Die Trying (Jack Reacher Series, #2)

by Lee Child

Die Trying (Jack Reacher Series, #2)

book data

1005 ratings, 3.96 average rating, 79 reviews (more data...)

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published

1998 by The Berkely Publishing Group

characters

Jack Reacher

setting

Unknown

isbn

0051512502

description

A Chicago street in bright sunshine. Jack Reacher, strolling nowhere, meets an attractive young woman, limping, struggling with her crutches, alone. N...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1233)

All ratings | 5 stars (241) | 4 stars (409) | 3 stars (182) | 2 stars (32) | 1 star (11) | avg 3.96

all | this edition

Lethaldose

Lethaldose rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

12/04/08

Read in December, 2008

recommended to Lethaldose by: no one
recommends it for: guys who like action movies

A fun book and better than the first in the series (Killing Floor). The book is slightly dated by it centering on a Montana Militia plot to be declared a nation, but it is still fun. Jack Reacher is fun character to go along for the ride with and this book really brings him into his own. The entire book you is a roller coaster and everytime he gets into something there is a great excitement to see how he gets out of it. Like the last book though it is obvious this book is designed for guys who s...more

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Coops456

Coops456 rated it:

(review of isbn 0553505416)

11/10/08

bookshelves: 2008

Read in November, 2008

This is the second of Jack Reacher's adventures and this time Reacher is whisked from Chicago to big sky Montana, when he accidentally stumbles into the kidnapping of FBI agent Holly Johnson. Reacher and Holly find themselves up against a well-armed militia led by a megalomaniac intent on more than simple secession.

What I enjoy about Lee Child's writing is the way he shows Reacher's thought processes, so that Jack isn't portrayed as a caricature with superhuman abilities, but just a highly t...more

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Kellie

Kellie rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

08/27/08

bookshelves: 2004-reads, mystery-thrillers, reacher-series, series

(#2 of the Reacher series) "Jack Reacher, just happen to be walking by a Chicago dry cleaner when an attractive young FBI agent named Holly Johnson comes out carrying nine expensive outfits and a crutch to support her soccer-injured knee. As Holly stumbles, Reacher grabs her and her garments--which gets him kidnapped along with her by a trio of very determined badguys. "He had no problem with how he had gotten grabbed up in the first place," Child writes. "Just a freak of cha...more

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Angela

Angela rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

08/19/08

Read in July, 2008

This is a cheesy action book, and I knew that going into it, so I didn't expect Aristotelian catharsis, but whoa, mama - ridiculous. It's the highly implausible story of a guy who's in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets tangled up in a kidnapping - but fortunately, he happens to be a former soldier with superhuman abilities and a penchant for kicking butt! If I had a nickel for every time someone in this book "shrugged" (apparently the author's favorite reaction to write for ...more

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Andrew

Andrew rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

07/09/08

Read in July, 2008

This is a fast-paced crime/espionage novel that straddles the line between the hard-boiled detective and secret agent/spy genres. What those two subgenres of the mystery genre have in common is often their one-man-against-the-world scenario, and in this novel, Child's long-running protagonist Jack Reacher is that one man. That said, although he's the main hero, it's obvious by the end of the novel that he couldn't have gotten through the adventues he's had without help from several other charact...more This is a fast-paced crime/espionage novel that straddles the line between the hard-boiled detective and secret agent/spy genres. What those two subgenres of the mystery genre have in common is often their one-man-against-the-world scenario, and in this novel, Child's long-running protagonist Jack Reacher is that one man. That said, although he's the main hero, it's obvious by the end of the novel that he couldn't have gotten through the adventues he's had without help from several other characters, most notably female FBI agent Holly Johnson. Kudos to Child for writing a strong female character instead of giving in to the easy temptation that years of "I'm helpless without you, my hero" leading females have created when writing this sort of genre fiction.

The story begins with Reacher stopping to help a woman on crutches carry her dry-cleaning, and almost immediately getting kidnapped along with her by several mysterious gun-toting thugs. This all happens in the first three pages, setting the pace for a book that moves at breakneck speed throughout. Reacher soon learns that Holly Johnson is the daughter of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and has been kidnapped by a right-wing militia as part of a plot to secede from the United States. Reacher has been swept up into the situation merely by virtue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. From here, things just get crazier and more hectic, with all sorts of twists and turns as Reacher and Johnson try to break out of captivity and struggle for power with their kidnappers. There were points towards the beginning where I couldn't believe that the book was going to stretch to its 400+ page length, as it seemed to be hurtling towards a climax that would occur much quicker than the time it would take to reach the end of the book. However, Child managed to sustain the pace throughout without ever making it seem like he was complicating the plot unnecessarily, which is a tough line to straddle when writing this sort of fiction.

I read this novel as part of a book club, and when the book club got together and discussed it afterwards, there were several members who said that their credibility was strained by a few different scenes in which Reacher or Johnson would pull off near-superhuman feats of strength or agility, or even just succeed in the sort of bare-bones improvisation that always saved MacGyver and The A-Team. I agree that some of these things seem a bit hard to believe when I look back on them, but at the time I was reading the book, I had no trouble suspending disbelief. This speaks well for Child's ability to captivate the reader, and tell an entertaining enough tale that highly-improbable feats are accepted in the moment by the reader. Or at least, accepted by me. Those other people in the book club who didn't get pulled along by the story, well, I don't know what their problem was. ...less

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Jen

Jen rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

04/11/08

bookshelves: male-author, police-fiction

Read in April, 2008

Jack Reacher is an innocent passerby when Holly Johnson is kidnapped at gunpoint by members of a militia group. The kidnappers take Reacher as well and he finds himself in battle to get himself and Holly free from the vigilantes.

This was the first book I read by Lee Child. I enjoyed it and Jack Reacher is a likable character. He borders on the unbelievable...kind of like a Superhero-type character, but he's likable nonetheless.

The plot is your typical "saving the damsel in distre...more

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Trudy

Trudy rated it:

(review of isbn 0515125024)

07/23/08

Read in July, 2008

This is the second of the Jack Reacher books that I have read, and simply put - I LOVE THEM. Jack Reacher is an ex-Military Policeman/expert sniper who has left the service. He doesn't stay in one spot long, but that doesn't stop him from getting sucked into one situation after another that can benefit from his special talents. And I do mean military training...

In this book, he is in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up getting kidnapped along with the President's goddaughter who...more

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Peter

Peter rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

10/28/08

I enjoyed it more than my 2 stars would indicate, but I couldn't bring myself to give it more than two stars because of the numerous problems others have mentioned. Oh, let me just list a couple myself:

- "Hey, let's keep the superhuman killing machine bent on destroying us bad guys alive! What? He's a former marine/decorated solider/superhuman killing machine with a history of killing bad guys like us? Let's keep him alive some more!"
- I have a feeling that Jack Reacher is a mast...more

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Tony

Tony rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

12/20/08

Read in August, 2005

Jack Reacher is a man's man. Ex military policeman wanders the U.S. with just a toothbrush in his pocket - no cell phone, no credit card and no other baggage. He minds his own business but trouble usually finds him. Reacher is a "shoot first, ask questions later" kinda guy. Met Lee Child at Books and Co. in Beavercreek, Ohio.

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Loopyloo100

Loopyloo100 rated it:

(review of isbn 0553505416)

06/07/08

bookshelves: jack-reacher, swapped-on-risi, thriller

Read in May, 2008

This is the 2nd Of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels. Jack, a real macho man, is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is kidnapped along with a beautiful FBI agent with an injured knee. The reason behind her kidnap and the story that evolves is not exactly believable, but for those that enjoy Jack Reacher novels that isn't a problem as its Reacher's ability to always come out on top from every situation that makes him a winner. In this book there was one section that I found was exceptionally ...more

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LJ rated it:

(review of isbn 0425206211)

08/24/07

bookshelves: contemporary_post_1945, montana, mystery, suspense

Read in December, 2005

DIE TRYING (Suspense-Montana-Cont) – VG
Child, Lee – 2nd in series
Jove Fiction, 1998- Paperback
Jack Reacher, former MP and expert sharpshooter, just tries to be a nice guy to a woman having trouble holding her dry cleaning. In exchange, they both end up being kidnapped and taken to a paramilitary camp in Montana. The woman isn't just anyone; Holly Johnson is an FBI agent with a very powerful father and godfather. The militarists don't want money, they want to start their own country....more

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April

April rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

11/30/08

Read in November, 2008

Die Trying is about a super human named Jack Reacher who accomplishes incredible things in the name of honor, character and trust. I wish there were really humans like this in the world. A fun, fast, adventure book with a mystery interwoven in the daring feats of this man.

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Jud

Jud rated it:

(review of isbn 0553505416)

11/25/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in November, 2008

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. It was just a bit too over the top. Even if the damsel in distress was capable, she was, of course, injured, so she still needed help so the hero could save the day, bla bla bla. I would have given it two stars but the book wasn't bad enough for me to put down and not pick up again.

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jessica

jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

01/04/09

this book is kind of like crack. I read it in 2 days, was too jumpy to sleep, and can barely remember what happened now that it's over.

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Sheila

Sheila rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

01/05/09

Read in December, 2008

Mindless reading and mental oblivion are often just what is needed. Escape is good.

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Bcoghill

Bcoghill rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

12/18/08

Read in December, 2008

recommended to Bcoghill by: A friend
recommends it for: Adventure series people

Good fast paced adventure series. Odd, that even a book from the mid ninties feels dated. Guess time marches on...

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Michael

Michael is currently reading it (review of isbn 0515142247)

12/09/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

So far some pretty interesting brain candy.

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Chris

Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

11/24/08

Read in November, 2008

Actually, more like 3.5 stars. This books was good, but it seemed to drag for until the last 120 pages or so. Just a slower novel than all the other Child novels that I've read.

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smalls

smalls rated it:

(review of isbn 0425206211)

12/02/07

Read in December, 2007

This book is taking me forever to read. I really liked the first book of Jack Reacher, but this one is just slow going for me.

Yeah! I am finally finished! This book is a good story,well written,great characters, I just got bored with it. Not enough action, and not enough mystery for me. I love the Jack Reacher character. Each time I read his description, I see Bruce Willis. So if this is ever made into a movie, or any of the Jack Reacher books made into a movie, that is who I would ...more

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Susan

Susan rated it:

(review of isbn 0515142247)

01/14/08

Read in March, 1998

When Lee Child's first book came out last year, I was mesmerized. This one is better. His character - Jack Reacher - is truly unforgettable and the way Child weaves a story is fascinating. In Die Trying, Reacher is walking down the street when he sees a woman coming out of the dry cleaners struggling with her load. He stops to help. They are both then stopped by two guys with guns and a car and kidnapped. Child makes it work and work beautifully. This author is definitely one to read.

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