SethLynch

Reacher arrives at a small southern town where he is promptly stitched up for a murder. The book is written i the first person. There were a few juvenile parts of this book – mainly in the prison early on. There were also a few week sections in the writing. None of these got in the way of the story – and these problems weren’t there in the tenth book. I felt the co-incidence levels in the book were too high. The icing on the cake came when we learnt how Blind Blake was killed. I did like the levels of conspiracy and the lack of trust involved. The main purpose for taking out the bulk of the police was to allow Reacher t start killing. If he couldn’t go to the police you have to take matters into your own hands, don’t you? The villains are more psychotic than Reacher, although not so efficient. The story is a straight forward revenge tale. There are compelling reasons why Reacher doesn’t leave the area – and the reasons to stay grow to match the reasons to stay.Early on Reacher is arrested and thrown into jail. We learn a lot about his personality and abilities during his arrest and jail time. He is calm and confident. There is nothing anybody can throw at him that Reacher can’t handle. He doesn’t suffer from self doubt in any degree. In jail he is confronted by two different gangs of attackers. The first attack is a jail status attack. Reacher leaves the leader with a fractured face and gains cell block kudos. The second attack is different – the guys are there to kill him. The results are higher – one dead and one blinded. Jack comes out with a sore arm.Outside of the violence I liked the fact that Jack arrived in town to see where Blues man Blind Blake died. He uses blues music throughout the novel – listening to music in his head, singing over tunes during a stake out. I also liked the drop out nature of the man – although I’m not so keen on the anti-government weirdo drop outs who live in the woods preparing to fight the armies of the UN. And Jack Reacher is travelling pretty close to that in this book. I don’t think this is what was intended, I think he is more of a man seeking a shadow away from Big Brother’s omniscient eye.