Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher, No. 12)
by Lee Child
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lee ChildEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-24
ISBN: 044024367X
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Dell
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780440243670
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher, No. 12)
Book Review: Irritating and clueless
Summary: 1 Stars
I have been reading each of Lee Childs' books in order, and to be honest, I am not sure what all the fuss is about.
His writing is so-so, and his "mysteries" obvious and predictable. If you are interested in a truly great mystery writer, try Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch detective series, and if you like more violent action, Robert Crais' Joe Pike character.
His lack of understanding of the military mind is irritating. Childs needs to study the American military subculture, as he makes so many obviously wrong statements on the general views most military officers share on politics and religion.
As a retired career Air Force military officer and pilot who also spent a lot of time with the Army, I think Childs does not understand what a member of the American military officer corps thinks like or believes.
This book was especially "out there", having Reacher (raised by a Marine father and a former MP himself) strongly support deserting from the service because he (Childs, obviously) disagrees with conservative politics and the war in Iraq. Talk about unrealistic? He completely lost me from the book at that point.
He also throughout the series makes a big deal out of an MP officer being "the baddest of the Bad" and trained to be an over the top street fighter. Not so much.
I like for a book to draw me in to its world, make me believe the things in it could really happen. When an author is so heavy handed that his characters become preachy and excessively talky about ideas their character type would never espouse without the author's intervention, he loses me and my interest.
His take on religion was also offensive, and his use of the term "Anglican" for one of the religious figures in the book was also wrong-- in America, this denomination is generally called Episcopal. The character's description of the process of the writing of the Book of Revelation also is absolutely in error, and reflects Child's uneducated opinion of the process of early Christian writings becoming part of the Canon of the Bible. (For the truth, read "From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible", by Dr Norman Geisler and William Nix)This is to be expected, I guess, when Childs tries to make Reacher the "smarter" atheist whenever he comes up against a person of faith, who is without exception psychotic, brutal, stupid, two-faced, corrupt, venal or weak.
Childs needs to have someone edit his writing better for Anglicisms versus Americanisms, also. Every book has some awkward Anglicisms in it that jar one out of immersion in the story-- how many Americans know what a "spanner" is? If I hadn't owned a Jaguar in my misspent youth I wouldn't. Or how many Americans know "binned" means thrown in the trash ("rubbish bin"), and isn't a misspelling of "bent"?
I am also pretty tired of his obligatory sex scene in each new book. His earlier books handled the subject in a more effective, understated way. The sex scenes in his later books seem to be aimed at the teenage boy audience, with way more explicit detail than is necessary to get the point across.
Childs' Reacher books have become so predictable in so many ways, they remind me of the formulaic Louis L'Amour westerns-- when the pretty girl is introduced early in the book, you know Jack will end up sleeping with her several times; when the evil boss-man shows up, you know Reacher will beat him up at the minimum and most likely kill him; when the big enforcer thug-type shows up, you know Reacher will beat him within an inch of his life or kill him. The "big mystery" of each new book will be obvious early on if you pay attention to details, and from that point on, you might as well save yourself time and skim the pages until you get to the end. There's always plenty of fluff you wouldn't need to waste your time on-- it adds nothing to the story line. For instance, in this book Childs brings up many times that "Reacher knew that the average time for someone to answer their front door in the evening is 20 seconds. Twenty three seconds later the front door opened." Oh, come on now.
This book finally hit my gag reflex on so many levels. I'm done spending my money on Childs' books. If only Robert Crais or Michael Connelly could write faster!
Summary of Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher, No. 12)
Two small towns in the middle of nowhere: Hope and Despair. Between them, nothing but twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher can?t find a ride, so he walks. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets are four hostile locals, a vagrancy charge, and an order to move on. They?re picking on the wrong guy.
Reacher is a hard man. No job, no address, no baggage. Nothing at all, except hardheaded curiosity. What are the secrets that Despair seems so desperate to hide?
With just one ally?a mysterious woman cop from Hope?and many enemies, Reacher goes up against a whole town, hunting the rich man at its core, cracking open his terrifying agenda, asking the question: Who has the edge?a man with everything to gain, or a man with nothing to lose?
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