Jack Reacher lives the life of a loner and a drifter. But one of his older brother Joe's former lovers manages to locate him, and intrigue him with a challenge. Reacher is recruited by M. E. Froelich, the head of the Vice President-elect's Secret Service team, to conduct a security audit to see if he could kill the protectee. When he and Frances Neagley, another retired MP, are successful, they are hired to help find out who is threatening the VP's life. (Although this is the 6th novel in the series, it could be read without reading the previous books.) ( )

very good book, a Jack Reacher story ( )

Not quite a review focused on this book, but on the series as a whole -

So for years I’ve heard about this series written by Lee Child (aka Jim Grant) about a guy named Jack Reacher. I heard he was one badass loner, but didn’t have time for another series so I didn’t look into it. You know how it is; too many books, too little time. Then I got an audible.com account and needed something to download. Yeah I’m weird…series I follow in print I generally don’t follow in audio. So there was a void so to speak and I downloaded the first Jack Reacher novel. Why had I been waiting so long??!! I should have known I’d like these for a couple of simple reasons; they’re guy books and reviews by most women decry them as violent, simplistic and macho. Ding, ding! We have a winner.

Ok, so these aren’t high art or “literature” in the snooty “I only read authors you’ve never heard of and who have been dead for 100 years” way. They’re pulp in the purest sense and I love them. They’re suspenseful not in the sense that will Reacher get out of whatever mess he’s gotten into, but how. It’s like watching MacGuyver; there’s no doubt he will survive to next week’s episode, but you watch to see what he’ll do, what crazy tricks he’ll employ and for comeuppance of the crooks. Those looking for strict plausibility need not apply.

And that’s what makes Reacher so much fun. Being 6’5” and 250lbs with a military police background, plus intelligent, crafty and compassionate in the mix, you never know what you’re going to get, but you can be sure it will kick some bad guy ass. I’m a little bit in love with Jack Reacher.

For such a larger than life character, Child has given Reacher amazing depth. The strong, silent type hasn’t been done so well since Chandler’s Marlowe. Reacher’s resemblance to Marlowe is pronounced in a few ways. They’re both lone operators. One has a definite fixed address and the other doesn’t, but neither have sidekicks or backup. They’re both men driven by conscience and will go a fair bit out of their way to right a wrong. They’re both smart, but don’t have to show it off all the time; men of quiet confidence are much more interesting than a tough blowhard. Neither is a patronizing, misogynistic asshole toward women. Reacher is perhaps more susceptible to them (or maybe he just gives in more), but both love women as people not as objects. Both kick ass when the chips are down. What’s not to love?

Another aspect that feeds the crush I have on Reacher is the fantasy of leaving our middle-class existence in our nice suburb and breaking out. Reacher travels with what he stands up in. He goes from place to place getting in adventures, like Cain on Kung Fu. No car. No credit cards. No cell phone. Complete autonomy and freedom. He rejects everything about the American norm and we love him for it.

Of course this is the very device that feeds the plots of the novels in the series. One has to just accept the huge coincidence triggering whatever situation Reacher gets involved in. If you can do that, you’ll enjoy these. If not, you’ll be picking apart every preposterous little detail that springs up. Not that there’s a ton of them, but it’s what keeps the action moving.

For the most part, Child gets a lot of the ordinance, strategy and tactical aspects correct (I check a lot of it with my former handgun instructor and all around gun-expert husband). Sure, there are a few gaffes like when Reacher put a Desert Eagle in his pocket and then moved about with ease and nonchalance. And the time he looked down into a box of cartridges and noted the firing pins. And every once in a while Reacher says or thinks something distinctly British despite being a hard-boiled American steeped in the US Military. That could be chalked up to Reacher’s well-traveled past during his military service if you wanted to excuse it. On the whole though, Child gets the American nuances right.

I recommend not only the series, but the audio versions as well. Dick Hill is Jack Reacher for me. Oh sure, he can characterize other folks in the books, but in general those voices are all the same ones, just applied to new characters. His women all sound the same as to his southerners or whatever. But he seems to get into Reacher and I think he enjoys his time in the booth. He probably has a tiny crush on him, too. ( )

I've loved the whole Jack Reacher series so far, but this book just didn't do it for me. Too much like a generic thriller and not like a good mystery. Reacher has not one, but two partners for this book, and it's two too many for me.

I like these books with less police investigation and more .... vigilante. ( )

Another excellent Jack Reacher, made all the more topical as he is pulled in by his brother's ex-girlfriend to help defend the Vice President Elect. There is what seems to be a very authentic sounding section about Presidential and Vice Presidential security as well as the issues around the transition from President to another. Recommended. ( )