Angela

How many of us wish that we had friends like those in "South of Broad"? I thought I had some friends like those, and they were only cultivated in my 50's; but the friendships disappeared when I moved to another state, but I digress.
This is my first Pat Conroy and I found his use of the English language extraordinary. The characters were so well developed but Mr. Conroy was always able to, in his inimitable style, carve just another facet onto each persona. His words flowed like the most beautiful classical concerto I have ever heard!
I laughed out loud, and I cried, and I just had tears in my eyes throughout the book. Some occurrences had an eerie, though distant, similarity to my own life. And the book, to this point, has a distinct sense of plausibility.
I am well into the third part and do not want this story to end as I feel that my friends will be gone and will only remain as phantoms in my memory.
If Mr. Conroy has usurped the words in Merriam-Webster for his previous books as he has in "South of Broad" I am sure that I shall meet, greet, and make other friends, but they too shall sadly end up as phantoms.

The title may be an oxymoron but I find those the only two words I can use. I am more than eight hours into this book and am bored to death!! But, I must finish listening to it because I am compelled to find out what happens to the main characters.

Reacher is just going between Hope and Despair and the same things occur. I Hope things things will pick up but am in Despair that that they have not and will not!! Reacher beats up several people or he sneaks past the dumb town's people and gets caught by Thurman who naively lets him go with a promise that he will not come back to Despair and the whole scenario happens again. I really cannot wait for the last three plus hours of the Audio book to end.

If this book were not in Audio, I would not complete it. At least I can knit, drive or cook while listening or even let it lull me to sleep if I am suffering from insomnia tonight and really not care if I miss some of it.

I have read several Reacher novels and this is, by far, the most boring and disappointing.