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Jack Reacher, Book 19

By: Lee Child

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE BLOCKBUSTER JACK REACHER SERIES THAT INSPIRED TWO MAJOR MOTION PICTURES AND THE STREAMING SERIES REACHER

“The best one yet.”—Stephen King

Someone has tried to kill the French president. How many snipers can shoot from three-quarters of a mile with total confidence? John Kott—a U.S. Army marksman gone bad—is one of them. After fifteen years in prison, he’s out . . . and there’s a G8 summit coming up, packed with enough world leaders to tempt any assassin.

If anyone can stop Kott, it’s the man who beat him before: Jack Reacher. And though he’d rather work alone, Reacher is teamed with rookie analyst Casey Nice. They’re facing a rough road, full of local thugs, double-crosses, and no backup if things go wrong. Reacher never gets too close. But this time it’s personal.

This edition includes the bonus short story “Not a Drill.”

©2014 Lee Child (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Reacher is the stuff of myth, a great male fantasy. . . . One of this century’s most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes . . . [Lee] Child does a masterly job of bringing his adventure to life with endless surprises and fierce suspense.”—The Washington Post

“Yet another satisfying page-turner.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Reacher is always up for a good fight, most entertainingly when he goes mano a mano with a seven-foot, 300-pound monster of a mobster named Little Joey. But it’s Reacher the Teacher who wows here.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times

Anonymous 45

Wow! What a great book! My grandmother introduced me to Lee Child and they keep getting better! Thanks for a great series!

awsome story

loved it captured my interest from the start. great story line. always making you think

Man, Can it get any better?

What did you love best about Personal?

Just about everything!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Absolutely, especially when you realize even the smallest comment from Reacher has a big meaning.

What about Dick Hill’s performance did you like?

He is a wonderful narrator who makes Reacher the character he is.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Watch your back, then watch it again.

Any additional comments?

Nope, except read the book or listin to it.

Feels like Lee Child just mailed this one in. . .

As fans of the Reacher books know, Lee Child's style is to frequently take a minor point or situation and milk it over and over from every irrelevant angle possible, leaving the main story for long stretches at a time, with the seeming intent of making the book longer and cementing his "unique style" (e.g. taking a distance in miles and repeating it in kilometers and feet and inches and millimeters, etc., with no obvious forwarding of the plot. Or time. Or even roadway signs, repeated exit after exit, or how you enter a password on a computer, and so on.)
This was okay in earlier books with enough action and excitement to make you forgive and forget, but in this one (as in some other recents), my wife and I found ourselves begging him out loud to "get on with it". The end has a decent enough twist, but it doesn't compensate adequately for the struggle to get there.
Finally, Dick Hill as the narrator. I know he is "much beloved" by many Audible fans but I find that his universally whiny-sounding female characters (I now believe that's how he thinks he has to sound to make them seem "female") are grating to the extreme. And some characters voices are so contrived and exaggerated ("Little Joey" Green, for example) that we simply couldn't understand what he was saying! I sadly may have to take a break from Reacher, and Dick Hill, for awhile. . .

One Shot

Lee Child is up to his old tricks again. Jack Reacher returns and this time is persuaded to go to France because someone is taking pot shots at the French president. This is a killer with a vendetta that leads Reacher from France to Britain and eventually back to the U.S. and to his old army base and an old acquaintance. Reacher is a nuanced character who could figure his way out of the most difficult maze in a manner of minutes without so much as raising an eyebrow and that is what I like about him. Reacher is equal brain and brawn.

it was ok

as far as Jack Reacher books go, this one was not in my top 5 maybe not in my top 10. you have a hulking Behemoth of a bad guy that they set up from early on that you know Reacher is going to fight sooner or later and of course I waited with great anticipation that scene.

taking down the main bad guy was anti-climatic even though there was a little action after that. it wasn't necessarily a bad book, but at the same time like I said not one of my favorite Reacher books.

Very Disappointing!!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I love Lee Child books and Jack Reacher. This book was very slow and dragged on for too long. The heroin was weak and not up to caliber as other past characters and JR was not as quick as he usually is in other books. This is the first time I was ever disappointed with a L. Child novel. Hope the next one is much better!!

Good Reacher book but wordy

Good Jack Reacher book with the usual strong read by Dick Hill.
But it seemed like Lee Child had a goal for so many words and ran out of fresh ones.
It is his style to repeat points and that works very well usually.
But this time he seemed to go on and on with repetitions of the same thing like his descriptions of the size dimensions within the bad guy's house. I found myself zoning out during those times.

Love it.

One of my favorite Reacher novels. This Is the one they should have made into a movie.

Reacher on Rewind

Would you try another book from Lee Child and/or Dick Hill?

Yes

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

Predictable and it took a very, very long time to get there.

Which character – as performed by Dick Hill – was your favorite?

I always enjoy Dick Hill's performances but I hate to say he didn't have a lot to work with in Personal.

Did Personal inspire you to do anything?

No.

Any additional comments?

I do enjoy a Reacher novel but it seemed as if the story was continually moving two steps forward and one step back. I listen to Reacher novels when I'm working outside. An hour later I'd find the lawn mowed and I had tuned out, only hearing Dick Hill's words but not Lee Child's story, yet it made no matter because the story hadn't advanced in any significant way.