I saw the Tom Cruise film and, to my surprise, enjoyed Jack Reacher as a character. This drove me online and, again to my suprise, I discovered there ..Show More »were numerous novels (18 to date and a novella due out in August 2013) written by Lee Childs, that the movie is based on one of the middle ones (One Shot) and that the devoted fan following were up in arms at the casting of Cruise in the principal role and the selection of One Shot as the first movie. Now my interest was truly sparked, so I searched out this title, the first chrologically in the series (although there are a number of prequels).
I can now understand the fans concern (although I thought Cruise did a good job in the film). Reacher is meant to be 6' 4" in the old terms, 200 lbs plus. This ain't Cruise! Also, Reacher's ethics are personal, not communal. He has no compunction shooting someone in the back or giving someone a count of 2 when he's promised a count of 3. He is happy to be prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. He has no false morality and such morality as he does have is more vigilante than Virgil. For all that he remained an interesting study, although I kept thinking of the part in the film where Cruise throws away the gun and dukes it out with the shooter. I don't know if that's in One Shot", but it just isn't the Reacher of this title. He'd've just shot him. Dead and done.
I found the plot interesting but a lot of the violence gratutious. The love interest (Roscal, I'm not sure of the spelling, but that's what it sounds like) was a bit two dimensional, too. I like the Finlay character (a black, Harvard Grad' cop coming off a dodgey marriage). Dick Hill did him a bit like the Judge Little character in Presumed Innocent (the film), which was a bit stereo-typical. The villian was completely unredeeming, too. As for the text, it is a bit Raymond Chandler/Marlowe like, in the first person, throuch Reachers eyes andchock full of similes - "his mind was scrambling around like kittens in a sack"; "like a puppett with the strings cut". I quite liked that, although it is hard to take when Reacher is violent (which is often) because it makes you accomplice to his justification (normally, "you started this" or "the end justifies the means").
As for Dick Hill's performance, his characters were distinct and real enough. I have mentioned Finlay, already. Reacher was a bit Bogart in "The Maltese Falcon" (perpetuating the Marlowe theme) and Roscal, Southern Belle. These were fine, but don't rise above what you'd expect from such an accomplished narrator.
All up, a good holiday read. I don't think I'll be reading any more of these except in that vein. However, in that highly popular genre, it's as good as many other serialised anti-hero thriller. Not Harry Hole (by Jo Nesbo) or Chandler for that matter, but better than many others.

« Show Less

Lee Child is a genius at taking all the tropes of an action movie, and of a ridiculously competent action lead, and making them feel believable and gr..Show More »ounded. Reacher is somewhere between Rambo and Sherlock Holmes in his ability to work out whats going on and deal with it in the most efficiently violent way possible. What helps the reader suspend their disbelief is that nothing in these books is vague; everything is meticulously explained. But Child doesn't drily regurgitate his research, he writes with a crisp, spare, lively style. The pacing is also excellent, the tension never letting up as we track the movements of the several parties involved. The various mysteries and cliffhangars threading the book are maintained expertly. Child is a master of leaking information to the reader in one subplot just as it will affect them most because of what's going on in the other subplot. The supporting cast are well sketched enough to keep easy track of, and to feel genuinely attached to in many cases. In this outing, Holly Johnson serves as Reacher's point woman, emerging as perhaps more impressive than even Reacher.

« Show Less

Seems the author has developed a set formula and sticks too it just making the bad guys more bizarre. Probably my last Reacher novel

Not really, no. The story itself was pretty average, but the narration made it all but unbearable.

this,narrator. dick hill makes the book and characters come alive. it's another hit for sure

I have come figure out that JsckReacher is as bad as he needs to be. He is Sherlock Holmes on steroids. Sometimes He uses his fists, sometimes a gun, ..Show More »but always his brain. In thus particular novel he uses his brain more than his braun, but that doesn't mean it is without action.
it's a good listen.

« Show Less

If you like Jack Reacher stories you most likely like this on as well. It has all the usual things you expect from Reacher stories.

"The Enemy", the ninth Jack Reacher book, takes us back to January 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when Reacher was a Major in t..Show More »he Military Police.

One of the things I enjoyed about the previous book, "The Persuader" was the glimpses it gave me of who Jack Reacher was when he was in the Army. It left me hungry for more. Perhaps it had the same impact on Lee Child because "The Enemy is set entirely in Reacher's Army past.

"The Enemy" is a sort of "Origins of Wolverine" book. it deepened my understanding of how the Jack Reacher I met in the previous books came to be the way he is.

"The Enemy" explores how the US Army works via an investigation into the death of General. The plot is tight, complex and satisfying, spiced by conflicts with an asshole superior officer with an agenda and a larger mystery around a coordinated but unexplained large-scale re-assignment of Special Unit MPs.

I know nothing of the US Army other than what I've seen of their bases in Germany and the UK but I found Child's depiction of it convincing and compelling: the sheer scale of the organization as it was back then, the way bases are the same everywhere in the world, right down to the menus in the Officers' Club, the power of rank, the freedom to work the system, the complete lack of control on where and under whom you will serve.

I enjoyed seeing Reacher outside the US, in Germany (where the US bases make everything seem as close to home as possible) and France in which Reacher, son of a French woman, seems more at home than in North Carolina. I was fascinated to see how Reacher behaved with his older brother, a man who was killed in the first Jack Reacher book, "Killing Floor" and who's ghostwad evoked in the sixth book "Without Fail" when Reacher is approached by his brother's ex-girl friend.

Reacher in 1990 seemed less damaged and less lost than the Reacher in the other books. The Army and his family give him stability and a sense of purpose. It becomes clear how the loss of these things would change him for the worse.

But the 1990 Reacher is still recognisable. The things that make him scary are already present: his tendency towards violent confrontation, his inablity to let things go, his habit of using others to achieve his own agenda and his willingness to appoint himself as both judge and executioner. The things that prevent me from writing him off as a psychotic thug are also there: hisdrive to do the right thing, his willingness to take the consequences for his actions and his strong desire to keep the Army the way he thinks it should be.

"The Enemy" is a well-written period criminal investigation novel that would be attractive as a stand-alone novel. The insight's that it brings on Reacher's origins move it up into a compelling read and encourages me to thank that the Reacher novels will continue to get better, which is good news as I still have eleven more to go.

« Show Less

A man arrested for a mass killing has only one thing to say to his own lawyer; find Jack Reacher. Since Reacher does an excellent job of staying off t..Show More »he grid it's not gonna be an easy task. Unless of course Reacher decides to come to them; with a message his lawyer and his sister don't want to hear. The suspect; having been assaulted inside the lockup where he was being held, is in a coma and unable to provide any explanations.
The mistakes in form here are legion. The book has the prisoner being held in prison rather than in the local jail. Child also has him being exposed to the general prison population; something not done with a suspect in a high profile criminal case for that very reason.
Then with the case dead and the suspect in a coma someone makes a mistake; they go after Jack Reacher. Those of us who are loyal fans of Reacher know this isn't just a mistake; it's a huge mistake. Along the way Reacher does what he always does, he kicks, uh, butt and takes names; he has sex with a woman once and she goes on her way, and finally; he unravels a case that one else can.
With that one exception mentioned earlier this story avoids some of the major holes in logic and fact that are commonplace in some selections in the series. Some of the villains are more than a little over the top here but they play well in the story. If you're a Reacher fan this one is a must.

« Show Less

Great Book..... Almost read it twice.....

Not up to the usual standard. Soft ending. Very well read by a master of his craft.

Closed, stifling, suspicious? Jack can punch all the way to freedom.

i normally love this character, but i'm getting a bit bored with him. the book has an absolutely brilliant beginning and completely draws you in, b..Show More »ut reacher is (literally and figuratively) getting a bit old.

it's a bit like a re-hash of his older novels, except it's written in the first person, which is rather odd. but come on jack, it's 2011! i refuse to believe someone could still be so technologically illiterate. learn how to use a computer/mobile phone etc. my mum's nearly 80 and she is more techno-literate than Reacher! it's really beginning to stretch credulity and my patience.

overall a solid, (but apart from first few chapters), unexciting listen.

« Show Less

A great book, very well narrated and interesting. Reacher wastes no time in getting to the point. Lee Childs has become a favorite of mine, uncomplica..Show More »ted plots, entertaining characters and very well narrated, never a waste of money

« Show Less

I really enjoyed this book. The story was well written and Jeff Harding did a great job with the narration.

The audio book was great. However, I bitterly resent being forced to write a review in order to access the rest of my library. If I don't want to writ..Show More »e a review, that should be my own business. I have paid a lot for these books, and I expect access on my iPad whenever I want. However, I find that the review pop up allows no access to my books unless I review. Stop it, or its one star reviews from me!

« Show Less

My first entry into the world of audio-fiction was a Jack Reacher book - The Hard Way. I was so enthralled I went back and read all the rest of the b..Show More »ooks in the series and have followed them all since, buying most of them the day they are released. I was a smitten fanboy, rating all Reacher books with 4 and 5 stars.

That is....until reading "A Wanted Man".

If you are a diehard Reacher fan, you'll read this book anyway...you won't be able to help yourself. I couldn't. Even though I moaned and groaned nearly all the way through it I just had to finish it...keeping hope that perhaps it would redeem itself. The redemption almost came, but it was far too shallow, too late and too short.

Here are 10 reasons to skip this poorly-cobbled-together, highly contrived, lackluster Reacher book:

1 - no "Colossal Left Hooks" - or really any fighting at all. Just one small scene.
2 - What little gun action is present is filled with grievous errors
3 - Reacher spends the first 1/3 of the book in a car on the highway doing...nada, zilch.
4 - no "Reacher said nothing"
5 - copied story lines from several previous books (Nothing to lose, etc)
6 - Child puts in more anti-american slights
7 - the "Reacher loves numbers" is way overplayed and overdone
8 - no "major love interest", no action with the ladies - has Reacher been neutered?
9 - Reacher's nose is broken the entire book and Dick Hill overacts it with an annoying nasal voice. About an hour into the recording you will want to scratch your ears out.
10 - no "I messed up/I had it all wrong" Reacher moment - when he figures it all out and takes action.


At best, this is just a "black sheep" placeholder in an engaging series that will be followed up by another action-packed thriller.

At worst, "A Wanted Man" leaves us feeling like Child has run out of ideas and is trying desperately to pull the wool over our eyes since his fame almost guarantees that we will buy the books sight-unseen. It seems like he was trying his hand at a psychological thriller, but if that was case, it came across as very amateurish. It makes one wonder if Child has resorted to using a ghost writer.

Poorly written with terrible audio-acting makes this a Must-Skip read.

But you, like me, will probably read it anyway...and after suffering through it, will come back and read my review and see that I was indeed right on all accounts. Shame on us both for supporting this low-spot in the series. Let us hope it is not a sign of things to come. I can't believe I am saying this but I honestly hoped near the end of the book that Jack Reacher was finally being killed off and that this series might actually come to a painful end. This latest version of the character is by far the most pathetic and castrated yet. Perhaps this series has finally run its course. What a sad turn of events. Was Lee Child depressed while writing this book?

If only there was a major motion picture to save it and set things straight.....*groan*




« Show Less

Recommended , keep you listening and not over the top.

Story line needed more work. Overall needed more action and violence.

I am a huge Jack Reacher fan. I usually buy the next book in the series the day it comes out, devour it quickly and then wait impatiently for the nex..Show More »t offering. I had been counting the days for Night School's release and bought it as soon as the audible book was available. I can only compare my disappointment with this book by comparing it to my disappointment in watching Tom Cruise portray my beloved Jack Reacher on film. Both just don't work. I'll leave the Cruise discussion for another format. Night School starts with Reacher making his typical deductions as to why he finds himself sent to a "multiagency cooperation school" with two other successful investigators from other government agencies. Unlike past efforts, these deductions were not difficult or interesting. Unfortunately that also described the rest of the book. It plodded forward, with limited flashes of the Reacher I love. I was even indifferent to Reacher's "love interest" that came across as two people using the other for sex with little effort put forth into even a friendship. I finished the book, disappointed that the improvements I kept hoping for never came. I honestly felt more vested in the "bad guy's" plot and future plans than in Reacher's efforts to stop him. Will I read the next book in the series? Absolutely, and I will hope this was just a one off boring book and not a sign of future offering.

« Show Less