Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 50
 Reacher vs the mercenaries June 29, 2008
Hippoguy (Illinois)
Jack Reacher gets a chance to match wits with exgi's who are mercenaries. How does Lee Child keep producing these wonderfull books without repeating plots or scenes? Really worth reading. A lot of action and pretty gruesome in some areas.
 Razor sharp, almost too good..until the last 20 or so pages. June 17, 2008
S. Henkels (Devon, Pa United States)
No doubt, this author can write as sharply as anyone, and about almost any subject. From his super-tough dialogue to descriptions of English country and NYC, he is one right-on author. This plot, about a very unusual kidnapping, has all the twists and bounces you'll ever need, and it all fits together, even the red herrings, and small clues apparently of no interest, until the plot is finally resolved. Why only 4 stars? To this reader, maybe a squeamish one at that, the end does get a little too sadistic and rough, approcaching a bad cartoon. But for rough and tumble scenes, fine descriptions, and matchless characterizations, this one's a sure winner, even with the blood and guts overdose towards the end!
Great book! June 12, 2008
R. Rogers
Love Lee Child and adore his Reacher series. However if I had to rate it among my favorites it would probably be second to last behind Echo Burning. RMR
 Not brilliant but entertaining May 25, 2008
ALu69 (Hamburg, Germany)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
PLOT: The former Military Police, loner and larger than life guy, Jack Reacher, is back. This time he sits in a café in New York City where he becomes a witness without knowing. A day later he is hired to solve the kidnapping of the wife and stepdaughter of Edward Lane, ex-army officer and now the boss of a gang of private mercenaries. Even if Lane has the money to pay and the firepower to kill any kidnapper he has not the right guys to do the detective part of the job. Unfortunately the more Reacher finds out the more he feels that something about whole the case is completely wrong. And he starts to dislike Lane and his posse of Special Forces veterans. So he wonders why he wants to solve the case - for Lane, for the victims or for his own sake? What starts as a kidnapping in New York ends up in a deadly gunfight in the British countryside more than 3,000 miles away.
How could anybody not like Jack Reacher? Tall, strong, big, clever, invincible and independent. (This time Lee Child even put Reacher's CV on the first page!) Just the kind of guy you need when you got a problem. As always it is fun to see Reacher unravel tiny bits of evidence and draw conclusions out of minor details and seemingly unimportant or unrelated events. Therefore he comes to conclusions quicker than any other man alive.
Since as in real life most riddles and crimes take time to solve, the pace is (positively) agonizing slow. From the pace and Reacher's solid but slow process the book reminds me of "The Enemy" except there are a lot less dead ends during his investigation. In general the reader knows only as much as Reacher does - or less since he prefers to demonstrate his knowledge instead of simply telling it to anybody.
Unfortunately the conclusion behind the kidnapping is guessable long before the end. Also the quick and easy gunfight showdown is a bit disappointing since one could expect tougher resistance from highly trained man.
Even if this is not a page turner that will keep you glued to your seat it still is an enjoyable book, quite well written and a fast read. In comparison to Lee Child's last book "One Shot" the initial plot may not be as fascinating at first glance but on the other side the turn of events and the solution are a lot better, there are no unbelievable freakish bad guy characters and there are less flaws. Overall a clear vote for "The Hard Way".
For those not acquainted with the Jack Reacher character I would recommend to read "The Enemy" first and then read the rest of the books as they were published. But this is only to get to know the character better - it is not needed to understand or to enjoy this book.
Again this new book is not on the same level as Lee Child's best work ("Die Trying", "The Visitor"/"Running Blind", "Without Fail" or even "The Enemy"). But hey - if you already know and like Reacher then you cannot afford not to read this one anyway. And as usual I sure can hardly wait for the next Jack Reacher book to be released in paperback...
the hard way May 8, 2008
Penelope B. Tamanaha (san bruno california)
lee child is a gifted writer and we enjoy all of his books. he is a worth while read. would recommend to anyone who asks.
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