Never Go Back

Jack Reacher, Book 18

By: Lee Child

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • THE BLOCKBUSTER JACK REACHER SERIES THAT INSPIRED THE STREAMING SERIES REACHER

Never Go Back is a novel of action-charged suspense starring “one of the best thriller characters at work today” (Newsweek).

Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had.

Reacher is there to meet—in person—the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone.

But it isn’t Turner behind the CO’s desk. And Reacher is hit with two pieces of shocking news, one with serious criminal consequences, and one too personal to even think about.

When threatened, you can run or fight.

Reacher fights, aiming to find Turner and clear his name, barely a step ahead of the army, and the FBI, and the D.C. Metro police, and four unidentified thugs.

Combining an intricate puzzle of a plot and an exciting chase for truth and justice, Lee Child puts Reacher through his paces—and makes him question who he is, what he’s done, and the very future of his untethered life on the open road.

©2013 Lee Child (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Child is a superb craftsman of suspense." (Entertainment Weekly)

“A breathless cross-country spree . . . some of the best, wiliest writing [Lee] Child has ever done . . . Child’s bodacious action hero, Jack Reacher, has already tramped through 17 novels and three e-book singles. But his latest, Never Go Back, may be the best desert island reading in the series. It’s exceptionally well plotted. And full of wild surprises. And wise about Reacher’s peculiar nature. And positively Bunyanesque in its admiring contributions to Reacher lore.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“An adrenaline-charged, action-packed thriller . . . impossible to put down.” (Lansing State Journal)

Difficult to listen to

If you like William Shatner, you’ll have no problem with the narrator. His often staccato presentation combined with weak female voices made it a difficult listen. The females are made to sound weak and indecisive, a common problem with male narrators. (For what it’s worth, I’m not a big fan of female narrators attempts to sound like male characters either.)
The storyline was a fun one and character development was good. I do wish the author didn’t pad the length of the book with so many ways to say the same thing. At times it was like a thesaurus was heavily used because an action or idea was stated so many different ways.

One of the best Reachers

While this is not my favorite Reacher, this is one of the best. The characters are rich and interesting, and the entire book is fun.

Very entertaining story, narration mixed

I love the way Lee Child writes his characters. This book has a conspiracy that sends Reacher and his new friend Susan Turner from coast to coast. They are fighting to clear their names and bring down the bad guys. Very entertaining story! The narration is mixed for me. The basic narration and male voices are very good. The female voices are not so good but still adequate. The narration and males are the main part of the book. I would still buy it again.

He never lets me down!

My daughter introduced me to audible and Jack Reacher .
The stories are awesome. Truthfully, without the narration of Dick Hill I probably wouldn't have listened to the stories.
Thank you audible.

Great book

Great book. Another great read/in this case listen. Writing 10 more words to complete the review to submit it

Good to finally close a long-runnig story line

It is kinda cheesy that from South Dakota to Nebraska to Iowa to Virginia Jack keeps going from one problem to another right away. All while trying to get to VA to meet a woman he met only by phone way back in South Dakota (enough with the sex already). If I were Jack I WOULD settle down just to stay out of trouble. That said.....it was a good story. It took longer than I like to set up but by the time it ends it felt like it was too soon. It had me wishing there was just a little more.

Hoped for a better finish

I like the mystery, the suspense and the fight scenes. But I was hoping for a bigger explosive finish in the end. Instead it ended with a quiet finish and had Reacher just walking away again.

Reacher and Hill, great as always

Dick Hill really brings Reacher to life, bravo.
The story was well crafted within the obvious scope of the series.
All in all a good listen..

Reacher makes it to DC.

Great book and storyline. Lee Child is a very masterful story teller. Can't wait for the next Reacher novel.

Fun Journey

My problems were all subjective and would give away elements to put down. If you like Reacher no reason you won't like this. Better then the movie was