Die Trying (Jack Reacher, Book 2)

Product Information

Lee has three homes—an apartment in Manhattan, a country house in the south of France, and whatever airplane cabin he happens to be in while traveling between the two. In the US he drives a supercharged Jaguar, which was built in Jaguar's Browns Lane plant, thirty yards from the hospital in which he was born. A series of books can be a daunting prospect. Do you have to begin at the beginning? Which book is the first one? Which book is the best one? Are there sub-plots or sub-series to tap into first? The questions are many and the answers are not always straightforward, but we’re here to help bring some clarity to this confusion. How many girls will he meet over his lifetime, and he is already late thirties, so being the impatient person that I am, I am unable to stay in the moment and am fast forwarding quite rapidly. Reacher will always save the day, if he stuffs up he realises straight away and will always know how to right the wrong. The author knows a lot about weapons and military, I find this is interesting. I know nothing about this stuff but I feel I am in safe hands. But, that's not their only problem. Someone working with them might be playing both sides of the fence.

Add to this Child's punchy, staccato writing style, the deep thought analysis of Reacher calculating situations and the excellent action sequences I can easily rate this five stars very happily. The sniper sequences in his books I've always enjoyed and in Die Trying there is an absolute doozy.The second installment in the series wasn't as strong as the first, but it was still worthy of a four star rating. Lee Child still hasn't gotten past all the shrugging and nodding and his writing style still slows me down a bit. I have no idea how many ladies read this series, but I would imagine Reacher has a larger male fan base. Thus, the author goes into a great deal of detail about weapons and the speed of bullets and so on, which is interesting to a degree, but normally goes over my head and I tend to tune out during those paragraphs. But, my husband loves all that stuff.

Spying/Terrorism Thriller - Yes Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - kidnap/rescue Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Extreme violence, awesome force. Whoever did that, I wouldn’t want him to get mad at me, that’s for damn sure.’” This is told in the third person, which is necessary, as there are times when Reacher isn’t with the kidnap victim, and we need to know what’s happening with her. Sort of reminded me of John D. MacDonald’s 1979 Travis McGee novel The Green Ripper, and there are similarities between Reacher and McGee, but obliquely and MacDonald is the more thoughtful writer. While Child has Reacher making some astute social and cultural observations, this is nowhere near the level of subtly intellectual commentary MacDonald was able to pull off.I did like this one a lot more than Killing Floor. It helped that Reacher is thrown into a scenario more fitting of an action hero rather than splitting time trying to play detective. Switching from the first person narrative to third person here is also a big improvement s because rather than the main character telling us how awesome he is we get to either see it or have it relayed from an outsider’s perspective.

Ok, I suspended disbelief and read on, but really, it was too long and too grisly for me. I quite like Child’s short, choppy style of writing action sequences, while some of his descriptions can get almost poetic. There’s a lot of blood and guts and torture, which will appeal to a lot of readers. I just like a good story with interesting characters – I don’t want to see the horrific brutality, thanks. Then there was the bad guy. He is apparently the leader of a cult. What do all cult leaders have in common? They are charismatic. Child paints this guy like a cross between Bo Radley & Hannibal Lector. Who would follow such a person? Most would cross the street at the sight of him. Lee Child writes entertaining novels – the very nature of action thrillers makes the stories unrealistic. I get that. I really do. But, what I would have preferred was a more believable plot. The execution could have been a bit better.When Holly's father finds out his daughter has been kidnapped,he along with Holly's staff with the FBI are hot on her trail. They have pictures of the kidnapping, but they think Reacher is one of the bad guys. The plot is of course high octane with lots of action and intrigue. Lovers of this series will not be disappointed. This time around Reacher is at the wrong place at the wrong time (and I’m guessing this will be a ubiquitous narrative device moving forward) and gets mixed up in some domestic terrorist assholery that also involves high levels of government. There’s plenty of fists and lead flying, blood and gore and big explosions. I very much appreciated that the female character featuring in this story (Holly) was a strong, brave, intelligent woman, totally badass in her own right. She played a good supporting role. No talking, asshole," he said. "Start talking, I'll shoot you. That's a damn promise. Keep quiet, you could be OK."

On the other hand . . . the plot is bonkers. Really bonkers and if you put your plot hole pedant's hat on you will be like a pig in the proverbial rolling around for hours before you are finished. I can also well imagine some finding the narration a bit monotone even though I think it just fits perfectly. Besides, accepting just made Reacher look stupid. He's supposed to be the tough, logical operator. Time is wasting. Take care of business, have tender moments & take care of nerves afterward. NATHAN RUBIN DIED because he got brave. Not the sustained kind of thing that wins you a medal in a war, but the split-second kind of blurting outrage that gets you killed on the street.What I like most about the Reacher storyline is that (and stay with me here) is it reminds me of one of my all-time favorite TV shows: Kung Fu.