Scan barcode
winterreader40's review against another edition
4.0
Reacher is recently transferred into his new position when he gets a call about a general who dies in a seedy motel, at first it seems pretty cut and dried until he notices that the man's briefcase is missing, then another man dies only in a rather brutal fashion instead of natural causes and then another in another city.
This is the first Reacher book I've read that takes place when he's still in the army so it was a nice change of pace. We get to see interactions with his family members because they're still alive in this part of the timeline which helps humanize him a bit more.
TW: Homophobia(not by the MC)
This is the first Reacher book I've read that takes place when he's still in the army so it was a nice change of pace. We get to see interactions with his family members because they're still alive in this part of the timeline which helps humanize him a bit more.
TW: Homophobia(not by the MC)
kitpotter's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jurassicreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
lethaldose's review against another edition
5.0
Okay this is a prequel to the reacher series set when he was still an mp in the army. If a prequel is even possible in a series of loosely connected books.
Calling the book a prequel is the only complaint you are going to hear from me with this book. As a book this is by far the best book in the entire series to this point. You can really start to see Lee Child getting a lot of control over his plot in this book. He lets you in on enough information throughout to keep you curious and excited about what is around the next corner. I had no idea where the book was headed, but there were enough clues that I was able to formulate my own theories. Although as the book goes along the conspiracies start to mount and it gets a tad confusing.
This book also features alot more of Reacher's background than all the other books combined, of course it would since it is set in his background in comparison to the rest of the series.
When the end comes it makes sense and is very satisfying. And that is the most you can ask for from any mystery.
Now even though this is is a prequel I would certainly not recommend starting with this book in the series. Any of the Reacher books can be read and understood in any order, but you would miss out on alot of the fun of discovering reachers past if you started here. So if you are thinking of starting this series don't start here.
The second thing I want to point out about this book is more for Reacher fans who haven't reached this book yet, this book lacks alot of the action of the series which seems strange considering that the setting is the military which would seem to be a great playground for the series standard action. It isn't here, but Reacher's personality and attitude are in form here. So if you are hesitating about going on to this book stop wasting time and settle in for a great adventure full of twists and turns.
Calling the book a prequel is the only complaint you are going to hear from me with this book. As a book this is by far the best book in the entire series to this point. You can really start to see Lee Child getting a lot of control over his plot in this book. He lets you in on enough information throughout to keep you curious and excited about what is around the next corner. I had no idea where the book was headed, but there were enough clues that I was able to formulate my own theories. Although as the book goes along the conspiracies start to mount and it gets a tad confusing.
This book also features alot more of Reacher's background than all the other books combined, of course it would since it is set in his background in comparison to the rest of the series.
When the end comes it makes sense and is very satisfying. And that is the most you can ask for from any mystery.
Now even though this is is a prequel I would certainly not recommend starting with this book in the series. Any of the Reacher books can be read and understood in any order, but you would miss out on alot of the fun of discovering reachers past if you started here. So if you are thinking of starting this series don't start here.
The second thing I want to point out about this book is more for Reacher fans who haven't reached this book yet, this book lacks alot of the action of the series which seems strange considering that the setting is the military which would seem to be a great playground for the series standard action. It isn't here, but Reacher's personality and attitude are in form here. So if you are hesitating about going on to this book stop wasting time and settle in for a great adventure full of twists and turns.
bradstowdave's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
First in the Jack Reacher thriller series (and technically eighth) revolving around an ex-military policeman out to see the world. And save it. This story takes place at Fort Bird in North Carolina.
My Take
I just love how Reacher's mind works. It's fascinating to read how he pulls the clues together, how he puts himself into the killer's mind. I do like the post pathologist. He's as interested in truth as Reacher and they dance around the evidence and keeping it safe.
Make me laugh… "The Reacher brothers' need for caffeine makes heroin addiction look like an amusing little take-it-or-leave-it sideline."
I did enjoy Reacher and Summer's European tour. Tearing ahead of Willard and terrifying Armored Branch officers. Then there's the little escape at the airport.
Sadly, Reacher also fit in a trip to his mom's. Talk about not knowing someone. It takes a situation like this for Reacher to learn an extremely important, valuable fact about his mother.
For the most part, this story was so convoluted, twisting around on itself and so full of betrayals! There is no organization in the world that is without people more interested in their own power, their own status quo than in the organization they are supposed to be a part of. It's one thing in the corporate world but when it comes to the military or the church---or government! Stop, just stop laughing so hard. So I'm an idealist... You know what I mean. In a perfect world, people would look out or each other. It would be full of Reachers.
This story has one Reacher, but it does have a lot of support for him. My heart raced, I cried for people like Kramer and Carbone for what they had to hide just so they could do what they loved [in the army!], and I was so angry about the lives destroyed just for jerks who want to get ahead. D'ya reckon they might ever come out with a conscience bomb??
I do wonder if Reacher makes the decision he does at the end because of people like Willard and others like him in the army. That he doesn't want to start down that road.
The major lesson here? Don't piss Reacher off.
The Story
With the Berlin Wall coming down, soldiers are nervous. No more Cold War means fewer soldiers needed.
There are a few things you can count on the army for: to screw up and to cut inexplicable orders. Jack thought it was odd enough that he was suddenly ordered out of Panama and sent to Fort Bird. He finds it even odder as he discovers that a number of M.P.s, good ones, have all been rearranged around the world. All on the same day. None of the signatures on their orders make sense either. Nor do the lies.
Then there's the two-star general who bought it with a heart attack in a rundown motel. And his briefcase is missing. He'd had a very good chance of becoming Vice-Chief of Staff. If he'd lived. They don't have too long to worry about having to tell the widow.
It just gets weirder when Reacher is arrested when he returns from a quick trip to Paris to see his mother. But it does introduce him to his enemy.
Willard may think he has it all over Reacher, but he reckons without the loyalty Reacher commands. Well, how would Willard understand loyalty, anyway?
The Characters
Major Jack Reacher is one of the best of the military policemen in the army and the top people know it. Joe Reacher is his brother who moved over to the FBI from military intelligence. Their mom is dying from cancer. Monsieur Pierre Lamonnier knew her when Josephine Moutier was Béatrice and rescuing downed soldiers. For which she received La Medaille de la Résistance.
Lieutenant Summer is eager to transfer into 110th Special Unit and she thinks she's lucky to have caught Reacher's eye. Lieutenant Colonel Norton is an instructor in Psy-Ops for the army.
Colonel Leon Garber suddenly gets sent to Korea with a promotion. Just in time to screw up Reacher's trip home from Paris. Now, Reacher is answering to Colonel Willard, a.k.a., The Enemy. A jerk who is more interested in the status quo and his own rise than in truth. Blackmail works just fine for him.
Kenneth R. Kramer is, or rather was, a two-star general in Armored Branch, staying in a flea-bitten motel while en route to a hush-hush, no-big-deal conference at Fort Irwin in California. Mrs. Kramer is already home in Virginia for the holidays. General Vassell and Colonel Coomer with Kramer were "the corporate face of Armor" and they were traveling together to this conference. Major Marshall is their driver.
Rick Stockton is the deputy chief near Fort Bird in North Carolina. Detective Clark is on Mrs. Kramer's case.
Special Forces Sergeant Christopher Carbone seemed like such a good guy. His mates in Delta Force are not gonna be happy. Colonel David C. Brubaker, Fort Bird's Special Forces CO, is found murdered in very suspicious circumstances. Sergeant Trifonov is also with Delta, but he has an excellent excuse. And his friend's sister can back him up. So can her soon-to-be-ex husband.
The Cover
The cover is a deserted, rainy street with the light from traffic lights and neon signs reflecting off the wet pavement in a glorious blur of red, white, and blues.
The title is too accurate, for Reacher did find The Enemy. You just know Reacher was army, prepared to make on-the-spot decisions.
My Take
I just love how Reacher's mind works. It's fascinating to read how he pulls the clues together, how he puts himself into the killer's mind. I do like the post pathologist. He's as interested in truth as Reacher and they dance around the evidence and keeping it safe.
Make me laugh… "The Reacher brothers' need for caffeine makes heroin addiction look like an amusing little take-it-or-leave-it sideline."
I did enjoy Reacher and Summer's European tour. Tearing ahead of Willard and terrifying Armored Branch officers. Then there's the little escape at the airport.
Sadly, Reacher also fit in a trip to his mom's. Talk about not knowing someone. It takes a situation like this for Reacher to learn an extremely important, valuable fact about his mother.
For the most part, this story was so convoluted, twisting around on itself and so full of betrayals! There is no organization in the world that is without people more interested in their own power, their own status quo than in the organization they are supposed to be a part of. It's one thing in the corporate world but when it comes to the military or the church---or government! Stop, just stop laughing so hard. So I'm an idealist... You know what I mean. In a perfect world, people would look out or each other. It would be full of Reachers.
This story has one Reacher, but it does have a lot of support for him. My heart raced, I cried for people like Kramer and Carbone for what they had to hide just so they could do what they loved [in the army!], and I was so angry about the lives destroyed just for jerks who want to get ahead. D'ya reckon they might ever come out with a conscience bomb??
I do wonder if Reacher makes the decision he does at the end because of people like Willard and others like him in the army. That he doesn't want to start down that road.
The major lesson here? Don't piss Reacher off.
The Story
With the Berlin Wall coming down, soldiers are nervous. No more Cold War means fewer soldiers needed.
There are a few things you can count on the army for: to screw up and to cut inexplicable orders. Jack thought it was odd enough that he was suddenly ordered out of Panama and sent to Fort Bird. He finds it even odder as he discovers that a number of M.P.s, good ones, have all been rearranged around the world. All on the same day. None of the signatures on their orders make sense either. Nor do the lies.
Then there's the two-star general who bought it with a heart attack in a rundown motel. And his briefcase is missing. He'd had a very good chance of becoming Vice-Chief of Staff. If he'd lived. They don't have too long to worry about having to tell the widow.
It just gets weirder when Reacher is arrested when he returns from a quick trip to Paris to see his mother. But it does introduce him to his enemy.
Willard may think he has it all over Reacher, but he reckons without the loyalty Reacher commands. Well, how would Willard understand loyalty, anyway?
The Characters
Major Jack Reacher is one of the best of the military policemen in the army and the top people know it. Joe Reacher is his brother who moved over to the FBI from military intelligence. Their mom is dying from cancer. Monsieur Pierre Lamonnier knew her when Josephine Moutier was Béatrice and rescuing downed soldiers. For which she received La Medaille de la Résistance.
Lieutenant Summer is eager to transfer into 110th Special Unit and she thinks she's lucky to have caught Reacher's eye. Lieutenant Colonel Norton is an instructor in Psy-Ops for the army.
Colonel Leon Garber suddenly gets sent to Korea with a promotion. Just in time to screw up Reacher's trip home from Paris. Now, Reacher is answering to Colonel Willard, a.k.a., The Enemy. A jerk who is more interested in the status quo and his own rise than in truth. Blackmail works just fine for him.
Kenneth R. Kramer is, or rather was, a two-star general in Armored Branch, staying in a flea-bitten motel while en route to a hush-hush, no-big-deal conference at Fort Irwin in California. Mrs. Kramer is already home in Virginia for the holidays. General Vassell and Colonel Coomer with Kramer were "the corporate face of Armor" and they were traveling together to this conference. Major Marshall is their driver.
Rick Stockton is the deputy chief near Fort Bird in North Carolina. Detective Clark is on Mrs. Kramer's case.
Special Forces Sergeant Christopher Carbone seemed like such a good guy. His mates in Delta Force are not gonna be happy. Colonel David C. Brubaker, Fort Bird's Special Forces CO, is found murdered in very suspicious circumstances. Sergeant Trifonov is also with Delta, but he has an excellent excuse. And his friend's sister can back him up. So can her soon-to-be-ex husband.
The Cover
The cover is a deserted, rainy street with the light from traffic lights and neon signs reflecting off the wet pavement in a glorious blur of red, white, and blues.
The title is too accurate, for Reacher did find The Enemy. You just know Reacher was army, prepared to make on-the-spot decisions.
tillytrio's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
missyjohnson's review against another edition
5.0
I do not normally 5 star many books especially Jack Reacher books, but this one was really good. Jack is mostly believable in his investigation of the death of General Kramer, dying by heart attack during a tryst and then the death of a Captain Carpone from Ft Bird who was murdered. The ability of Jack to forge travel vouchers with ease and to ignore a CO at will are sometimes questionable. The amount of traveling from NC to France, to DC to LA to Germany done in just about a week was super human. The story moved along easily with believable action (for Jack Reacher) throughout. I have not read these books in order and learning some background for JR and seeing some humanness was nice. I also enjoyed reading Lee Childs info/thoughts on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the effect that it would have on the US army, the armored division and personnel. I also liked the thoughts that he had on the most influential sound of the 20th century and the comparison of thoughts that different cultures have concerning death.
pio_near's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
marksully's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0