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A review by erickibler4
Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher, #12) by Lee Child
3.0
In the last Reacher book, "Bad Luck and Trouble", Reacher meets up with the remnants of his old unit. All of them had moved on into careers. Reacher is essentially a glorified hobo who move on from one adventure to the next, without forming any permanent attachments. One of his old comrades asks him what he's running from. As is his wont, "Reacher said nothing".
Now comes "Nothing to Lose". I can only conclude that either Lee Child had an off year and couldn't write a Reacher consistent with his previous appearances, OR Reacher is bottoming out and is in need of an intervention. The Jack Reacher in the previous novels is a taciturn hero. The one in "Nothing to Lose" is belligerent and reckless, and has probably committed some form of manslaughter against innocent people.
Does he uncover a criminal conspiracy? Yes? Does he kick ass and foil it? Yes. But what sets him off on his destructive course is his own ego. He enters Despair, Colorado, a town that is less than welcoming to outsiders, and gets the bum's rush. Reacher doesn't take this disrespect lightly, and resolves to go back to Despair. He convinces himself that something is going on there that is not on the up-and-up.
I don't want to spoil the plot, so I won't go into the things he does that are so out of line. Just bear in mind that I'm starting for fear for his sanity.
Others have criticized this book on the ground that Reacher has all of a sudden become political. I don't think this is true. Ever since the early days he's been distrustful of the government and military brass while maintaining his sympathies to the common grunt. His experiences in "The Enemy" were pretty disillusioning, and I can see the common thread.
Another observation: in my review of "Bad Luck and Trouble", I remarked on how Reacher is always "butting" stacks of paper together. Well, paper-butting fans, I'm sorry to tell you that Reacher doesn't butt any paper in this outing. No. He's started butting rocks together. Maybe in the next book he'll butt scissors together for the trifecta.
Now comes "Nothing to Lose". I can only conclude that either Lee Child had an off year and couldn't write a Reacher consistent with his previous appearances, OR Reacher is bottoming out and is in need of an intervention. The Jack Reacher in the previous novels is a taciturn hero. The one in "Nothing to Lose" is belligerent and reckless, and has probably committed some form of manslaughter against innocent people.
Does he uncover a criminal conspiracy? Yes? Does he kick ass and foil it? Yes. But what sets him off on his destructive course is his own ego. He enters Despair, Colorado, a town that is less than welcoming to outsiders, and gets the bum's rush. Reacher doesn't take this disrespect lightly, and resolves to go back to Despair. He convinces himself that something is going on there that is not on the up-and-up.
I don't want to spoil the plot, so I won't go into the things he does that are so out of line. Just bear in mind that I'm starting for fear for his sanity.
Others have criticized this book on the ground that Reacher has all of a sudden become political. I don't think this is true. Ever since the early days he's been distrustful of the government and military brass while maintaining his sympathies to the common grunt. His experiences in "The Enemy" were pretty disillusioning, and I can see the common thread.
Another observation: in my review of "Bad Luck and Trouble", I remarked on how Reacher is always "butting" stacks of paper together. Well, paper-butting fans, I'm sorry to tell you that Reacher doesn't butt any paper in this outing. No. He's started butting rocks together. Maybe in the next book he'll butt scissors together for the trifecta.