Rating: 
Summary: Compulsive reading
Review: Think of Gary Cooper playing a taciturn Lone Ranger (minus the mask) and you've got Jack Reacher. I have enjoyed the series immensely. All the books are very readable, with the consistent narrative drive of an Indy 500 racecar. A little suspension of disbelief is invariably required, but the plotting is always tight (if somewhat telegraphed now and then) and the characters come to life effectively. Echo Burning is a tale that turns on lies, more lies, and damned lies. It works surprisingly well. Particularly appealing is the idea of a man who has no more possessions than the clothes on his back and a folding toothbrush, traveling without destination, getting into one hairy situation after another. This is a good book, entertaining, told at a breakneck pace. I just had a tiny problem with the ending which might well have had a final line that read, "Who was that masked man?"Particularly commendable is Child's mastery of the American idiom. Few British-born authors can write a US-based book without dropping a few clunkers here and there. But Child never falters. He's got the landscape, the dialogue, and the temperature down perfectly. Enormously readable, highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Reacher Reaches New Levels of Excellence
Review: As the author of a mystery series set against a multicultural backdrop, I found Lee Child's new Jack Reacher novel, ECHO BURNING, fascinating. It takes place primarily in Echo, Texas. Reacher, Child's tough yet honorable protagonist, is aiming to protect Carmen Greer, a Hispanic woman, from her husband. The husband has served time in prison, and he blames his wife for the conviction. Carmen fears her husband plans to pay her back for what has happened. In this thriller, Child addresses the issues of discrimination and domestic abuse while telling a fast-paced story. ECHO BURNING is a terrific book, perhaps Lee Child's best yet.
Rating:
Summary: Just Keep Them Coming
Review: The Jack Reacher series is great suspense that keeps you coming back. Reacher, the ex-military cynic out to see the world and avoid responsiblitity and commitment at all costs, solves the mystery, gets the bad buy arrested and/or killed and moves on. In Echo Burning he has drifted into Lubbock, Texas where it is hotter than seemingly any other place on earth. As the story opens he has just had the misfortune to beat up a red-neck cop who bothered him in a bar. He exits his motel room via the window and needs a ride out of town...quick! Carmen Green, a beautiful Mexican/American picks him up almost immediately and launches into her story about an abusive husband who is a member of a powerful local family. She has no money and has spent days looking for a hitchhiker who will help her kill her husband so she and her daughter can get away. Now we all know that Reacher doesn't just go around "killing" people, however, he is touched by Carmen's story and goes back to the ranch with her to see what he can do to help. The husband gets killed, Carmen gets arrested, the daughter is taken from the ranch, and the suspense builds as Reacher tries to figure out what is going on. Reacher fans will remember that Jack travels without luggage and only a toothbrush in his shirt pocket. Buying new clothes every three days or so adds humor to this series especially in Lubbock where the heat and terrible weather make it a really awful idea to wear the same garments for several hours. Even so Jack Reacher is huge, brilliant, and able to shoot in the dark or wherever the villans are. And he always finds the right girl to help solve the case. Read this book now and wait for the next one to appear.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictible again
Review: When I read Running Blind, i was rather dissapointed, and expected to be knocked off my feet with the follow up. I was wrong. Child has put forth another dissapointing novel. Just like Running Blind, It is very easy to figure out the solution long before the end of the story. It is better than Running Blind, in that it has some of the characteristics of a great Jack Reacher novel, such as a great fight in the desert, but the conclusion of the book just doesnt leave you guessing. If you havent read Lee Child yet, then this may be a good first book for you to read, and then you could go back to the first three and be amazed. I dont suggest it to anyone that has read him before, because it is very predictible. Hopefully, Child can come up with something better that leaves readers guessing. Also, i wouldnt mind another book written in Reachers point of view, as Killing Floor was, which made it, in my opinion, the best of all Jack Reacher novels.
Rating: 
Summary: very disappointed
Review: i had looked forward to the new novel by lee child as i have en joyed the jack reacher books so much.. to say i was disappointed is an understatement. i found the plot preposterous, the characters stereotypes and the writing far below his normal standard. i hope that this is an aberration... as jack reacher had become such a favorite of mine
Rating:
Summary: HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN TONIGHT
Review: This fifth entry in the Jack Reacher series is my favorite so far. And amazingly enough, the reason is just what some of our fellow customers found irritating: it moves a little slower, and Jack seems a little more human (that's almost hard to imagine sometimes) in his previous books. Jack is a superhero, let's face it---isn't that what we want? I mean, here's this big guy, who can pretty much take on the world single-handed, but this time, he doesn't have many physical brawls at all. His showdown with the assassins actually makes him seem a little more vulnerable this time. Jack meets up with this mysterious woman, Carmen Greer, who tells him this tale of spouse abuse by a husband who will soon be getting out of prison. Is her tale true? Jack believes her, and there are points in the book, where you might think, "Jack, what a fool you are!" Jack takes on a job at the Greer ranch to kind of watch out for Miss Carmen, who is hated by the family because she's Hispanic, and obviously unworthy of their sterling son. Jack's attempts to pass himself off as a wrangler are pretty funny, and his assistance from little Ellie is fun to read. The character of Alice is a refreshing change of pace for Reacher; she's a lesbian, so there's no nooky for Reacher this time. This is probably the first book where Jack doesn't hop in the sack with somebody. Refreshingly different, for a change. The identity of the true culprit is telegraphed early, and the biggest clue comes froma FedEx package, and Carmen's use of a strange word for a more familiar one. It's fun, though, and I enjoyed this book. Jack is definitely a loner, and I've adjusted to the fact that the man will never make a long-term commitment, but if he did, there wouldn't be any more books! Child is a great writer in capturing the tempestous heat and emotions of this Texas town, too. Jack is back and better than ever!
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Summary: Jack Reacher Never Fails To Please
Review: Great story, good action,and a complex main character-Jack Reacher- make for a book that's satisying and hard to put down.While not his most intricate plot,Lee Child has written a winner once again. Jack Reacher comes to the rescue of an abused woman, and becomes enmeshed in the web of someone with a lot to lose. The reader never loses out with this adventure. Check out the other Jack Reacher books.
Rating:
Summary: Slow-moving and unsatisfying Jack Reacher novel.
Review: Lee Child is a talented author whose Jack Reacher series has been one of my favorites for years. I enjoyed "Running Blind" and "Tripwire" very much; they were action-packed, clever and funny, and their villains were not only nasty, but unique in their villainy. Jack Reacher is the prototype of the strong, silent hero. You don't mess with this giant of a man who is not only clever and deadly, but also sensitive and compassionate (as all true heroes should be.) Unfortunately, "Echo Burning" lacks some of the elements that have made Jack Reacher novels so fascinating and so much fun in the past. In this novel, Jack is on the road with no girlfriend, no destination and no suitcase, as usual. Reacher carries only a toothbrush and some money. He discards his clothes and replaces them, when necessary. (He probably doesn't smell too good most of the time.) Reacher is picked up by a Mexican beauty named Carmen Greer, who recruits him to help her out of an abusive marriage to her brute of a husband, Sloop Greer. Reacher has no particular plans, so he decides to go along with Carmen to the Texas ranch where she lives with Sloop (now in prison, but soon to be released), her six-year-old daughter and Sloop's racist family. It turns out that Sloop and his friends have a few secrets that, if revealed, would be embarrassing, and the need to keep these secrets leads to bloodshed. In "Echo Burning," however, the villains are not too compelling and the ending is telegraphed and too slow in coming. Worst of all, the identity of the mastermind behind the bloodshed is fairly obvious before the climax of the book, and this makes the conclusion fairly pedestrian. Unintentionally laughable is the fact that Reacher now seems to have psychic powers. He puts himself in the place of the villains and imagines what they would do next. He never seems to guess wrong. To pull off a good action novel of this type, an author needs to keep the pace fast, the plot at least somewhat logical and surprising, and the dialogue crisp and, preferably, laced with wry humor. "Echo Burning" fails on all counts. However, I still have high hopes for the next Jack Reacher novel.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: It all starts when Jack Reacher is picked up, while hitchhiking, by a seemingly beautiful woman. This woman, Carmen Greer, seems to have quite a story to tell and wants Reacher help. It seems her husband is being released from prison for a stretch he did on tax evasion, and if her story is to be believed, he’s a very abusive husband and she needs help desperately. After a few tricks by Reacher to find out if Carmen is telling the truth, he agrees to help. So what’s next? Twists and turns with some great action and a very intelligent killing crew. Lee Child has written another fine Reacher Novel. It was fast-paced and filled with some neat twists. Reacher’s almost supernatural ability of knowing how people think give this story the edge it needs. Inside the covers: “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead†Ben Franklin Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Is it just me?
Review: I love the Lee Child books but Echo Burning was a disappointment. Jack Reacher is an outstanding character but this book throws him in the most boring place on earth! He spends all his time on this farm in the middle of Texas trying to find out if this girl's story is true. Despite the fact that he's a modern day Robin Hood, she jerks him around so much that by the time you find out you really don't care what her problem is. Meanwhile these totally shallow assasins are roaming around and you know somehow they'll end up in Jack Reacher's way and...well the rest is obvious. The weakness of this book is character development, a real let down. If you like the Jack Reacher character, get the book. Just don't buy into the amazing reviews about it.
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