If ever there was a case of ‘it does what it says on the tin’ in crime fiction it’s the Jack Reacher novels. We really know what to expect and we get it every time. When it comes to ‘what would Reacher do?’ the answer is always attack and carry on regardless, and every time that generates a level of excitement few series can match. The premise here is that Reacher never walks away from a fight, even if it’s not his fight, and if you’re in his sights maybe you’d be Better Off Dead. Admit it, you’re always willing him to get into a sticky situation so he can blitz his way out.
This is the second co-authored thriller from brothers Lee and Andrew Child and the handover/collaboration seems to be progressing seamlessly. Of course, it’s actually Reacher’s 26th outing and now we know there’s no end in sight. In the world of Jack Reacher the tough guys still don’t know what we take for granted: you don’t mess with the giant ex-military policeman. But then, there’d be no fun if they took the hint and backed off instead of facing up, which leads to their inevitable punishing end.
Reacher is in the middle of a desert, waiting. He’s expecting one guy to turn up. With his usual foresight he arrived early to check the scene out so that there is no ambush. Predictably these guys don’t play by the rules though, there are four of them in the car when it arrives. Reacher just wants to know one thing; where is Michael? Surely it only take one guy to answer a simple question but whoever sent these guys wants to know what Reacher’s interest in Michael is. As the quartet of hoods flank Reacher the first man approaches, the big man’s warning doesn’t deter him, he’s a pretty big guy too, confident, it’s a big mistake. Of course, Reacher puts the guy down, the others move in, we can see how this is going to play out but as the other tackle Reacher a lone figure suddenly emerges from nowhere waiving a gun…
Reacher had arrived a couple of days earlier, dropped in the Arizona desert just this side of the Mexican border, his ride suddenly had to return home. Reacher doesn’t mind walking so he sets off to the nearest town. That’s when the craziest thing happens. There’s one tree for miles around and the only car on the road manages to suddenly swerve and hit it. That’s Where Reacher meets Michaela Fenton, the driver, a former Afghan vet badly injured by an IED as a contractor after the war. Now she’s an FBI agent but very much on a personal mission. Her twin brother Michael has gone missing, he was mixing with a bad crowd. Michaela thinks that she may have got him killed by looking for him but she has to be sure.
The local town is owned lock, stock and barrel by Waad Ahmed Dendoncker, a mysterious character who doesn’t come out into the light very often. Ostensibly he runs a business supplying goods and services to executive aviation for private jets. His company is aptly named Pie In The Sky Inc. The question is what is Dendoncker really up to and how is/was Michael involved in his operation, could it be gun smuggling or drugs?
Initially Michaela thought Reacher might be one of Dendoncker’s men but they get past that. Ever looking for a cause to back, Reacher agrees to help Michaela find out what happened to her brother. If Dendoncker has killed him she wants to exact revenge. Michaela has already been inside Dendoncker’s operation getting a job as a flight attendant, but so far all she’s come up with is a couple of cases loaded on to business flights by the caterers that are not being used in flight. With her instinct as a cop Michaela knows there’s something big going on.
Reacher, the man with a roll of cash, one set of clothes and no home to go to not only has to face up to the villains but also a changing world. In town the hotel has no staff, the check in is online and Michaela has to explain to him how that works. Better Off Dead is choc full of thrills and spills from page one to the denouement. Lee and now Andrew Child are consistent and this Reacher outing is as gripping as ever. This isn’t the best of Reacher but it is a die hard fan pleaser. The opening, which we’ve avoided spoiling is a little clunky, but after that it’s full steam ahead.
Read our review of the first collaboration between Lee and Andrew Child, The Sentinel, and our interview with Heather Martin, author of The Reacher Guy. Also look out for the new Reacher series coming to Amazon Prime starring Alan Ritchson, an eight-part adaptation of the first novel The Killing Floor which has now finished filming.
Bantam Press
Print/Kindle/iBook
£9.99
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
Please don’t let Andrew write any more Reacher books!! This book doesn’t have the feel of a Reacher novel. This book could be any generic male alpha character. It simply is missing the special Reacher vibe. I didn’t even finish it! Go away Andrew!!!
I hate this book. Another piece of repetitive garbage. It isn’t hard to tell when an author is trying to up the word count. There is a lot of that going on in this book. I don’t care what people are wearing or what colour their eyes are or what colour the bricks are on a building, etc. etc. Stop it already. Terrible story.
Maybe it’s not so surprising that some readers don’t like the shift in diction and slight changes in style that are occurring in this series. Reacher has some truly fanatical followers. However, novels in this series have always been a tad formulaic – for many, that’s part of their appeal. Most readers seem to like this new addition.
Please can people moderate the tone of their comments. We’re not a platform for online hate.
The Sentinel and now Better off dead, have confirmed my feelings that Jack Reacher is dead, along with any forthcoming Andrew Child books. These 2 books were so lacking in any Jack Reacher events, I could read only a small portion of both. It is obvious they are both only to capitalize on the name and make some short term money. Not a penny of mine from now on. Mr. Lee Child, your reputation should mean more to you.
Reacher finds something “straightaway”? something is next to a “telegraph pole”
Reacher “stamped” (not stomped”) somebody’s hand…was he mailing it somewhere?
Reacher is an American icon…little brother is going to ruin him.
I really enjoyed the early Reacher books – as well as how impressive physical size he had a brain, a few quirks and traits, and a transparent moral code that helped define him and how he found/got himself into and out of various situations. Being able to mentally know the exact time, for example, was a small thing that had its uses and was an interesting plot device in earlier books.
The last few books, however, could largely have been about any generic character.
Better off Dead was a bit disjoint and unconvincing in how the two female characters came into play. I was particularly unimpressed with the reasoning that Reacher would agree to ‘play dead’ by being injected with an anaesthetic by somebody he had only just met for no real reason as, after a few minutes of being observed and prodded as a dead body in the morgue by the villain, he sits up and gets into it…groggy, naked and without any weapons – Great plan. Also, when facing a giant that has caused him much grief throughout the book, he chooses to go Mano on Mano rather than just shoot the bugger on sight – not the Reacher I signed up for.
Sad to say this will probably be my last Reacher book, I have given him the benefit of the doubt over the last few outings but the magic has gone.
I was looking forward to the new book – as I do every year – but am underwhelmed. Tone of dialog is wrong. Reacher’s narrative is no better than storytime at the Library. Seems to have gone the way of Clancy – lost the edge, jumped the shark, next book he’ll be telling us his pronouns…
I thought I’d gotten past the Tom Cruise thing, I try to picture Josh Brolin, but it snuck up on me probably because the plot was so bland and un Reacher=like. I am a library patron so no money lost, while convoluted and unbelievable I’ll probably try the next one, always hold out hope that it will go back to being good.
I have read all of the Jack Reacher books; some are average, most are good, a few are outstanding…but the latest book was very poor. As I was reading it, it just nagged at me, this is being told in a different voice, it doesn’t feel like Reacher, it doesn’t sound like Reacher. I am guessing that it was mostly written by Lee’s brother, Andrew, but that is no excuse. If you are going to continue the legacy, at least be able to write at a similar level, in a similar style, and in a similar voice. Not good.
Absolutely Tony. I have loved the Reacher books but could only struggle through one chapter of the first ‘Co-authored’ story. Reacher has had a complete personality change – explaining himself left, right and centre. It was a painful experience, watching a loved character become an anaemic shadow of his former self. I’ve never returned a book before – but made the trip to Tesco despite the fact that time and fuel fat outweighed the value of the refund – just needed to do something to vent my frustration!
I have, of course read every book. It’s almost a must to be able to post here, isn’t it.
To my mind, young Andrew is trying to take Jack in a direction that we, the die-hard fans, don’t want to see him go.
The Reacher we all love is the no-nonsense, almost brutal (when called for), big bloke that (secretly) a lot of us long for. But he’s still someone who is capable of great tenderness.
It feels like Andrew watched the Amazon Prime series and then wrote the books based on the TV version of Reacher. Such a shame. I wanted to give it some time and see if it was just me, but it’s not. It’s not the same and unfortunately it’s not very good.
The book came out three months before the TV show. If it’s not for you, fair enough but don’t forget that Lee Child was a co-author of the book.