Nothing to Lose

Jack Reacher, Book 12

By: Lee Child

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, 12 miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It's not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel, Reacher - a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose - goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead.

It wasn’t the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see...where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later...where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops - the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded - waits and watches...where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return.

Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair - against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him - and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killing Americans by the thousand.

Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch.

©2008 Lee Child (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Not the best. Technical flaws abound.

What did you like best about Nothing to Lose? What did you like least?

Typical Jack Reacher getting the bad guys as usual. However, a few technical things distracted from the story. Childs needs someone to review before publishing, especially when it comes to aviation. In the book Reacher takes a plane ride in a Piper Cherokee. They fly around Colorado Springs at 2000 feet indicated altitude. The city is over 6000 feet above sea level so they would be 4000 feet underground. The Cheokee has a yoke, not a stick and it comes out of the instrument panel base, not up from the floor.
Also, while driving on a pitch black night with no lights on in a cop car they hit their brakes and no one sees them, even though the brake lights would have lit up half the town.
For an author who usually pays attention to detail this book was less than stellar. An ok read but only if you want to read the entire series.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Normal Reacher.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes

Was Nothing to Lose worth the listening time?

Only if you want to go though the entire series.

Any additional comments?

Hope the next book is better.

the authors political and religious views

the author using his book to spout his political and religious views. I read/listen to books to escape reality, not have it force fed to me

Least favorite of all the Reacher novels

I've listened to all 11 Reacher novels prior to this one and I think author Lee Child lost some of his magic with Nothing to Lose. After a typical strong beginning, Child has his listeners wandering aimlessly between Hope and Despair along with his protagonist. The sub-plot centering on the plight of other visitors to Despair did little more than give Child an opportunity to turn Reacher into someone who more convincingly resembled Jeanine Garofalo than he did Superman. Officer Vaughn was not a believable character, even for a Reacher novel. And the reception that Vaughn and Reacher received during one of their visits to Despair ruptured credulity. My biggest question during the listen was whether Child was going to let Reacher and the Giant finally get it on before the book ended. Luckily Child didn't disappoint me here. Even with its weaknesses, Nothing to Lose will keep Reacher fans entertained. I'm taking a Lee Child break before moving on to Gone Tomorrow. I remain hopeful that the Man of Steel returns for the 13th installment.

Reacher walks and walks

There comes a point where I wonder, since Reacher is adverse to owning anything other than a toothbrush, if he could at least consider renting a car?! It did seem Reacher spent hours walking between the towns, admiring the difference in the highway's pavement. This story is a study of contract Hope vs Despair, good cop vs roguish Reacher, loyality vs people unable to be loyal. Reacher seems to be moving from doing nasty things to protect or help people unable to help themselves to just doing nasty things. I cannot suggest skipping this book because I, myself, am curious what situations Lee Child will dream up next for his marvel Reacher but this is not one of Child's really good books.

Good book despite the BS from oversensitive types

What did you love best about Nothing to Lose?

Very entertaining and engaging. Child's attention to detail and explanations of technologies or how things work or composition of things are nice to hear. Descriptions of the people and surroundings bring it to life. Articulation of actions make you feel like you are there when Reacher fights or when they are climbing or when he finds a body.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Nothing to Lose?

Probably the fight scenes.

Which scene was your favorite?

All pretty equally - no real standout scenes.

Any additional comments?

There are many reviews criticizing the politics and religion in this book. I think those must be from people that fly off the handle if the words vote or church even comes up. The dialogs were standard Reacher fare and spent little time on politics or religion - especially considering Child's tendency to be very articulate about details and descriptions. Throughout the entire book I was expecting to hear what people were complaining about and was pleasantly surprised that the reviews were just a lot of over-reaction about very little. Maybe it's just the fact that Reacher said he's tired of those who pick and choose the pieces of the bible they want to follow and people got offended (as they will from this review).

Not the best.

I love Jack reacher series. They are good. However this one is less capturing and sometimes I wonder what the story is leading to.

Entertaining as always

Would you listen to Nothing to Lose again? Why?

Yes, Reacher novels are like action movies to me, always entertaining and stimulating.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Other than Jack Reacher, the "born again Christian" mogul was amusing in his pleasing facade and underlying sinister aspect.

What about Dick Hill’s performance did you like?

Everything, he's one of my favorites with a great range of characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, it was just the expected fun Jack Reacher listen.

Any additional comments?

I normally don't write reviews but after reading some of the earlier reviews I almost didn't buy it. I discovered most of the negative reviews were based on ideological differences with the author and had nothing to do with the quality of the writing, so I wanted to assure potential readers that this book is consistent with the quality of his earlier books.

Love me some Reacher

Lee Child has created another incredible take. Reacher shows rare concern about his appearance. His way of dealing with the underwear situation is perfect.

Was it written by Child?

I have to wonder. It just seemed that things were happening without any real foundation: the women just locked step and started to do Reacher's bidding regardless of the danger he put her in, the town was just formulaically creepy like other Reacher towns - the story just seemed lame compared to others in the series. As if Child had made a list of things he wanted to see happen, and handed it to some less talented writer to assemble the words.
If I'm listening to a 14 1/2 hour audiobook, I want to see some new stuff in it. The next one on my list is even longer. If it doesn't make me lose some sleep, I'm going to be really annoyed.

Ridiculing Christians and atheism

in this book its confirmed Reacher is an atheist who think Christians are crazy. the last book Reacher would not fly Alaska Airlines because they put Scriptures on there trays, so he paid more money to fly United. lee childs just turned me off with this book.