Better Off Dead: (Jack Reacher 26)

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A damsel in distress who's a former member of the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Group is too much for Reacher to ignore. She is searching for her twin brother, who has gone missing after becoming involved with a known drug and arms dealer. Reacher ends up on a slab in the coroner's office but that doesn't stop him from helping to reunite the brother and sister. The light had been easy to find, just like he’d been told it would be. It was the only one in the compound that was still working, all the way at the far end, six feet shy of the jagged metal fence that separated the United States from Mexico. I don’t know who did the lion’s share of writing this time around, but since he is taking over the series, we must hope it was Andrew and that he has now found his stride. This twenty-sixth installment is the best Reacher novel since Make Me and every bit as good as many of the early books in the series. The writing is tight, and the action is as non-stop and explosive as ever. The plot is fresh and imaginative, and there is plenty of suspense.

Better Off Dead by Lee Child, Andrew Child | Waterstones Better Off Dead by Lee Child, Andrew Child | Waterstones

Minutes later, Reacher is heading into town. To introduce himself to the shadowy crew who made it happen. Their boss has a terrifying reputation and the stakes are high. Just to get in and meet him, Reacher is going to have to achieve the impossible. And he's about to find a big one, on a deserted Arizona road, where a Jeep has crashed into the only tree for miles around. Under the merciless desert sun, nothing is as it seems. Reacher is always going to be my favorite character in this series. He’s the whole point of reading the books. But, in this one, I really liked Michaela Fenton. She’s no damsel in distress but a strong female character capable of holding her own when the numbers are reasonable. But facing an army of bad guys, she needs help as anyone would. We meet other fascinating characters along the way.

No one local knew why those towns had been chosen. Some said it was a mistake. A bureaucrat misreading a file note and dispatching the resources to the wrong place. Others figured that someone in D.C. must have owed the mayor a favour. But whatever the reason, no one objected. Not with all the new roads that were being laid. New bridges being constructed. And all kinds of buildings rising up. The project went on for years. And it left a permanent mark. The towns’ traditional adobe arches became a little more square. The stucco exteriors, a little more uniform. The layout of the streets, a little more regimented. And the amenities, a lot more generous. The area gained schools. Municipal offices. Fire houses. A police station. A courthouse. A museum. And a medical centre. The stranger saw no need to give them another warning. He’d been clear with them from the start. And they were the ones who’d chosen to up the ante.

Better Off Dead by Lee Child - Penguin Books New Zealand Better Off Dead by Lee Child - Penguin Books New Zealand

To get answers will be even harder. There are people in this hostile, empty place who would rather die, than reveal their secrets. But then, if Reacher is coming after you, you might be better off dead. Stop.’ It was a female voice. Confident. Commanding. Coming from the shadows near the right-hand row of garages. Someone new was on the scene. The stranger had arrived at 8 p.m., three hours early, and searched every inch of the compound. He was certain no one had been hiding then. To get answers will be even harder. There are people in this hostile, empty place who would rather die than reveal their secrets. A contemporary version of the knight in shining armour . . . Reacher is a mythic figure.' Literary ReviewThough billed as a crime compendium, this wildly uneven anthology includes tales of love in a Paris bookshop (R.J. Ellory’s “Borrowed Time”) and revenge for breaching dating etiquette (Jason Starr’s Continue reading » In combination with James Grant’s retirement announcement, he revealed he was turning the series over to his younger brother, Andrew Grant, a thriller author of nine thrillers of his own. To maintain the consistency of the brand, Andrew adopted the pen name Andrew Child to carry the series into the future.

Extract: Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child Extract: Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child

Still, I wasn’t ready to call it quits with Reacher without trying the second Andrew co-authored book. Sometimes, a new author of an existing popular series grows into the role and finds their footing. So, when I had the opportunity to snag an advance copy of Better Off Dead from the publisher, I jumped at the chance. The truth about Reacher gets better and better. . . . This series [is] utterly addictive.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times Because I’ve been there. It’s another way of saying Yankee Stadium. And the guy used a false name, too. He signed the register as John Smith.’The scar on his abdomen?’ Dr Houllier shook his head. ‘Like some kind of sea creature? I don’t think that’s a knife wound. More likely shrapnel.’