Friday 3 May 2019

Die Trying - Lee Child - Jack Reacher Book 2

Die Trying
Jack Reacher Book 2
Lee Child
Penguin Random House Canada
ISBN 9780515142242
eISBN 9781440625725
ASIN B001NHNG64


The Reacher I read, the more Reacher I want to read. Over the last two months I have read nine novels, novella’s or short stories featuring Jack Reacher. And as stated with each one I read, the more I want to read. But I have been pacing myself. Trying to limit myself to one volume a week. And yet even at the time of writing this review I am a third of the way through The Midnight Line from my commute to work this morning. And yet, this particular story is very different than any of the others I have read yet.

This story begins with Jack Reacher stopping to help a woman on crouches out of a Dry Cleaner’s. She has dropped a crutch and is struggling with the door, her other crutch and her laundry. Reacher Picks up the crutch, valiantly takes the laundry. When he turns around there are guns pointing strait at his and the woman’s stomachs. Weighing the odds, and in order to prevent civilian casualties he goes along with the kidnapping for now. 

A very eventful beginning to one of the best Reacher adventures I ‘ve read. I have come to realize that I need to keep reading Reacher novels limited to my commute to and from work. If I start reading once I have the kids down for the evening, I do not make it to bed in a reasonable time! This was another page turner and was very hard to put down. As clues came out about who he was helping and who her father and godfather were the expectation of where the story is going builds exponentially. 

Having been kidnapped of a Chicago street in broad daylight, this story ends up traversing the country. There are several unexpected plot twists. And some incredible action. Reacher has a rule about nit getting hit, because it impairs reaction, and impacts future performance. But in this story, he is hit and hit hard. We also learn some interesting things about Reacher’s skill with a weapon, especially a Sniper Rifle in this story. We are given some more glimpses into his past. And we see his integrity to his code. He cannot and will not leave a woman behind. He will do what he can to save her or he will die trying.

With 23 novels, several short stories, Jack Reacher's Rules, and offerings in anthologies and mash up short stories there is a lot in the Reacher canon to read, and if we are lucky there will be many more offerings yet to come. I greatly enjoyed this novel, and I plan to read them all! 

Books by Lee Child:
Jack Reacher Books Publishing Order:

Killing Floor
Die Trying
Tripwire
The Visitor /Running Blind
Echo Burning
Without Fail
Persuader
The Enemy
One Shot
The Hard Way
Bad Luck and Trouble
Nothing to Lose
Gone Tomorrow
61 Hours
Worth Dying For
The Affair
A Wanted Man
Never Go Back
Personal
Make Me
Night School
The Midnight Line
Past Tense
Blue Moon

The Sentinel Jack Reacher's Rules
...

Reacher Short Stories and Novella’s:
No Middle Name – Complete Collected Short Stories
Stories in No Middle Name Collection:
Too Much Time
Second Son
Deep Down
Guy Walks into A Bar
James Penney’s New Identity
High Heat
Everyone Talks
Not A Drill
Small Wars
Maybe They Have A Tradition

No Room At The Motel
The Picture of the Lonely Diner

Other Short Stories:
The Fourth Man
The Christmas Scorpion
...
Faking a Murderer with Kathy Reichs
Cleaning the Gold with Karin Slaughter
Good and Valuable Consideration with Joseph Finder
...

Other Books by Lee Child
The Hero
Jack Reacher: A Mysterious Profile
...





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