Walter J. (reading-is-bliss) - , reviewed on 2/27/2020 + 73 more book reviews

I very much liked Jack Reacher novel #24 and, having acquired at the same time #25, Blue Moon, as in "once in a blue moon", I couldn't wait to get into it. It started great. It stayed quite interesting for a while. But then, wait. What happened to the Jack Reacher I knew and loved? The amazing ex-military cop who has an uncanny ability to see through all the muddle and a perfect moral compass and always does the right thing no matter how tough the odds. The Jack Reacher Lee Child depicts in Blue Moon is hardly the same guy. This guy seems to have no reservations about killing others in cold blood. He usually waits till the other guy starts to pull a gun so he can justify killing in self-defense. But not always. If he perceives an adversary is "bad", that's all it takes. BAM he's history. If the other guy strikes first, Reacher always makes the right defensive move so that whether it's with a gun or with a fist or even a heavy object like a baseball bat, Reacher is always a step ahead. In turn, Reacher never misses, to the point of ludicrousness! And the plot Lee Child lays out in Blue Moon where there are bad guys everywhere Reacher turns, provides an enormous opportunity for conflict, so as the plot, preposterous as it is, continues to progress, there are dead bodies everywhere with no real danger of police intervention or having to worry about getting caught. The dialogue is typical Reacher -- short blunt sentences describing the action in micro-detail, spurt message exchanges between Reacher's back brain vs. front brain, often humorous but ultimately aggravating to the reader to the point one can't help thinking "okay, enough is enough."

I don't know. Maybe it's time to forget Lee Child's Jack Reacher series once and for all. There have been a few in the past I was a bit disappointed with but never like this one where it got to the point I couldn't wait till it was over. One and a half stars, rounded to two is the best rating I can give it.

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