While reading this installment of the Jack Reacher series, I remarked to my fiancee that this just might be the best one so far. She lauhed at me, and chided that I have said that for every one that I have read so far. She's right. I probably have.But, to me, that's the beauty of this series. It's fun to see the progression, not just in Child's plotting but in his writing in general. It would be difficult, I would think, to keep outdoing your own cleverness. That's one of the dangers of writing in this particular genre: eventually, you're going to have to start repeating yourself. Child doesn't repeat himself, though. In fact, this time it seems that his background as a television writer can't help but start rearing its head. Take the finale, for example. It's a cinematic bloodbath that takes place in the middle of a snowstorm. Red blood on fresh virgin white snow would look fantastic in a movie!This installment is top-notch. The plot is well-paced and finally assembles itself like a finished jigsaw. The action is well-written and not too over-the-top. The suspense is often taut (one sequence, in which the Vice President decides to walk through the streets of D.C. to a meeting unaware that he is a target, is almost Hitchcockian in tone). The character of Reacher himself is more believable this time, too, actually making a few errors that cause a detriment to completion of the case. This installment's biggest flaws are the same as the previous efforts. Namely, Child doesn't seem to realize how downright creepy some of Reacher's sexual exploits are (this time it's the ex-girlfriend of his late brother). Also, the secretive nature of Jack Reacher sometimes allows Child to make things up as he goes (Wow! Reacher is an expert marksman, too?) and that's kind of like cheating in my opinion. The prime example of this in this chapter is the character of Neagley. If the two characters are so close and have been working together so long, then why hasn't she been mentioned before?Overall, the flaws of this book are minor and do not affect a reader's enjoyment. A reader does, after all, get whatthey pay for. I think I'm sticking to my mid-read assessment: this is the best installment in this series so far.
Reacher is so unpolished that one sometimes wonders how he reached officer grade O-4 (Major), which would imply managing a wardrobe, knotting a tie, and displaying minimal social skills in the officers' mess and at the CO's annual Christmas party. It's not that Jack is a Neanderthal; he just doesn't care to run with the rest of the lemmings anymore.In WITHOUT FAIL, M.E. Froelich, who heads the Secret Service protection detail for the newly elected Vice President, Brook Armstrong, hires Reacher to audit the security of the new Veep's protective screen. Froelich is also the ex-girlfriend of Jack's dead brother. After finding holes through which a potential assassin could drive a monster SUV, Reacher learns why the Service really wants his help. The VP is receiving credible death threats. And it may be an inside job.I would've awarded WITHOUT FAIL at least one more star had it not been a Jack Reacher adventure. But it is, and here our prickly protagonist has to play well with others: Froelich, her boss Stuyvesant, FBI guy Bannon, and a colleague from Reacher's old Army days, ex-Sergeant Frances Neagley. Reacher's talent for punitive violence is severely curtailed compared to past episodes, revealing itself only at the very beginning and the very end. In between, Jack is reduced to being a consultant, even to the point of wearing a suit. Say it ain't so, Lee!The most interesting character is Neagley, now employed by a civilian security firm. She's ostensibly more deadly at physical combat than Reacher himself, and he admits to being afraid of her skills. So, the reader waits, hoping she'll unleash some mayhem. In the meantime, we learn that Frances, while being a little in love with her old military boss, has a severe dislike of being touched due to some unspecified trauma in her past. Unfortunately, Neagley remains mostly a cipher, and the entertainment value of her character is left pretty much unexploited. Perhaps she'll appear in a future Reacher novel. Better still, the author should give her a series of her own.
What do You think about Without Fail (2002)?
Fine 6th Jack Reacher -- Secret Service thriller !!We have read the entire Lee Child / Jack Reacher series, so obviously we enjoy these action packed thrillers about nice guy, smart guy, ex-MP Reacher. "Without Fail" is no exception, and a fast start -- a near-miss assassination attempt on Vice President-elect Armstrong -- soon leads the Secret Service to haul in Jack to act as a consultant and help them try to penetrate their security surrounding the veep so that they can plug any loopholes. Using an old Army friend, tough gal Frances Neagley, and teaming up (after hours as well!) with M.E. Froelich, who heads the responsible SS security team, Reacher is soon puzzling over hand delivered messages and video tapes before the more proactive action gets things heated up. That Froelich is an ex-lover of Jack's now deceased brother Joe only adds to the intrigue and gets Jack more involved emotionally than usual. Before it's over, a wild movie-like SUV chase out in Montana snow country finally leads to the real perpetrators. And who will get who in the end? The Reacher series is loaded with clever plots, non-stop action and thrills. Rarely a dull moment keeps paging turning quickly; and Child's satisfying endings, often involving vigilante justice on the part of our hero to set things straight, rarely fail to please. While the premise of this one seemed a little less plausible than his other novels, Child's inside look at the Secret Service served as a good foil for Reacher. We wouldn't mind seeing more of his sidekick Neagley in future books; and as usual, this story just leaves us anxious for the next Jack Reacher outing!
—Jerry
Toni Morrison has set me free.Not in the "Oh, her Beloved is a Masterpiece! I'll never be the same again!" kinda way. But this Harvard professor, Nobel winner admitted that she reads consumes loads of mysteries. So my dirty little habit is validated.Lee Child is a writer with an austere mind. I like that glimpse into foreign territory. His characters are also logical and nimble enough to surprise. Jack Reacher, the protagonist of his books, was an elite ex-military cop. He's now a vagrant by preference who can't help but find some worthwhile tussle in each book.Child creates clever plots that require a bit of thinking. I have a tin ear so I can't tell when dialogue crackles, but he seems to do fine. Just read one, start at the beginning. I hope you'll like.... This series isn't for everyone, although Child's sales suggest otherwise. All I know is that I often find that it's 2am and I've got to finish the book regardless of whether I've read it before.
—Phil
Well, this was a pleasant surprise. It was chosen by someone in our office book club and I thought, ugh, isn't this guy one of those Tom Clancy/Robert Ludlum clones? I was expecting terrible dialogue and a lot weapons porn ("He shouldered the TEK45 version 4.5 missile launcher and snapped in the the specially modified Glockenspiel drone detector, stolen from a former KGB armory in Turkistan") , but it turned out to be a clever, twisty thriller. It reminded me a bit of a Thomas Perry novel because it had so much of interesting detail about how things work, from how the Secret Service transports a VP to how to buy a good coat. I was intrigued enough to buy a "Lee Child Gently Used Paperbacks Lot" on ebay.
—Nette
