Bantam Personal: (Jack Reacher 19)

Oh, what a relief. Having read all of the Reacher books - some more than once - it is so good to have our Jack back again with 'Personal'.The last 'decent' Reacher book was, IMO, Worth Dying For (no. 15). The others since then have left me feeling disappointed, and more than a little bereft. I missed my favourite action hero. But here he is, back again, large as life (pun intended).I won't summarise the plot because other reviewers have done that. What I will say is that if you like your Reacher to be involved in fist fights, gun fights, and outwitting people with that oh-so-logical mind of his, then look no further.I liked the location being moved (briefly to Paris, and then to London/Essex). I think the last time Reacher was in the UK was for The Hard Way, but that was a rural set-up, and it was good to see him in London (with some amusing, tongue-in-cheek observations about British peculiarities along the way). I know that the Reacher we know and love is the one doing his Littlest Hobo routine, moving from one US state to another, and those stories are still my favourites, but I don't think a change does any harm once in a while.Living oop North, I don't know how realistic the Romford Boys are but really, does it matter? They made for a satisfying gang of baddies, especially 'Little' Joey who, at 6'11", is Reacher's largest adversary since (I think) the huge guy in Persuader. As someone who's never had any training in unarmed combat, nor often finds myself in situations I need to fight my way out of (thankfully), I always find the fight scenes fascinating. Lee Child is the only author I know who goes into such lengthy descriptions of a fight which only lasts for a couple of minutes maximum.As regards the character of Casey Nice, I liked her. She was well fleshed-out and intriguing. She demonstrated that even CIA agents are human. Lee Child did a good job of keeping their relationship purely platonic/professional (the bit where Reacher has a right old perv at her arse notwithstanding). Nice is in her twenties, Reacher is in his fifties. A sexual relationship between them would have been gratuitous and inappropriate.The reveal at the ending was a good'un - I didn't see it coming - and things were tied up nicely. All in all, a really satisfactory read. If you've not read a Reacher book before, you won't be disappointed. If you're a Reacher fan who feels he's gone off the boil of late, then take heart from him being back.All we need now is for the next book to be Jack, on foot, righting wrongs in some dusty, sparsely-populated US state, smashing faces with his elbows and drinking gallons of coffee, for him to be right back on track. Yay!

It's much better than some reviews give it credit for ...What's wrong with people? Reading some of the reviews on here, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a dreadful book whereas, in fact, the opposite is true.There was a time - somewhere around book 12 or 13 and lasting until around book 16 - when I thought Reacher looked to have run his course. But actually, I feel like Lee Child has revitalised the franchise a bit in the last two or three outings. In Personal, the hard-boiled style is still there and Reacher retains many of the personal traits that came to define him from the first book (the loner who travels with a folding toothbrush, a roll of notes, a precise internal alarm clock and the ability to flatten any opponent in his path).But with Personal, I think we get a sense of Lee Child concentrating a bit more on plot and substance and rather less on the ability of Jack Reacher to bulldoze his way through any and all opponents. There's a bit more to this than in previous books, I felt. For some fans of the series, that may be the problem, of course: Reacher is a hard-case and it's certainly true to say that the character's brutality (albeit for the right reasons) was what made me a fan of the series once I read The Killing Floor. But head-butting and knee-snapping your way through every encounter with the bad guys only gets you so far and I was quite pleased to have a bit of depth added to our hero and his environment in this book.Is it classic Reacher? No, and there are one or two moments which prompt an arched eyebrow. But by and large, I thought this was a jolly good read - done in the space of 24 hours on a Spanish beach and balcony.Thoroughly enjoyable if not quite the full five stars.

This is the 19th Jack Reacher book by Lee Child and I can't quite believe it. I have been a fan from the beginning. Yes, they are ridiculous but I really just enjoy reading them. They are ridiculously good fun and Jack Reacher for all his machismo, false modesty and ability to do the quite unbelievable, is still a great fictional character.Lee Child swaps his narration position in these books quite often - I prefer 3rd person, this is 1st person which I find jarring with these books, Nevertheless, it's a typical Jack book. A sniper has taken a shot at the French President and the only sniper known that is able to take that shot has recently been released from prison. A prison that Jack got him sent to so the US government reaches out to Jack to track the sniper down. 2 other men are known to international agencies, men that would have been able to take that shot and Jack has to work with other agencies to track down all three men and find out who took the shot and why.The story takes Jack to Paris then London where he gets tangled up with a London gang - dodging them as well as the sniper who he knows must be after him and judging the range that he can shoot at, Jack may never see the bullet coming.What can I say about this book? It's a good read - simple, exciting and ridiculous. I feel that Child needs to start taking Jack in a new direction, after all he's been at this a long time. Maybe that's what he tried with this book - making Jack international, but Jack's better on his home turf, small towns, brutal men. Like the Littlest Hobo - only big.

I have long hoped Reacher would move out of the US of A so it was with considerable anticipation that I began this book.Unfortunately it proved to be an uninspiring read.An assassination attempt on the French president was a promising start all to soon lost in what became a wander through the Paris street map and here I was reminded of an earlier effort 'Echo Burning', That also had all the marks of a holiday in the area dressed up as a rather lame story.Having said that it could have recovered had the story not moved to the UK where even the use of the word GUN causes a high level of incontinence in the British establishment. Here the gangland references were something a time warp sounding more like the 50's and the Kray twins saga than a modern comment on the crime world in the UK.Increasing frustration was amplified when I was expected to get excited by the introduction of some form of special glass the references to which went on and on.As to the finale well what finale? To be confronted with the idea that the whole elaborate and frustrating exercise was just to fulfil an old man's ambition, well I ask you.My final comment was with the female lead, just what was the point of her presence, it seems that Mr Child is not alone in introducing superfluous female characters, designed to attract female readers I suppose, but at least let them have some point. His character could have been removed completely and it would have had no effect on the story.My repeated advice would be to either go back in time to Reacher's earlier years in the army perhaps Europe in the Cold War or forward to the current spate of Muslim terrorism. The idea of Reacher dealing, in his inimitable way, with Islamic terrorism has a definite appeal.Hopefully this one is something of an aberration in the never ending tale so I will continue to support the on going story for awhile, but things must get better.

More Jack Reacher then and I enjoyed this one more than the last (not as much as the early ones) but it was very good. They always are. No messing around here, Jack Reacher is Jack Reacher and that is kind of comforting.Don't expect any surprises there are not any. The thing I mostly enjoy about these when I think about it is the fact that they are easy, predictable, do exactly what you expect them to do and are perfect reading when you don't want to have to think too much but want to be entertained. Jack Reacher is highly entertaining. He was here.The story is good, flows out in its usual indomitable style, Jack pops into some lives, gets rid of some bad guys, puts the good guys back on track, doesnt stand for nonsense and, well, buys a toothbrush. And some new clothes. Considering how simple it sounds (and in a lot of ways it is) I was enthralled as ever.These are good readable books of the type that don't make promises they can't keep and the success of the series does not surprise me one bit and is absolutely deserved. Lee Child may never write War and Peace but he will be read forever I have no doubt.Recommended for thriller fans.**Purchased Copy**