Customer Reviews

Gone Tomorrow: A Reacher Novel

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a big fan of Jack Reacher I must say I was not impressed with Child's last novel "Nothing to Lose." It was ok, but I felt as if I had read it all before and I was wondering if the franchise had "jumped the shark." I am happy to report that Reacher is back on track with "Gone Tomorrow." I wont say it is the best reacher novel. My biggest problem with the most recent Reacher novels is that the action gets a bit more unrealistic with each new book. One of Jack Reachers traits was his cold hard logic, but he now seems to get himself into situations with odds beyond logic. That being said I really liked the central plot point of this book: How do you spot a suicide bomber? It allows Reacher's logic to come to the fore. And of course the book has the typical blistering pace, some villains you will love to hate, and some interesting twists. In spite of my concerns Child's is one of the top contemporary thriller writers.

The tension & suspense never lets up in this Jack Reacher novel, and the appeal of Jack Reacher is at a peak, with his logical and no-nonsense persona, with side dashes of sardonic humour. New York City gets a starring role here and Child makes good use of the unique setting for his drama.

This time Reacher gets to deal with al-Qaeda operatives and shadowy federal agents, as well as a wanna-be senator with a history in Delta force. Everybody lies to him as much as they can get away with, but Reacher inexorably peels away the surface layers until he finds the dangerous truth.

Unfortunately, he makes some unlikely mistakes toward the end, strictly to heighten the danger and drama of the last confrontation, which makes the ending somewhat disappointing. Considering that novels of this sort aren't terribly realistic anyway, though, its not that big a deal. Child's a master of this sort of thing and he uses the conventions well, and makes you quite happy with the twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Book 13 in the Jack Reacher series

No doubt, this gritty and gripping suspense will plunge fans of Reacher into this high octane thriller with its never ending action. Once again Reacher is larger than life.

The story opens with an attention grabbing train ride on the New York City subway at two in the morning. Reacher is sharing the ride with five other passengers; four seem unassuming but one is displaying those tell tale signs of a person about to do the unthinkable...could she be a suicide bomber?

Concerned, Reacher interferes triggering a manhunt of many different groups each with their own objectives. A race played out in the complicated labyrinth of streets in Manhattan. Long time readers know that once involved, Reacher and only Reacher decides when it is over...always riding a fine line between conflicting sides he takes the reader on a wild ride....

One surprise after the other makes this novel exciting, the action is breath taking with some of the violence tacky at times, some raw and some a little far fetched. With a tight and well structured storyline Mr Child brings back memories of past and more recent terrorists and political events. His protagonist is always plunged into the heart of the action. The dialogue is heighted with a New York flair and we find Reacher a more dynamic character than he was in the last novel.

This is one enjoyable and captivating novel. .

I enjoyed this novel a lot more than I was expecting to. I'm generally not a fan of "Big Action" novels and films. I started one Reacher novel (Die Trying) a few years ago and couldn't finish it. It just didn't work for me. But overall I found Gone Tomorrow to be pretty entertaining. I suspect some hardcore action fans will find that the plot moves a little too slowly for their tastes, but strangely, this is one of the things I liked about the novel. I tend to get bored by big action scenes (car chases, big explosions and the like) and I was glad that the plot wasn't just something to fill a few pages between action sequences.

The plot itself is pretty thin though and is the reason I can't give this novel more than 3 stars. Gone Tomorrow is essentially a MacGuffin driven plot (a MacGuffin - for those unfamiliar with the term - is an object that the good guys and bad guys both want. It drives the plot of a movie or novel. Cynical writers/directors will say that it doesn't really matter what the MacGuffin is, so long as the reader/audience understands that it is of great importance that the characters in the novel/film get their hands on it.

I know it shouldn't matter what the MacGuffin turns out to be, since its only purpose is to motivate the good guys and bad guys to take action. It's supposed to be about the unravelling (to a certain point) of the mystery, the thrill of the chase, and the excitement of the inevitable confrontation. And I did enjoy those things - but to a large degree (for me at least) it was contingent on the MacGuffin turning out to be something that makes sense. Often in movies or novels the MacGuffin is destroyed or lost before the reader/audience finds out what it is, and this happens to a degree in Gone Tomorrow.

The MacGuffin in Gone Tomorrow is a thumb drive that is believed to hold a military file that may contain a photo that could ruin the political career of an aspiring US Senator. Reacher can only speculate on what is in the file based on what the aspiring Senator has told him and what he is able to deduce for himself, but he never actually sees what is on the thumb drive (and therefore, neither does the reader). I suppose I could assume that whatever was in the photo, it was clearly worthwhile for al-Qaida to pursue. Except that the only options I can think of, make absolutely no sense to me (I'd elaborate but to so would be a spoiler).

The bottom line: this is a reasonably entertaining thriller that I, for the most part, enjoyed taking for a ride, however it's built on a shaky foundation. When the cracks are revealed at the end it proved a little disappointing to me. I suspect that the majority of fans of the author will enjoy this novel, although some `action junkies' may complain that it is a bit too slow at time - too much talkin' not enough shootin' (although I didn't find that myself).

The latest in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series starts with Reacher riding a subway train and convincing himself that another passenger is a suicide bomber. He's wrong and this sets the novel off on its meandering trail to resolution. Like most Child novels, nothing is exactly as it seems and except for the nigh superhuman Reacher, the other characters are a bit lacking in colour depth. It's a very good story, but seems softer than in the earlier novels, possibly because fans have come to know Reacher over time.

The novel moves very quickly and is a very enjoyable read.

Once again, Lee Child has taken the reader to heights of suspense and Reacher solves one of the more difficult cahllenges he has ever faced. From the first sentence to the last, the anticipation rises. An excellent read for this summer! Can't wait till the next book in this series.

After the last book, I said I wouldn't buy Lee's books in hardcover. I just didn't like the last one!

The premise for this book was appealing and I broke down and bought it. I enjoyed this book. The plot was suspenseful and it was engaging. I won't give the details because they are included in other reviews.

The only thing missing for me is more details about Reacher's life. The last book was a stand-alone as is this one. I buy series books because I like the character and want to know more about them.

Please Lee, more details. I will buy your next book in hardcover.

Gone Tomorrow is the latest from another one of my favourite authors - Lee Child. This is the 13th novel in the Jack Reacher series.

Jack is a former Army MP. He left service after 13 years and has criss crossed the country ever since. He has no home, but is not homeless. He chooses to live with the clothes on his back and his toothbrush in his pocket. On his travels, he runs into many people and many situations. Some of those situations make him stick around a little longer and have a closer look.

Such is the case with Gone Tomorrow. Jack is riding the subway late at night in New York City. He has a bad feeling about the woman who is extremely nervous across the aisle. He suspects she may be a suicide bomber.

The opening line of the book is a classic:

"Suicide bomber are easy to spot. They give out all kinds of tell-tale signs. Mostly because they're nervous. By definition they're all first-timers."

When the woman dies in front of him, he sticks around to be interviewed by the police. When he meets her brother and learns more about her, he decides to do a little investigation on his own. And it leads to a former war hero who's making a run for the U.S. Senate, some old world mobsters who really don't like Jack. And a whole lot more than he bargained for....

Reacher is such a great character. He has a firm moral compass, carefully delineated lines on what's right and wrong, but has no problem using questionable methods to get to the bottom of things. He's big, strong, smart and not afraid of too much at all. For many of the people whose lives intersect with his, he is an unexpected hero.

If you're looking for some great escapist reading with lots of action, intrigue, an intricate plot that could be taken from today's headline, this newly released page turner from Random House Canada is one to pick up. I'll be waiting for number 14!

"Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly." -- Genesis 19:7

The best Reacher novels start with him being in an ordinary situation late at night when something out of the ordinary happens. Because of his exceptional training, Reacher notices that there's a problem and intercedes where others would miss the issue or simply ignore it. As a result, he then becomes entangled into a complex situation where many people have very evil motives.

The good news is that Gone Tomorrow has such a fine beginning. It's fun!

The bad news is that Gone Tomorrow doesn't build on the beginning as well as it might have. The story behind the beginning will disappoint many readers . . . and the ultimate twists will seem more than a little far fetched . . . and tacked on without enough foundation.

Overall, the book manages to rise above the mundane after the satisfying beginning due to having many classic Reacher scenes such as ones that use his instincts and experience to find solutions to difficult situations . . . including the kind of "Reacher-takes-on-the-world" scenes that all Lee Child fans love.

I hope that in his next book Mr. Child will try to give us lots of good detection and action sequences in a very credible plot rather than trying to overwhelm the book with plot developments that over reach and stretch credibility too far.

I have been a dedicated Reacher fan, and had the habit of pre-ordering the HARDCOVER version of Child's books. However, I didn't like the last book. But worse, I was terribly insulted by Lee Child, who seems to believe that people with my beliefs are disgusting right wing fascists.

So, I plan on buying this "Gone Tomorrow" second hand, paperback, or better yet, if the library has a copy, I will borrow it. I would imagine that Child's suicide bomber bad guys are wild eyed Christianists, centred in some small town in central USA? Oooo. Scary.

If I sound angry, it is because I LIKED those books, and enjoyed reading them. My anger rests on disappointment with the hard political opinions revealed in the last book. It is impossible to write a solid thriller if you really want to be a political pamphleteer.