Tag: Jack Reacher

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What is it about Jack Reacher?

Latest Reacher CoverWhy is Reacher so popular? After all, the man is a human wrecking ball. As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in the New Yorker in 2015, Reacher has killed over two hundred people since making his first appearance in Killing Floor. His readers don’t seem to mind the death toll he leaves in his wake. Reacher would say the victims deserved it. He certainly doesn’t agonize about it, a strategy he suggests to whoever happens to be around and might be squeamish.

Ever since first discovering Reacher six years ago, I’ve wondered about my own fascination with him. Like most humans, I carry an idea of myself. I think I know who I am. And that idea is entirely different from Reacher. Sure, I’m a bit of a loner, but that’s where any similarity stops. Continue reading “What is it about Jack Reacher?”

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Never Go Back by Lee Child

Jack Reacher has finally made it back to Virginia. Except what he finds isn’t what he was looking for. If you recall, Reacher was stuck in North Dakota four books ago (62 Hours). While helping the local police department to keep a witness alive, he ended up talking to the commanding officer of his old MP unit, Major Susan Turner. He liked her voice and decided to go to Virginia to meet her. It took him a while to get there (Worth Dying For and A Wanted Man) were stations along the way.

In any case, when he gets to the 110th, everything is upside down. Major Turner isn’t there. Instead a Lt. Colonel tells him that he’s accused of a crime Reacher was supposed to have committed sixteen years ago. In addition, a paternity claim has been laid against him. And he informs Reacher that, by the way, he’s recalled to active duty. He is brought to a nearby hotel where two thugs, obviously military in mufti tell him to disappear or else.

And, with that, we’re off. The book is very fast paced and full of tension. Whenever you think Reacher has beat his pursuers, they have another trick up their sleeve. The hunt takes them from Virginia to Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. Once in L.A., the book starts dragging a little. By that time, the MPs, the FBI, the DC Metro Police and the bad guys are after him and Turner. I was disappointed by the ending. SPOILER ALERT! The suicide at the end seems like a copout. That notwithstanding, I found the book hard to put down.