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Summary: Persuasive Persuader!
Review: I read one of Lee Child's books and was so struck with his character, Jack Reacher, and the lean, elegant style of Child's writing that I read all seven novels nonstop. Since this is his newest novel, it might be the first one you find, but I believe you will enjoy the series more if you track down the first volume, "Killing Floor," and then read each of the seven in succession. In "Persuader," Jack Reacher has the jolting discovery of evil nemesis Ouinn's existence, whom Reacher thought he had eliminated a decade ago. To be ultimately rid of Quinn, Reacher faces a dual challenge -- penetrate an organized crime operation and aid the Federal government in the rescue of one of its agents. Reacher's engaging narration is a combination of strategic thinking and forceful explosion, which is a brilliant juxtaposition. Jack Reacher is a loner, without fear, and without surrender - and his intense drive will lead him to settle the score. Tension, mayhem, and action are propelled throughout Child's novels. This is definitely among the finest adventure fiction being written in America today.
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Summary: Lee Child never fails to be great!
Review: I look forward to the next Reacher book. One of my favorite authors. I look forward to the next one.
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Summary: Craig Larson should not be allowed to write a review
Review: what kind of idiot would post the ending of a book in his review? Hope Amazon comes to their senses and removes this review and does not allow Craig to post anymore.
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Summary: Lee Child joins the Pantheon...
Review: Lee Child joins the Pantheon... Wow! Within three pages of _Persuader_, I was literally talking to myself ("holy sh..."). My wife kept looking at me funny, wondering what was so compelling in this latest Reacher story. Put it this way... Lee Child has definitely joined the pantheon of action/adventure/mystery writers. Raymond Chandler, Robert Crumley, Nelson DeMille and A.J. Quinnell are the other members of 'the pantheon' (Child replaces Vince Flynn, who dropped out of the elite group after his disappointing _Separation of Power_, IMHO ;-). Jack Reacher, cop-killer? Jack Reacher, rescuing a kidnap victim from a SWAT team of bad guys? Jack Reacher, almost getting torn limb-from-limb by a steroid-engorged martial artist? All this, and the most evil character he's ever gone up against, are all on display in this can't miss thriller. You will literally be on the edge of your seat for each of the 300+ pages... seriously. If you've missed the other Reacher stories, don't worry. You can definitely read them out of order. Or start with _Killing Floor_ and rip through them all. This is a top shelf mystery/adventure story and Child is on a roll. He's batting 1.000 on my scorecard and his Reacher stories are NOT TO BE MISSED.
Rating: 
Summary: Is this a New Reacher?
Review: The last entry in this series was excellent. This one falls short. Here Reacher is as cold as Maine water. Single focus on revenge and robotic in action. Someone should tell the author not to base a plot on a map. Following someone on the interstate from Rt1 in Maine is not plausible.
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Summary: Very Good in every sense
Review: I bought a PDA last week...yes, I have a point relating to the book, just hold on. Microsoft is having a promotion where you get to download three free Ebooks per week from their website. I happened to download Persuader to read on my PDA thinking "How can anything good be free?" Well, now that I've read this, I learned once again that nothing good is free because I'm going to be buying some more Jack Reacher books. Lee Child does a great job of hooking you right at the beginning. Though I felt the first sentence was a bit cavalier, followed by too-detailed descriptions, I was engaged. The first chapter of Persuader turns out to be one of the best openings I've read and there is a real surprise in it. The thing that Child does well is keep the reader breathless with pacing. Sentences become very short with only necessary detail during the most exciting moments. Descriptions are filled with key information and the character's thoughts comment on them to help explain stuff, so you never feel lost. I really appreciate the style of writing and will be reading more Jack Reacher books soon. Spoiler Alert....
The one thing I felt was less effective about this book was the motivations of the DEA characters to save one agent while several others get killed. There didn't seem to be a realistic "cost effectiveness" for the team. Reacher, on the other hand, had different motivations that worked well. One thing that bothers me about action/thriller books is the over-use of violence and gruesome depictions of it. If you are adverse to violence, Persuader is not for you. However, Child restrains himself for the most part. I didn't feel like I was reading a book by a sicko. With this in mind, highly recommended.
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Summary: one of the better ones but still need better editing
Review: very readable this time but the author wasted too much time and too many words on the reacher/kohl background history, and i have to flip over those inserts to get to the present scenes. very tiresome to get a smooth read by these interrupting sections. still a bit too much pretentious to make reacher too cool to be a normal smart person. the fighting scenes are one of the best writings that i've ever read. getting to that bad guy in the final stage did not balance out what child had painstakingly described and wasted so much words in this background buildup. but one thing so sure is that mr. child is a serious writer who really got lot of stories to be told in a better form yet to come. he, so far, is one of the decent writers that i'd like to see and read again and again, although sometimes a bit tiresome by his too many repeated buildup sentences. the past and present scene jumpings might not be a good idea to try again in his next book.
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Summary: Big, Tough, and Mean
Review: PERSUADER By Lee Child
Big, Tough and Mean
Mr. Child has written another Reacher book, and a good one. Reacher is the type of hero that people can like. He's got no home now and no dependents and is coming from somewhere and at the end on the story he's going somewhere, in this book hitchhiking south. He was a special military policeman when he was in the service. Investigating a military case 10 years earlier he lost a very good female assistant to a very wicked man. A man who used a knife very cruelly on Reacher's assistant to slowly kill her. Then survived Reacher's revenge and made the mistake of letting Reacher, who thought he was dead until he seen him 10 years later leavening a symphony and getting in a Cadillac. This is the exciting story of how Reacher found him, as the head in the same illegal game he was playing 10 years before with a couple of new twists and exacted a final revenge. Reacher who was not in the military now was lucky. He got with team of Federal Drug Enforcement Administration people who were trying to get in contact with someone to help them find one of there agents who disappeared while investigating the case which involved some of the same people. They set up a scam and the story with plenty of action and Reacher in the middle goes from there. I think Mr. Child deserves four stars for this action packed Reacher episode. Roger Lee
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Summary: Argh! Now I have to wait another year for the next one!
Review: I am a big fan of Lee Child's Jack Reacher. I have most of this series in paperback on a bookshelf. I know that I can re-read these books anytime I wish, and that's one of the things that makes life so great. Other authors' characters on my bookshelf include Greg Rucka's Atticus Kodiak, LK Hamilton's Anita Blake, and LM Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan. Also Robert Crais' Elvis Cole, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, and John Sandford's Lucas Davenport. This is just a short partial list, but you get the idea. Reacher is a bit like Anita Blake, in that he's rather superhuman. Of course, Blake is literally superhuman, while Reacher is just plain big and as tough as you can get. Still, he is not as cold-blooded as some other reviewers have said, or he wouldn't be a sympathetic character and I wouldn't keep reading these books. Now that I think about it, he reminds me a little of Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan (the original first books in the series, not the new junk that keeps being published). But Child's books have way more detail, both plot detail and character detail. I borrowed this from the library in hardback. I'll buy it in paperback when it comes out and put it on my bookshelf. Thanks, Lee!
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Summary: Earlier Reacher Books Better
Review: Yes, Reacher is violent, superhuman even, but he's so cool. I like the way he can fight against huge steriod pumped guys and come up the winner. The book starts out with a bang and does slow down later, but I like the way Reacher works; with both the good guys and the bad guys. There are times when he seems to have a concious, he hesitates to kill someone who is a threat to him because he knows this person is trying to protect someone else. The earlier Reacher novels don't seem to have the callouseness that this novel has. I will still continue to read this series, but hopefully the next one is better. I guess every writer has an off book.
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