Die Trying

Rating:
Summary: A terrific read
Review: In broad daylight on a crowded downtown Chicago street, two armed thugs abduct Jack Reacher and FBI agent Holly Johnson. The pair, who never met before, are handcuffed together and driven to the isolated Montana citadel of militia leader Beau Borden. Jack is getting a full understanding of Murphy's Law as he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When Borden learns that Jack is a former Army sniper, he tries to convert the man to his cause of overthrowing the American corrupt government by stealing some missiles and using Holly, daughter of the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a hostage. However, instead of winning Jack over, the two prisoners manage to escape, get captured, escape, get captured, etc. As the military plans to attack Borden's encampment, Jack and Holly need one more escape.

DIE TRYING is not the fourth "Die Hard" movie nor is it a cross between "Hogan's Hero's and "Die Hard" even though the novel reads as if it could be either one. The bloody story line will be devoured by the ultra-action fans of high drama and Jack is a fun hero. However, Borden and his men make Colonel Klink and his men look like Einstein, thereby reducing the impact of what is otherwise an exciting thriller. Lee Child shows much talent, but must concentrate as much on his villain as much as he does on the hero and heroine.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Grim Adventure in the Militia Heartland
Review: Jack Reacher is an interesting character. He's an ex-military policeman, wandering the country as a sort of modern-day knight errant, not really doing much of anything, when he stumbles into the kidnapping of a young female F.B.I. agent who has some interesting family connections. The kidnappers aren't very good at what they do, so we soon find out who they are, though their designs are somewhat obscure, mainly because they're crazy, and their plot doesn't make a lot of sense. Reacher is kidnapped too, and they're taken west into the heartland, journeying to who-knows-where, where the climax of the novel occurs.

As I said, Reacher's an interesting character. He's in control of the situation almost the whole time, and very controlled himself. He's an excellent shot (and uses this a great deal in the latter part of the book) and a real tough guy. There are, however, some enigmatic parts to his character. He seems to wander the planet without rhyme or reason, just cause he feels like it. There's no hint why he left the army (he apparently was very good at what he did, and didn't stick around for his twenty, which guarantees a pension) or why he does what he does. There's almost a sense of apathy about him at times, which suddenly transforms into concern for the lives of people he doesn't even know. Frankly, this makes me want to read more in the series, to find out what's up.

This is a hard book to review. It's a suspense story, but I didn't feel there was a lot of suspense. That didn't mean I didn't like it, though, mainly because I enjoyed the main character, Jack Reacher. I think I will look for other books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: The Master of Mayhem
Review: Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" novels have a refreshing purity about them: simply action, mayhem, and brutality wrapped around straight, unadorned plots. Testosterone runs high, larger-than-life bad guys take evil to new depths, cliffhangers that would embarrass Indiana Jones. And if there is such a thing as a literary equivalent of film's slow-motion action scenes, then Lee Child is the master. Guns don't simply shoot a bullet; Child talks muzzle velocities, projectile weights, gun barrel chemistry, and the physics of 0.5-inch diameter bullet fired from a Barrett sniper rifle passing through skull and brain. All very violent, and all very entertaining.

"Die Trying" is Lee Child's second Jack Reacher novel, and there is no sophomore jinx. Reacher, ex-military cop and veritable walking encyclopedia of all armament, happens on the wrong place at the wrong time in downtown Chicago, finding himself unwittingly in the middle of a kidnapping. The victim: Holly Johnson, a beautiful and brainy FBI agent, but, as it turns out, much, much more. The perps: a band of neo-fascist wacko's - think Waco or Ruby Ridge - about to hatch a plot to declare independence and secede from the United States. Meanwhile, everybody from the FBI to the US Marines tries to find and free Holly, while Reacher works on the inside - as a co-hostage - fights to protect Holly's honor, chastity, and life. Child paints a wonderfully diabolically twisted Beau Borkin as the leader of the cult, and a rather fascinating picture of life inside an extreme right-wing conspiracy. Bottom line: not a novel you'll be retelling to the grandkids, and no literary milestone, but few can verbalize raw power better than Lee Child. A great page-turner, a great diversion, pure entertainment.