Die Trying (Jack Reacher, Book 2)

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I have also been following the “Women’s Murder Club” series by James Patterson and, fortunately, each story follows on from the previous one and it is fairly easy to keep up with the changes. While Reacher and Holly spend a restless night in an old barn, Holly's fellow FBI agents are searching for clues to her disappearance. The director of the FBI is notified and placed in charge of the case. The Chicago office where Holly was assigned takes lead on the local aspects of the case, paring those in the know to just the agent in charge and two trusted agents. The investigation begins slowly. Second, the character of Holly. Compared to Roscoe in Killing Floor, Holly is a much stronger character. She needs Reacher but can use her brains, courage and strength when the situation demanded. Again, not so original but an improvement over the last character. After Reacher fails to take advantage of an opportunity to escape during the night, Holly insists that he let her handle things. However, she ends up owing him when, during another stay, one of the kidnappers, Peter Bell, tries to rape her. Reacher breaks free of his restraints, kills Bell, hides his body, and re-restrains himself before the others become suspicious. Holly finally and reluctantly accepts his help after this. Lee has three homes—an apartment in Manhattan, a country house in the south of France, and whatever airplane cabin he happens to be in while traveling between the two. In the US he drives a supercharged Jaguar, which was built in Jaguar's Browns Lane plant, thirty yards from the hospital in which he was born.

The plot still seems like something lifted from an action movie and doesn’t bear much scrutiny even though it gets the job done. I was questioning several points like how the U.S. president is so concerned with politics that he turns a blind eye to a group of murderous conspiracy nut jobs who have kidnapped the daughter of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I know this was written pre-9/11 shortly after the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents, but it was also after the Oklahoma City bombing (Which is never mentioned.) so it seems crazily unrealistic to think that the government would just try to ignore these yahoos. I thank you for your time in reading my comments – please feel free to publish them if you feel that this would be of some use to other readers – otherwise, this communication is for your eyes only so that you do not receive further criticism. The thing I love about Lee Child's writing is that it matches his protag to a tee. Short and snappy offerings, says what needs to be said without fanfare, and delivered with wit and a smoothness that only Mr Reacher can get away with. Smooth as a whistle. As cool as a cucumber. But he delivers cooler word usage than this, that's for sure. This time around Reacher is at the wrong place at the wrong time (and I’m guessing this will be a ubiquitous narrative device moving forward) and gets mixed up in some domestic terrorist assholery that also involves high levels of government. There’s plenty of fists and lead flying, blood and gore and big explosions. As part of his punishment, Reacher and Holly are sent into the woods to bury the body of the undercover FBI agent. Reacher warns Holly that the militia is planning something big and it is to take place on the Fourth of July. At the same time, the FBI and Holly's father have set up a command post a few miles from the camp, despite the fact that the President has refused to allow them to take a rescue party into the camp. That night, Reacher escapes from the punishment cabin and begins to explore the camp. Reacher finds the abandoned mine where the militia keep their vehicles and discovers that they have stolen a military caravan transporting missiles.

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Spying/Terrorism Thriller - Yes Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - kidnap/rescue Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Under normal circumstances, Holly would be well-equipped to handle herself. She is one of the strongest female characters to appear in this series, but with her bum knee, which she injured in a soccer game, she could use a little help. Reacher, of course, is there to provide it, and he and Holly together will have to struggle mightily both to defend Holly's virtue and to prevent the militiamen from accomplishing their objectives. The series has been highly praised by Stephen King and Jeffery Deaver – the best endorsements a thriller writer can get On the way, Reacher learns the woman is an FBI agent named Holly Johnson, though she doesn't tell him she's the daughter of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or goddaughter of the President, having been accused of being the beneficiary of nepotism all her life. ...

Still, the flaws here are the kinds of things you’d expect from the genre and not the pure stupidity of the first book. That makes me think that maybe this series is worth a read after all.But, that's not their only problem. Someone working with them might be playing both sides of the fence.

The handgun was a nine-millimeter automatic. It was brand-new. It was oiled. It was held low, lined up right on his old scar. The guy holding it looked more or less like he knew what he was doing. The safety mechanism was released. There was no visible tremor in the muzzle. No tension. The trigger finger was ready to go to work. Reacher could see that. He was concentrating hard on that trigger finger. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. So he died, because for a split second he got brave. But not then. He died much later, after the split second of bravery had faded into long hours of wretched gasping fear, and after the long hours of fear had exploded into long minutes of insane screaming panic. The plot is of course high octane with lots of action and intrigue. Lovers of this series will not be disappointed.

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Besides, accepting just made Reacher look stupid. He's supposed to be the tough, logical operator. Time is wasting. Take care of business, have tender moments & take care of nerves afterward.

What I like most about the Reacher storyline is that (and stay with me here) is it reminds me of one of my all-time favorite TV shows: Kung Fu. Listening to the gloriously crunchy, gravelly tones of Jeff Harding doing this amazing Reacher character and bringing him to life was a complete wonder to me. It is exactly the voice I imagine the tough, aloof Reacher having even if the female characters don't fare quite so well. Sort of reminded me of John D. MacDonald’s 1979 Travis McGee novel The Green Ripper, and there are similarities between Reacher and McGee, but obliquely and MacDonald is the more thoughtful writer. While Child has Reacher making some astute social and cultural observations, this is nowhere near the level of subtly intellectual commentary MacDonald was able to pull off. No talking, asshole," he said. "Start talking, I'll shoot you. That's a damn promise. Keep quiet, you could be OK."

Ok, I suspended disbelief and read on, but really, it was too long and too grisly for me. I quite like Child’s short, choppy style of writing action sequences, while some of his descriptions can get almost poetic. There’s a lot of blood and guts and torture, which will appeal to a lot of readers. I just like a good story with interesting characters – I don’t want to see the horrific brutality, thanks. There’s also plenty of writing surrounding marksmanship and Child does some nifty work describing the ballistics in a technical fashion that is fun to read. A series of books can be a daunting prospect. Do you have to begin at the beginning? Which book is the first one? Which book is the best one? Are there sub-plots or sub-series to tap into first? The questions are many and the answers are not always straightforward, but we’re here to help bring some clarity to this confusion.