• A Wanted Man

  • Jack Reacher 17
  • By: Lee Child
  • Narrated by: Jeff Harding
  • Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (214 ratings)

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A Wanted Man  By  cover art

A Wanted Man

By: Lee Child
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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Editorial reviews

Winner of Specsavers National Book Awards 2012 for Crime Thriller of the Year, the legend that is Jack Reacher is back in the unabridged audiobook A Wanted Man, Book 17 in the incredibly popular Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child and narrated by Jeff Harding. Jack Reacher gets into the wrong car at the wrong time. At first he thinks its coincidence, then the chilling clues all point towards the people in the car knowing exactly who he is. Danger lurks in every corner of this story and the hero we know so well will face his biggest challenge yet. Available now from Audible.

Publisher's summary

When you're as big and rough as Jack Reacher - and you have a badly-set, freshly-busted nose patched with silver duct tape - it isn't easy to hitch a ride. But Reacher has some unfinished business in Virginia, so he doesn't quit. And at last, he's picked up by three strangers - two men and a woman. But within minutes it becomes clear they're all lying about everything - and then they run into a police roadblock on the highway. There has been an incident, and the cops are looking for the bad guys....

Will they get through because the three are innocent? Or because the three are now four? Is Reacher just a decoy?

With his signature Swiss-watch plotting and heart-thumping suspense, A Wanted Man shows Lee Child at his sublimely skilful best.

©2012 Lee Child (P)2012 ISIS Publishing Ltd, Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“He could take out Bond, Dirty Harry, Jason Bourne and Ethan Hunt with both hands tied behind his back. And then sleep with their girlfriends two at a time before getting the last bus out of town” ( Sun)

What listeners say about A Wanted Man

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Jack Reacher in general

Love Jack Reacher books in general. Can’t comment on this particular one as I couldn’t listen too it.
The narration was monotonous to the point I couldn’t continue listening.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good to see Reacher is back

If you could sum up A Wanted Man in three words, what would they be?

A wanted read

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

Yes, always something happening, some good twists and turns.

Which character – as performed by Jeff Harding – was your favorite?

Jack Reacher

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

N/A

Any additional comments?

Reacher books are good, but I think Lee is getting carried away with the scene and history descriptions that sometimes appear to go on with no actual relevance to the rest of the story. Sounds a little picky i know, but the first books in the series weren't as bad as they are now. Not bad, but you know what I mean.... :-)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A bit of a story arc for Reacher now...and this is a goodie

The story had enough unpredictability to be edge-of-seat material, and Reacher is in his prime.

Jeff Harding IS Jack Reacher for me - his resonant slightly nasal voice drives the vocal performance - listen to an early Reacher story narrated by someone else and Reacher somehow shrinks and gets softer. A great match!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A back on form Reacher - a very good listen

Typical format with new scenery, Jack must need a holiday by now. I did enjoy this though and I found myself lingering in the car park so that I could hear a little more... I am still clearly hooked on Reacher.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great

I love this series. Intricate plot. Fantastic characters. Great final twist. Jack Reacher Rules. O.K. More please Mr Child.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great first half, faulterin slightly

If you’ve listened to books by Lee Child before, how does this one compare?

This a great listen, sections of it being amongst the best Lee Child has done. The opening section of the book, from the point where Reacher accept a lift hitchhiking, to the point he eventually leaves the car, is fantastically tense and intriguing. Both Child and Reacher are in their element here: a tightly controlled environment, with three strangers to suss out and very little to go on, and the dawning realisation that no one in the car is telling the truth... Child's meticulous description of environment and people, Reacher's methodical, pin-sharp throught-narrative, play out fantastically as he tries to get to grips with the mysterious situation. The parallel narrative of a FBI murder investigation interplays very very with Reacher's story as we begin to understand how the events are connected. When Reacher does leave the car, his teamwork with the FBI agent continues to be tense and fascinating. All the Bourne-style evasion tactics, and Sherlock-Holmes-style investigation tactics get a thorough workout. And then I feel the bottom drops out of the story a bit. Without wishing to give anything away, when What's Going On finally becomes clear about three quarters of the way through, a lot of the impetus from the two third of the book seems to be lost. There are some great twists, but perhaps at the expense of a lot of the final third not feeling like its been sufficiently set up by the rest of the book. The ending is a great set piece for any action thriller, though, so it;s hardly a major critisism.

What aspect of Jeff Harding’s performance would you have changed?

He seemed well cast for the tone of the book - measured, laconic and dry, like Child's writing. However, on occasion his determination to intone every line of the narrative in the same way did annoy me. I know Child's writing style is repetitive: he likes to list everything Jack Reacher is thinking about or looinkg at in short, neutral sentences. Harding would give each sentence the exact same rhythm and tonal pattern which got to be a bit grating as the sentences piled up, especially when there were long stretches of narrative with no dialogue to break it up. I wasn't totally convinced by his perfromance of some characters either. He gave the female characters the same exact voice, and delivered Sorrenson's lines in particular in a way I felt was at odds with how they were written (e.g. he made her sound calm where I thought the dialogue implied she was annoyed, or angry where I thoughtthe line was amused etc). I've heard a lot worse performances, though, and Harding certainly kept my attention.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Jack the riddler.

Would you listen to A Wanted Man again? Why?

In probably, the most complicated Lee Child logic to follow, Jack inadvertently falls down the rabbit hole into explosive drama.

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

This is the weirdest Jack plot, and some of the others are weird enough.

What does Jeff Harding bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jeff is the Reacher maker. Good man, good fellow and kind to puppies - I'm sure.

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

Reacher in a hitch!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Lee has done it again

A good solid read ( listen) that kept the interest up right through.
Reacher has done it again,kept us on the edge.
Cant wait for the next one!.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

worst book yet

What would have made A Wanted Man better?

complete rewrite

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not Lee Child

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Boring like he was itemizing a grocery list or counting sheep

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Waste of time, disappointed

Any additional comments?

My grocery list is more captivating

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

More Classic Reacher

As a self-confessed fan of the Jack Reacher series I was not disappointed by this latest offering from Lee Child. It contains the usual tight and clever plot line as well as plenty of the kind of dry humor and fast paced action you'd expect.
Jeff Harding is a brilliant narrator and captures Reacher perfectly.

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