Wednesday, 7 January 2026

Moving Target - Jude Hardin - The Jack Reacher Experiment Book 2

Moving Target
Jack Reacher Experiment Book 2
ISBN 9781543149920
ASIN B06WV7HGZG

Moving Target - Jude Hardin - The Jack Reacher Experiment Book 2

First I want to state I enjoyed this book and look forward to the rest in the series and the other two Reacher Series Jude has penned. Second a few years ago I read my first Reacher novel. I had picked up one for my dad, and after giving the back a read, I grabbed the eBook for myself. In under a year I had read all the Reacher Novels in print and all the books in the Hunt for Jack Reacher by Diane Capri. Since then I have read 58 books in the Reacher universe and am expanding out to the three series by Jude Hardin now.

The description of this book:

“About The Jack Reacher Experiment series

Rock Wahlman: Forty-one years old, United States Navy Master at Arms, E-8, retired.

DOB 14 October 2057.

Grew up in an orphanage, recently discovered that he is the product of a human cloning experiment, an exact genetic duplicate of a former army officer named Jack Reacher.

Now someone wants all evidence of the experiment to be erased, which means that someone wants Wahlman to be erased.

He’s on the run, desperate to survive, desperate to learn the truth about why all this is happening…

The use of story situations and supporting characters from the Jack Reacher universe authorized by Lee Child.

Moving Target: The Jack Reacher Experiment Book 2 is 18,000 words, approximately 85 pages.”

Based on the page count this volume is more of a novella, the book in this series are available as 9 stand-alone stories or in 3 omnibus editions. I will continue to read and review the stand-alone editions because that is how I started the series. But, back to the book at hand. I used adaptive technology and listed to this volume while travelling with my son, to see a production at the Stratford festival. I was surprised when the book finished as we pulled into town. I was not aware of the length, and figured we would listen on the way home as well.  

Even death can’t keep Reacher down, in a manner of speaking. Rock Wahlman is a clone of Reacher, but he was not the only one. In the first volume, on the night his life goes sideways, he tries and saves a man after his rig goes off the road and into water. The man he pulls from the water looks just like him. Having been raised in an orphanage this raises some questions. After an attempt on his life, he starts putting together the pieces. His life may have been different than Reacher’s but his determination when he is threatened is the same. 

This story continues a few months later. Wahlman now using aliases has become a drifter, moving from town to town. Never staying anywhere too long. Trying to pieced together the information about who in the military is trying to cover their tracks. He needs enough proof to be able to expose it, and get some soft of life back. He has begun reading up on Jack Reacher’s exploits because the files are declassified now. He is not quite living the Reacher lifestyle, he has a backpack, fake ID, but in this instalment he rolls into town, eats at a diner, starts a friendship with a waitress, and just like Reacher trouble just seems to find him. 

It is a well written story. That stays true to the original character and universe. It is a fun read in a good series. Even if this volume had not been set in the Reacher Universe I would have enjoyed it. The fact that it is only adds to the mystique that is Jack Reacher. It was good read and leaves you desperate for the next instalment in this series. A thriller, a book I can easily recommend to fans of Reacher or anyone who love a good action thriller.

Books by Jude Hardin:
Books in the Jack Reacher Experiment Series:
No Escape
Kill Shot
357 Sunset
Redline
End Game
Ricochet
Gone
The Reacher Experiment Books 1-3 
The Reacher Experiment Books 4-6 
The Reacher Experiment Books 7-9
The Reacher Experiment: The Complete Series Books 1-9

The Reacher Code Series:
Timestream 1
Timestream 2
Timestream 3

Jack Reacher Files Series:
Fugative
Choke
Hostage
Velocity
The Girl from the Wrong Side of Cordial 

Dead Ringer - Jude Hardin - Jack Reacher Experiment Books 1-9


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