book data
987 ratings, 4.01 average rating, 69 reviews
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published
April 30th 2005
(first published 2004)
by Random House Inc.
binding
Paperback, 464 pages
characters
setting
Unknown
literary awards
Barry Award for Best Novel (2005)
isbn
0440296463
(isbn13: 9780440296461)
description
You're in the Army now, son...
New Year's Day, 1990. The Berlin Wall is coming down. The Cold War is ending. Soon America won't have any en...more
New Year's Day, 1990. The Berlin Wall is coming down. The Cold War is ending. Soon America won't have any en...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1224)
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
This story goes back in time to when Jack Reacher was still active in his military career. It is a nice departure from the first seven stories in that it gives you a little more insight into the Jack Reacher larger-than-life character and makes him more believable.
Anyone who thought John Rambo and Dirty Harry were bad-asses hasn't read about Jack Reacher yet.
Anyone who thought John Rambo and Dirty Harry were bad-asses hasn't read about Jack Reacher yet.
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Read in August, 2005
I know Lee Child is incredibly popular, but Reacher's laconic, I'm a military cop who can do just about anything and handle any kind of violence or murky conspiracy just didn't grab me. Way too much testosterone here, and I wasn't tempted to seek out any others in the series. This will have absolutely no effect on his sales, I'm sure.
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Read in December, 2008
We purchased this audio book in Rockford, Illinois over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend for our return home to Lincoln. And it made the eight-hour car ride evaporate--well at least in comparison to our trip out there with only music and our witty banter to keep us company. This is the second in the Reacher series that I've read, Bad Luck and Trouble being the first. Having come fresh off the heals of that title, it was interesting to see Jack in the army, and it only whets my appetite to go bac...more
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Read in December, 2008
recommended to Meghan by:
My Dad
An okay read; definitely my least favorite of the Reacher novels thus far though. I think that is strictly personal though because I did not enjoy all of the military information in the book. I enjoy Reacher's character and it's nice to know a little more about his background, but I'm not that interested in the military and there was WAY too much of that in "The Enemy" for me. A chapter flashback/summary would have sufficed for me. This was a little much and it was difficult to follow ...more
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Read in September, 2005
So, this past week my wife and kids have been out of town. While they were gone I was supposed to finish several projects around the house. What did I do instead? I read. How am I supposed to get anything done when there are so many good books in this world.
I ran across the Jack Reacher series a few years ago while wondering the stacks in the library. In a world that values the sensitive, new-aged man, there is something refreshing about a protagonist that hearkens back to the days o...more
I ran across the Jack Reacher series a few years ago while wondering the stacks in the library. In a world that values the sensitive, new-aged man, there is something refreshing about a protagonist that hearkens back to the days o...more
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This was a good read. There weren't any chase sequences in the book so it was interesting how Lee Child kept the action moving by continually moving the main characters; they don't stay in one place more than a couple of pages.
There was an engaging vignette where two brothers say good-bye to their dying mother and an interesting analysis of the sounds of the twentieth century - the defining sound of the twentieth century was tanks in the streets.
Clues keep popping up at r...more
There was an engaging vignette where two brothers say good-bye to their dying mother and an interesting analysis of the sounds of the twentieth century - the defining sound of the twentieth century was tanks in the streets.
Clues keep popping up at r...more
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Read in July, 2008
This was my first Reacher novel, which I preferred to the second one I read, Nothing to Lose, in large part because I think that 1st person narrative works better for the character than 3rd person does. (No, the series is not consistent. Yes, I think that's weird.) Despite the fact that I figured out who did it about a hundred pages before the main character, I still found the character himself and how he was going to come out of the situation to keep reading non-stop. I kind of wish there were ...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Lee Child fans
This is another good example of this genre. I enjoy the Lee Child books because the protagonist acts a lot more realistically than some of the other characters in this genre. This book is a prequel and takes us back to Reacher's time as an army M.P. I was expecting the answer to why he left the forces to become the aimless drifter that we meet in The Killing Floor (first Reacher novel). However, this wasn't the case so I guess we can expect more prequels. This was a little more obvious than Lee...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Andrea by:
Bryn Mawr List
The further I got into this book, the more I liked it. I thought the plot was interesting, and the solution not obvious. I liked the main character and his "sidekick," and I thought the writing style fit perfectly with the subject matter. The end was a bit jarring, but it did leave me wanting to read the other books in the series (which I gather take place after the time of this book, though they were written earlier.) One minor annoyance - did he really need to go on and on and on and...more
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Trying to find a new mystery series to get into and bought this while delayed at the D.C. airport. So far, just okay.
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Inez
This book is written with the same engaging conversational technique that keeps you reading. Since I read a lot of mysteries and detective stories, I got the plot of this one within the first two chapters and was dissappointed that it took so long for Reacher, the lead character, to figure it out. Additionally, it has some harsh, demeaning language against gays. While I don't accept that lifestyle, I see no reason to degrade another person with rudeness. I was offended at one chapter, it may...more
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Another worthy thriller by Lee Child. I didn't like this as much as Killing Floor, I felt it dragged a bit and Reacher's actions made less sense to me. I'm also having trouble seeing Reacher bagging these stunning intelligent young women, that may be because I can't get an accurate mental picture of him as a young man, his demeanour makes me see him as an old dude, like an ageing James Bond or Chuck Norris type. Old man and young woman eeks me out. Perhaps I should pick a hot under or just ...more
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Read in December, 2008
It is New Years Day 1990 - Reacher's problems begin...
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I liked this book with the exception of the incomplete sentences the author used. Annoyed me. Really. Hard to focus on the plot sometimes. Went on and on. Never ending. Should go back to fourth grade.
Otherwise, the plot was complex and interesting even though he took some rather unbelievable assumptions and turns of events. The main character acted illogically in accordance of the information at hand. A solid read, though.
Otherwise, the plot was complex and interesting even though he took some rather unbelievable assumptions and turns of events. The main character acted illogically in accordance of the information at hand. A solid read, though.
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Read in July, 2008
Set in the late 80s, on the eve of the Berlin wall's coming down. Jack Reacher is an investigator in whatever the Army's Internal Affairs division is, trying to uncover what might have been in a dead General's missing briefcase. Uh, various shit goes down of a violent nature. I learned interesting things about the army's organization, and differences between Special Forces and other soldiers. An intelligent and suspenseful mystery told in a clear, crisp style. I plan on reading a lot more J...more
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Jack Reacher. What more can you say about him. Men want to be him and women...well you know what women want. Child knows how to crank up the tension in a scene while creating a truly lickable...I mean Likeable kind of character. He may not be perfect. You may not agree with everything that he does. But he has created a life for himself that the rest of us can really only dream of.
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Read in November, 2008
recommended to Kcduecker by:
CATHY TERRY
I LIKE THE BOOK AND PLAN READING THE REST OF THE JACK REACHER NOVELS.
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Read in January, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 2004
Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels are in that take-me-away genre. They just grab you with the first paragraph and keep you until they are done with you. A two-star general is found in a seedy motel room dead of a heart attack and his brief case is missing. Jack's MP career is quickly on the line when no one is interested in finding out more, but him.
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