The Hard Way (Jack Reacher Novels)
by Lee Child
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lee ChildEdition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2006-05-16
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Book Reviews of The Hard Way (Jack Reacher Novels)
Book Review: With a mirror on a stick
Summary: 3 Stars
Jack Reacher is my very favorite fictional Tough Guy action figure. He could probably get Iraq squared-away single-handed. Unfortunately, his creator, Lee Child, seems to be giving him R&R for most of THE HARD WAY.
Ex-Army Military Police major Reacher, now demobbed from the service with the end of the Cold War and on the lam from a normal existence, is in New York City. Here, he becomes employed by the head of a mercenary-for-hire company, Edward Lane, to investigate the kidnapping of the latter's wife, Kate, and young daughter, Jade. Over the course of the first few chapters, $10.5 million are paid out in several installments, but with no return of the hostages. Kate and Jade are presumed dead, and Edward wants revenge. Jack's new instructions are to find the perp, at the conclusion of which Reacher will be paid $1 million. Complications arise when Jack discovers that Lane's previous wife, Anne, was also kidnapped and subsequently found dead. Anne's sister is convinced Edward was behind Anne's murder, as does ex-FBI agent Lauren Pauling, who's residual guilt from not having solved the first case compels her to team with Reacher on this one.
It isn't until page 342 of this 371-page book that Jack swings into serious action by breaking the gun arms of three bad guys with an iron fire poker. Up until then, Reacher is investigating relatively non-violently, with a periodic time-out for sack time with the engaging Pauling. The book might as well be entitled JACK'S WORKING VACATION, and the role of Reacher himself could be filled by any world-weary police detective or private eye that's been featured in any other fictional series that you've ever read. Even Dirty Harry, knowing how to "make my day", shot an occasional scumbag at various times during a film to keep things interesting for the viewer over the long haul. It isn't until the last few pages that Reacher becomes satisfyingly lethal with the help of a mirror on a stick.
Mind you, THE HARD WAY might be considered a really good read when isolated in a vacuum. But, compared to the others in the series, it had me yawning.
Summary of The Hard Way (Jack Reacher Novels)
In Lee Child?s astonishing new thriller, ex?military cop Reacher sees more than most people would...and because of that, he?s thrust into an explosive situation that?s about to blow up in his face. For the only way to find the truth?and save two innocent lives?is to do it the way Jack Reacher does it best: the hard way?.Jack Reacher was alone, the way he liked it, soaking up the hot, electric New York City night, watching a man cross the street to a parked Mercedes and drive it away. The car contained one million dollars in ransom money. And Edward Lane, the man who paid it, will pay even more to get his family back. Lane runs a highly illegal soldiers-for-hire operation. He will use any amount of money and any tool to find his beautiful wife and child. And then he?ll turn Jack Reacher loose with a vengeance?because Reacher is the best man hunter in the world.
On the trail of a vicious kidnapper, Reacher is learning the chilling secrets of his employer?s past?and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war. He?s beginning to realize that Edward Lane is hiding something. Something dirty. Something big. But Reacher also knows this: he?s already in way too deep to stop now.
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