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Summary: Finally, a Great Reacher Novel
Review: I really enjoy Reacher novels for the character and action but the plots tend to be farcical and sometimes even ludicrous which spoils the fun.Finally, here, we have a Reacher novel that has a nice, tight, believable plot. Reacher is contacted by the head of the Secret Service's security detail for the Vice-President to conduct an audit of the VP's security because of an assassination threat and security breach. (She also happens to be his dead brother's former lover). Reacher, along a with former Marine comrade, Frances Neagley, take on the job. And the ride begins, with a vengeance. Probably the best of the Reacher series.
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Summary: Much better than previous Jack Reacher novels
Review: I started reading the Reacher novel series a couple of years ago. the first one was great, the next one pretty good. By the time I got to Tripwire, I couldn't finish the book. Like many series, the hero had gone from tough and uncommunicative to the ridiculous--a parody of himself. He was the world's toughest human, and the villain was the world's nastiest...well, you get the idea. This comes back to amuch more simple plot and simple premise. It has just the right amount of twists and turns to keep us interested, and I can read a chapter or two, put it down for a few days, pick it up again and follow the plot--not too complex. In addition, he doesn't get overly tangled in the Washington political web. It's a very engaging book and quite well written. Much better than most of this series.
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Summary: Pretty good but gun lore sadly lacking
Review: I thought this was a pretty good adventure tale, which got better as it went along. My biggest beef is that the author really needs a firearms consultant. Numerous errors in this regard ruined the ending a bit for me. I can handle an author who thinks there are safeties on Glocks, but [SPOILER ALERT] guns that just go click instead of discharging for no reason, other than it's been sitting in a drawer for five years, and the hero expected that? I thought he was going to say he removed the firing pin, which would have been rude, but at least comprehensible. And supposed army veterans going into battle with their pockets full of loose rounds of ammunition? Ever heard of extra magazines?
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Summary: Is Jack becoming a social animal?
Review: I'm attracted to Lee Child's novels because of the hardboiled and self-contained nature of his hero, Jack Reacher. After almost two decades as a military cop in the U.S. Army, Jack now wanders the U.S. with only the clothes on his back - no car, no charge cards - and a penchant for crossing paths with assorted villains. Very soon, the reader begins to feel sorry for the Bad Guys. Reacher is so unpolished that one sometimes wonders how he reached officer grade O-4 (Major), which would imply managing a wardrobe, knotting a tie, and displaying minimal social skills in the officers' mess and at the CO's annual Christmas party. It's not that Jack is a Neanderthal; he just doesn't care to run with the rest of the lemmings anymore. In WITHOUT FAIL, M.E. Froelich, who heads the Secret Service protection detail for the newly elected Vice President, Brook Armstrong, hires Reacher to audit the security of the new Veep's protective screen. Froelich is also the ex-girlfriend of Jack's dead brother. After finding holes through which a potential assassin could drive a monster SUV, Reacher learns why the Service really wants his help. The VP is receiving credible death threats. And it may be an inside job. I would've awarded WITHOUT FAIL at least one more star had it not been a Jack Reacher adventure. But it is, and here our prickly protagonist has to play well with others: Froelich, her boss Stuyvesant, FBI guy Bannon, and a colleague from Reacher's old Army days, ex-Sergeant Frances Neagley. Reacher's talent for punitive violence is severely curtailed compared to past episodes, revealing itself only at the very beginning and the very end. In between, Jack is reduced to being a consultant, even to the point of wearing a suit. Say it ain't so, Lee! The most interesting character is Neagley, now employed by a civilian security firm. She's ostensibly more deadly at physical combat than Reacher himself, and he admits to being afraid of her skills. So, the reader waits, hoping she'll unleash some mayhem. In the meantime, we learn that Frances, while being a little in love with her old military boss, has a severe dislike of being touched due to some unspecified trauma in her past. Unfortunately, Neagley remains mostly a cipher, and the entertainment value of her character is left pretty much unexploited. Perhaps she'll appear in a future Reacher novel. Better still, the author should give her a series of her own. I hope the next Reacher thriller is JACK IS BACK. With a vengeance.
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Summary: The most pretentious Writer & Hero in Thrillers
Review: I've never read any book written by any thriller writer so pretentious as this writer and his Jack Reacher series. The first and the second seemed to be acceptable and readable, but gradually, ... so unreadable one after another. I've tried very hard to read this writer's every book, but when I failed to finish his terrible "Echo Burning," I have decided not to pick up his new book. But I am a die-hard thriller reader, once this "Without Fail" came out, I tried again. My God, I just couldn't read along since it's so pretentious and so disgustingly written. Forget it, I'll never and ever read his books again.
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Summary: One Thumb Up (you'll get it after you read the book)
Review: I've read all of the Reacher books and I have to say I put this one up toward the top. I tend to agree with the negative review that The Killing Floor was the most compelling, but Child did that one as a first person narration by Reacher, which makes it almost a different book than the rest of the series. Very interesting that he started the series that way, then switched with Die Trying (of course, Randy Wayne White did just the opposite with his Doc Ford series). In both cases I kinda wish they'd stayed with the original plan. My biggest disappointment with Without Fail was the motivation of the assassins, when finally revealed. And it could have been the timing of the revelation (late in the book) that caused that--established from the get-go I think it would have been more plausible or at least more acceptable. Overall I thought Child did a comparatively better job with levelness of characterization here (is it really valid to talk about character development in a thriller?). Again, the weakest point is with the assassins. Neagley is certainly an interesting creation and Child is missing a good bet if she doesn't turn up again in the future. The plot, too (with a healthy dose of "suspension of disbelief"-right the Secret Service is going to hire some wild man to give them a security audit and when things really get bad the F.B.I. and S.S will happily join arms and skip along to the same tune; wouldn't it be nice?), to me seemed at least on par with and perhaps a bit above Child's other books. The only other complaint I really have is that sometimes Child lets his red herrings lay out in the sun too long and tries to string the reader on a bit too far. But hey folks, we're not talking great literature here-we're talking entertainment and this one certainly did that for me.
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Summary: Favourite so far
Review: I've recently discovered the Jack Reacher series - this is the third I've read and by far the best. I enjoyed all of them but loved the side of Reacher that we see in this novel. A little more cerebral and little more emotional. The complexity of his emotions in relation to his brother was enlightening. The plot was intriguing and the characters engaging. Only two criticisms - one was the fate of the kindnapped wife of the FBI techo was a little unbelievable given the brutality of the other crimes these two committed. Also, I found it hard to believe the motivation behind the crime. Do people really hang on to a grudge that strongly and for so long?
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Summary: at the top of the year¿s political thrillers
Review: In charge of providing secret service protection to Vice President elect Brook Armstrong, M.E. Froelich worries about keeping the former North Dakota senator safe. She remembers a discussion with her deceased mentor and lover Joe Reacher that the best way to do a security audit is to use an outsider. She traces Joe's brother Jack, who has no paper trail, through a bank transaction in Atlantic City. M.E. hires Jack to "assassinate" the vice president. When several days pass with no attempts by Jack, M.E. figures he did not try until he suddenly contacts her. Jack and his cohort Frances Neagley prove to M.E. that they had three definite hits on the VP if they chose to really kill him. M.E. invites Jack and Frances to meet her boss, Stuyvesant as the mock security audit was more than a test as the newly elected Veep has received threats. The Secret Service hires them to uncover if the threats are genuine and to help prevent the killing of the vice president. Jack Reacher is already a great protagonist, but his latest appearance, WITHOUT FAIL, is his strongest adventure yet because he stays in character yet works inside a great political thriller that reaches into the highest levels of DC. Though the story line is loaded with action, the key cast members are fully developed so that new readers know Jack and long term fans appreciate Frances and M.E. Readers will demand more tales of Jack and Frances perhaps in her own series while placing Lee Child's novel at the top of the year's political thrillers. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: As good as the genre gets
Review: Jack Reacher returns in this lengthy and compelling thriller revolving around the Secret Service. Upon the recommendation (and reputation) of his deceased brother - who was a former Treasury agent - Reacher is asked to perform a security audit on the Vice President's security detail. Ostensibly, the reason is simply to validate the new team's level of preparedness. But nothing is quite as it seems - and Reacher soon understands that there are very real, very imminent threats against the VP. We encounter Neagley - another ex-Military Cop; Froelich, the talented (and attractive) head of the VP's Secret Service detail; Stuvesyant, Froelich's hard-edged boss and a cast of others. All in all, a pretty interesting lot. But, simply put, it is the storyline - not the characters - that stand out. Unlike some of Child's previous works, the bad guys remain shrouded in mystery almost throughout. Tracking their steps along with the Federal Agents, we feel much of the same frustration, indignity, and anger that they feel. Ultra-competent, the would-be assassins are able to elude the perimeter defenses of the VP on multiple occasions. The tension mounts as the threats become more and more tangible, affecting other Secret Service employees and finally threatening the lives of the protaganists themselves. Child has done an exceptional job. If you enjoy thrillers, find "Without Fail" today and move it to the top of your queue. Child definitely has not failed with this exceptional novel.
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Summary: Jack Reacher Returns "Without Fail"
Review: Jack Reacher, the ex-military cop who travels around the country without real estate taxes or luggage is back! Once again he saves the day without any real base of operations or a staff to call his own. He is just bigger than life and the best fantasy hero yet. Jack's brother, Joe, was a Treasury Dept employee who was murdered on the job. Joe's former girlfriend, M.E. Froelich, is the new head of the Secret Service Detail for the Vice President Elect Brook Armstrong. Froelich is concerned about assassination threats against Armstrong and remembers that Joe had once suggested the only way to check out how good their security was would be hire someone from the outside. Froelich locates Jack Reacher and the story takes off with the suspense as compeling as the previous Jack Reacher books. Jack, as usual, arrives on the job without a change of clothes, but this time he has his dead brother's old clothes to choose from as he begins a working relationship with Froelich that quickly turns into a personal one. The clothes selection lasts about as long as it take Reacher to solve the case. He calls in an old colleague from his military days who just happens to be available to consult on the case. It's farfetched; but it works and the book is a great read. Hopefully Reacher will continue wandering around the United States solving problems and being the central point of books to come.
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