reacher, who takes care of all of it, including the lonely Vaughan, before leaving town once again.

Evaluation: The story isn’t all a video-game-as-a-book. The author injects poignant observations about casualties in Iraq, perceptive comments about foreign policy, and trenchant observations about crowd psychology. Still, it’s basically a book you read when you want to take a break from more rigorous reading. I find the Lee Child novels diverting, and the men I know who read them get positively giddy over the character of Jack Reacher. This one isn’t the best I’ve read, but it will do just fine for an airplane book.

Series Note: Although this is a series, these books stand quite well on their own. ( )