Series: Jack Reacher
Audio CD
Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (September 6, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1524757098
ISBN-13: 978-1524757090
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.1 x 5.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7,205 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #75,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #53 in Books > Books on CD > Mystery & Thrillers #91 in Books > Books on CD > Literature & Fiction > General #6401 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Suspense
My life is pretty much like this: I spend 11 months and 28 days of every year looking forward to the new Lee Child book and then 2-3 days devouring it. He is the master of the opening paragraph. Immediate hooks. Short sentences. You don't even notice his writing style after the first page or two but it's effortless to read. And there are many things about this book which make it a strong addition to the series. I read it in two days and it definitely gave me the "Reacher fix" I wanted.It starts in the usual way with Reacher turning up in a small town and immediately running into a woman in need of assistance (in this case Michelle Chang, a former FBI agent turned private investigator who is looking for her missing colleague), but it turns into a cross-country investigation that touches on issues that are current and very nasty.And that is one of the issues that I had with the book: it's dark. It goes places that are unpleasant and disturbing. The majority of the book is like a regular Jack Reacher novel, but it changes tone towards the end when it becomes evident what it is that Reacher and Chang are investigating. The villains in this instance aren't just bad guys - they are evil. And I can honestly say that this is one Lee Child book I will never re-read. I didn't like putting those images in my head.Another thing. It struck me halfway through this book that every woman that Reacher teams up with is exactly the same. Even as I write that it occurs to me that Lee Child would probably protest that it's not true because Chang is in her 40s and Chinese American, but that kind of proves my point: only the superficialities change.
Over the last several years the Reacher canon has been in a downward spiral and this latest entry in the series is plumbing new and disgusting lows, not only in the antagonists, but in protagonist Jack Reacher, too. After reading it, I felt completely disgusted, and felt as if I needed a scalding hot shower to wash off the filth.When the series started, Reacher was the knight in slightly tarnished armor who found himself helping out some poor soul who’d found themselves embroiled in some kind of sticky situation they couldn’t handle themselves, and Reacher would step in, like the Lone Ranger, and save the day.But as time has gone on, and particularly of late, author Child seems to have tired of the formula that made his success, and instead has created these utterly unbelievable situations that border on the surreal, if not outright insane, and the result has been to turn a formerly entertaining and enjoyable series into something beyond dark, almost absurdly gothic.In this case, a very small town in the middle of nowhere – literally, a place surrounded by flat wheat fields to the visible horizon, so far out that it’s hours to the nearest area with cell phone service – named Mother’s Rest is the locus of events, starting with the disappearance and murder of a former FBI agent cum private investigator.Reacher gets off the daily train out of curiosity about the town’s name and meets Michelle Chang, a colleague of the missing PI who’s trying to locate him. Without revealing details that would contain spoilers, I can say that their investigation leads them to a deadly conspiracy based in the Dark Web – that underbelly of the internet that most of us never even access – that’s located in Mother’s Rest, leading to a final and very deadly confrontation.
This is #20 in the Jack Reacher series and this time Lee Child has gone back to basics and used the very successful formula where Jack Reacher (ex military) roams the US aimlessly and finds trouble most places he goes. Diehard Reacher fans may be delighted but more discerning readers, especially those who have read many books in the series, will find much of the action a bit repetitious. IMHO it certainly isn't one of the best in the series.Reacher is fascinated to find out why a very small town in remote prairie region of Oklahoma is named "Mother's Rest". Maybe it tells a tale of pioneer times when the wagon trains travelled this part of the prairie. The small town is basically centred around some huge wheat silos that cater for thousands of acres of wheat for miles around the town. The other main feature is a rail line with a train at 7am and 7pm each day.When Reacher steps off the evening train he spots a trim Asian woman, Michelle Chan, apparently waiting for someone who might have been on the train. He soon learns that Michelle is ex FBI working with a security company and her colleague from Oklahoma City appears to have disappeared during an investigation involving Mother's Rest. They soon gain a rapport with one another and as he has nothing else to do before heading for Chicago before it gets too cold Reacher teams up with Chan to help her find her friend.Walking away would have been easier as Mother's Rest is a strange place which doesn't make either of them very welcome. Reacher knows something is wrong when the General Store refuses to sell him a change of clothing and the Motel tells him they don't have a room for the next night as they are full - but they are not.
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