(K)(1998)Jack Reacher gets caught up by accident in the kidnapping of Holly Johnson, daughter of a high ranking general. It turns out to be part of a militia group's attempt to seize control of part of Montana and bomb the Federal Reserve building in San Fransisco. Another good, well written thriller that, although long, was good right up to the end.(Library Journal) Jack Reacher is in both the wrong and the right place at the same time when FBI Special Agent and daughter of the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Holly Johnson is abducted from a Chicago street. It is the wrong place because Reacher, a former army major drifting around the country, is kidnapped as well. It is the right place because only he has the instincts to foil the complex, deadly plan of the kidnappers, a Montana militia group headed by a charismatic, brilliant, but psychotic leader. Child's tale, very well read by Dick Hill, engrossingly portrays Reacher's efforts to manipulate the captors; the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of the FBI, the army, and the White House; and the many unexpected roadblocks thrown in his path. Child devotes too much time, however, to the predictable rantings of the militia.

Considering Reacher is a mountain of a man whose physique and general demeanor are sufficient to repel any wrongdoer from start it is rather funny (and unbelievably stupid) that the main antagonists in the novel decide to take him up on a ride because he is witness to kidnapping.

I did not know this was second in the series but it shows - Reacher is more one-man army here than in follow up novels (I know, I know but believe me in this novel he is unstoppable).
With all of the above we do come across scenes where Reacher panics but his cool demeanor helps him fight the fear and gain upper hand in conflict.

This might put down some of the readers but I truly enjoyed it. It is standard lone-rider story with Reacher dealing deadly justice to psychotic militia in the wilderness of the USA while being considered to be one of the assailants by the law enforcement (which brings me back to the first statement of this review - man is walking weapon and everybody sees this except kidnappers... hilarious).

Good action thriller. Recommended.

( )

The second Reacher novel. Still a propulsive read, but the coincidences and twists were just a little too much to swallow. ( )

Lee Child isn't for faint hearted listeners/readers. Situations are often violent, but it's a book you will be compelled to finish. Narration well done.

FROM AMAZON: When a woman is kidnapped off a Chicago street in broad daylight, Jack Reacher's in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's kidnapped with her. Chained together and racing across America toward an unknown destination, they're at the mercy of a group of men demanding an impossible ransom. Because Reacher's female companion is worth more than he imagines. Now he has to save them both - from the inside out - or die trying.... ( )

When I was just past half way through Lee Child 19s second Jack Reacher novel, 1CDie Trying, 1D and didn 19t know whether I could finish it. This adventure novel goes on and on. It felt to me as if it should have been over by now. I had to stop, for a while before returning.

When several idiot characters discuss their political conspiracy ideas, it can get boring fast. Also frustrating, because Child is having fun, apparently, concocting these admixtures of fringe political conspiracies. Apparently written in 1998, 1CDie Trying 1D has bad guys with political notions that seem to be a soup mixed from truths, lies, and things that were fantastical in the run up to the millennium but which have come true since.

For example, my favorite conspiracy theory comes from the character who says that automobiles manufactured since 1985 have 1Cradios 1D in then that allow the government to track everyone. In 1998? Crazy pants thinking. But in 2013, with GPS and the NSA, this wacko 19s paranoia has (nearly?) come true!

As with his first novel, 1CThe Killing Floor, 1D Child requires suspension of disbelief with the dialog of his American characters. In one scene in 1CDie Trying, 1D for example, two Americans both use the expression 1Cat the weekend, 1D which is strictly a British locution. Americans say 1Con the weekend 1D or 1Cover the weekend, 1D but never 1Cat the weekend. 1D

Where I stopped reading is where the character 1CFowler 1D (I have nothing against a namesake villain) is showing Reacher around the bad guys 19 compound and telling him all about their military defenses in preparation for sending Reacher as an 1Cemissary 1D to the government authorities. I don 19t understand the bad guys 19 motivation here at all. If I were these bad guys, I would just shoot Reacher to death and be completely done with him. The only reason Child does not do this seems to be because he would then have to invent a new protagonist for his next novel. Reacher must survive even if his survival makes no sense. (But, then, the same could be said about Ian Fleming 19s James Bond who often got caught by his nemeses but was allowed to live, too.)

I eventually went back to finish this novel , but I still can 19t shake the feeling that there are better books that I could be reading instead. Even Child's other books. ( )