Running Blind

Rating:
Summary: The best Reacher yet
Review: If you've been seeking some DeMille read-a-likes, look no further than Lee Child's Reacher series. And _Running Blind_ is the best one yet, which is saying something. Former military cop Jack Reacher is in New York City, reconsidering the impact his inherited house and relationship has on his beloved "vagabond" lifestyle. He happens upon a small-time protection racket and quickly, violently deals with the situation. Within hours, he is pulled off the streets by a SWAT team of feds.

It turns out he was already under surveillance; he's one of the prime suspects in a serial murder case. Several retired female soldiers have been killed in their homes under circumstances that are truly bizarre. Since he had served with two of the women, he's one of the key suspects that the FBI profilers have identified.

Proving his innocence, inciting a mob war, and tracking down the real killer are all on the agenda. Reacher is tough, sarcastic, and a completely entertaining character. And don't worry about reading the Reacher series in order - I didn't, and did not miss a beat. Each story seems to stand alone just fine.

Rating:
Summary: Another hit for Lee Child
Review: When I first sat down to read this book, I was a little scared that it might not me as good as his other Jack Reacher novels. But after finishing it in one day (I just couldn't put it down) I was very impressed.

This thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire novel and makes you come back wanting for more.

After reading the other reviews, I noticed there were some negative comments about the italic paragraphs throughout the book. Personally I loved them and couldn't wait until the next one appeared. There were also comments which I may agree with. The FBI does seem a little harsh in this book but that may be what it is actually like. Who knows?

Despite very minor flaws like the one mentioned above, I think this book is another great hit for Lee Child and a smash read for anyone who likes a great thriller. I can't wait until the next Child book comes out later this year!

Rating:
Summary: The weakest in the Jack Reacher series.
Review: Lee Child has written seven novels about Jack Reacher, a former military cop with formidable combat skills. The strength of the Reacher novels is the plotting; Child is excellent at throwing red herrings and plot reversals in to keep the reader off-guard. The results are usually effective thrillers, with plenty of action.
Running Blind fails as a thriller. All of the Reacher novels, indeed just about every thriller, have inconsistencies, coincidences, or illogical behavior by the characters. In effective thrillers, the force of the plot pushes the action at such a pace that the reader doesn't care about these problems. After all, no one readers a thriller for realism. Here, Child's plot has women who were sexually harassed being killed under bizarre circumstances, with no obvious cause of death, and without the killer leaving a trace of how the crime was committed. Enough clues are given that most readers will realize who the killer is and how the killer pulls it off half way through the book. And the means used to pull it off would not be believed in a comic book. The sheer impossibility was so great that once I realized what the answer was, I skipped to the end of the book to confirm my belief, and then gave up on it. Child painted himself in a corner with this book that he had to rely on something that might have been used in the B movies of the thirties, but is ridiculous today. I suggest skipping this book and going with the rest of the series. Certainly, any one who has not read the other Reacher books should avoid this one -- they may be so put off by the absurd ending that they will not read the others and thus miss some great thrillers.

Rating:
Summary: Taking on the FBI and a serial killer with only a toothbrush
Review: As I've indicated in my previous reviews of Lee Child's novels, his hero-with-an-attitude, Jack Reacher, former Army Military Police major turned vagabond-who-attracts-trouble, is one of my favorite squinty-eyed tough guys - right up there with Dirty Harry himself.

In RUNNING BLIND, Jack finds himself being coerced by a very nasty and un-American FBI to help the agency track down a serial assassin of ex-Army women, who, while in service, had been the objects of sexual harassment and had subsequently complained. Each of those murdered has been found in her bathtub submerged in camouflage-green paint, with no evidence of a struggle or apparent cause of death. Initially, he FBI tries to enlist Reacher's co-operation by pretending he's the chief suspect. When that ruse falls flat, they indirectly threaten to have his current girlfriend tortured and murdered by a local sadist. I mean, is this the FBI of Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. that those of us old enough to remember all know and love? (The "FBI" was a TV series in the late 60's/early 70's, in which the House That Hoover Built was depicted as the righteous, square-jawed defender of God-blessed America from sea to shining sea.)

Inasmuch as Child has Jack pursuing a serial killer, this latest potboiler swerves close to becoming a conventional who-dunit. However, the usual excellence of a Reacher thriller is achieved by Jack's ability to stare down and outwit the Feds, carry on relationships (of a sort) with three very different women, and nail the Bad Guy besides. With a Man's Man like this, who needs Harry? The latter is definitely passé and out to pasture in Carmel.

The absolutely very best thing about RUNNING BLIND is the plot twist identity of the Perp. Even Reacher himself is fooled for a brief moment. ("Say it ain't so, Joe!") Because of this, I must say that this is Child's finest effort to date. Bring on the next one 'cuz I'm ready to buy!

Rating:
Summary: Exciting thriller with a wonderful main character.
Review: Lee Child's "Running Blind" is a novel about the FBI's efforts to find a sadistic and malevolent serial killer. The main character is Jack Reacher, a macho ex-military man, who is as sharp mentally as he is quick and capable with his fists. Reacher lives by a unique moral code and pretty much does as he likes. He has no job, has little respect for authority and doesn't play by society's rules. The FBI enlists Reacher's help when their best investigators are stymied by the aforementioned killer who is murdering women without leaving any obvious clues. Reacher is a brilliant investigator who thinks creatively and makes mental leaps that are helpful in solving difficult cases. "Running Blind" is fast-paced and action-packed, and Reacher is an appealing, if rough-edged, hero. Child would have us believe that Reacher owns one set of clothes and wears them all the time! That is a bit much to swallow. Another quibble that I have is that Child uses too much misdirection to fool the reader and I feel that he sometimes does not play fair. However, "Running Blind" does have sharp dialogue and many unexpected twists and turns. It is a page-turner and I doubt that anyone will be able to put it down in the last ten pages. I recommend "Running Blind," since it is a clever police procedural that keeps the reader guessing until the end.

Rating:
Summary: The humanization of Reacher
Review: In Lee Child's "Running Blind" we find ex-MP hero Jack Reacher entrapped by the FBI. Reacher was unwittingly observed by an FBI surveillance team using strong arm tactics in thwarting an extortion attempt against a restauranteur of an Italian place that he frequented.

Reacher was reeled in on the pretext that he fit the profile of a serial killer who had eluded apprehension by the FBI. The cerebral killer had murdered a group of former female members of the Army who had filed sexual harrassmnet charges. They were all found immersed in bathtubs filled to the top with green Army camouflage paint. All victims were apparently not drowned but killed by a means so far undeciphered. There was an unprecedented lack of clues and no clear motive.

Reacher was coerced into helping the FBI investigate using some thinly veiled threats to his girlfriend Jodie Garber. Garber, a high powered New York attorney and daughter of Reacher mentor, the late General Leon Garber, was on the verge of being made a partner in her firm. Throughout the book drifter-like Reacher who inherited General Garber's house was wrestling with the feelings of being tied down. While he and Jodie were very much in love they were both unwilling to follow in each other's lifestyle.

Reacher, of course, is instrumental in ultimately solving the paradoxes behind the killings. Child in this work explores the inner workings of Reacher's psyche which gives "Running Blind" a more expansive picture into the human side of his main character.

Rating:
Summary: Editor needed
Review: Lee Child writes American fiction with English diction. His style is lithe and flexible. I found his book engaging and engrossing and very annoying.

I wanted to write him a disgruntled email asking him why he took me out of my pleasant suspension of disbelief by making me ask questions that the book had no answer to. Why does his character take only a toothbrush and have no clothes to change into? Why does he concentrate in minute and loving detail on Lisa Harper's clothes changes and forget that his hero is equally human and in need of clean clothes? Surely a hero who takes two showers in an eight hour period has some notions of human hygiene.

Lee Childs notably has no long and gushing list of thanks and praise for everyone from his turtle to his manicurist, and I presume he has no editor either. I suggest he hires one.

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This book grabs you right from the start and throws you into the tense atmosphere and tight action. It keeps you one the edge of your seat.

Jack Reacher is blackmailed by the FBI to solve a series of murders that he's first been accused of and later been absolved of. Jack travels the country in an effort to solve these murders. Even at the end, when I just can't imagine how these murders are committed, Jack solves the problem and saves yet another woman.

Jack is smart, interesting, well read and at times I even get a chuckle out of his comments and behavior. He is also hard and knows how to do what needs to be done in a tight situation. Jack takes care of the little guys and brings the big ugly nasties down to size. He is my new hero.

This isn't my first Jack Reacher novel nor will it be my last. In fact, I even like the novels by this author that are not Reacher novels.

Well worth the money.
Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Bizarre and disappointing
Review: The "red herring" here is completely absurd. I won't describe it, so as not to spoil the book for anyone. But a red herring is supposed to be integral to the plot--there is good reason, given the circumstances, to suspect the red herring. Here, though, once "whodunnit" is revealed, if you think about it you will realize (a) that there is simply no reason whatsoever for the red herring character ever to have been mentioned at all--your grandmother might as well have been inserted as the red herring, since her presence is exactly as integral to the plot as this character's-- and (b) the red herring's actions that lure us along make absolutely no sense, since he isn't the villain--it is as if your grandmother, completely by accident, has been doing things precisely parallel to the actions of the killer in this book. Not likely, right? This is just bad, lazy plotting.

And the portrayal of the FBI here is too ludicrous--I agree with another reviewer who said it makes suspension of disbelief impossible. Just gratuitously vicious and corrupt. Not to mention that somehow, because the profilers are on the job, no regular agents do any regular investigating, and no field office has anyone working on the cases in their areas! Earth to Child: SOP is not suspended when the profilers are called in. (And I'm pretty sure that D.C.-based profilers do not serve as agents in charge.) Again, lazy plotting.

And I found the relatinship between Jack and jodie just unbelievable. I won't say why--again, so as not to spoil anything for others.

I generally like Lee Child quite a lot, but this one is a real lemon. Really bad.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Reacher Novel Yet!
Review: Gripping and Exciting, a book you will not be able to put down. This is definately one of the best books in the Jack Reacher series yet! If you loved Lee Child's previous 3 Reacher novels, you will definately love this one. In this fourth book of the series Reacher is cohersed by the FBI into helping them track down a serial killer who is killing women around the USA and then placing their bodies in bath tubs filled with olive green army paint. At first a suspect and then a consultant, Reacher reluctantly aids them in their search. This book has it all... an interesting story line, great characters and plenty of plot twists and turns. I highly recommend this book.