Rating: 
Summary: Saw it coming a mile away!
Review: I'm a horror buff but I dig a good mystery once in a while ( I happen to think the best horrorstories are the ones which have a mystery element to them. Like some of Peter Straub's books and the excellent 'Scream' movies).
Anyway I picked this book up at my local library. It was an english edition which had the alternate title THE VISITOR (one I don't think is at all inapproriate, since the killer in this story is in some way invited into the homes of his victims). I haven't read any of Child's others books, but after this one I might read another one.
I say 'might' on purpose 'cause although RUNNING BLIND is a good book I figured out the plot and the killer fairly easily and (I really hate that) early on in the story. And in my opinion there lies the problem with this book. It's good and clever thought of, but there are clues left all over the place and I don't think Child did that all on purpose. I think it's because (and RUNNING BLIND isn't the only mystery novel which suffers from this) when you start to read this book you just know the plot and motive are going to be so farfetched that you start looking for the least likely suspect and just assume he's going to be it...and voila!
This book also has a so called 'locked door' element in 'how the murders are committed' is as important as 'who's doing it'. I also figured that out fairly easily, once again there's more than a fair share of clues for that.I'm not that all negative about the book though (Why else would I give it three stars? And as an aspiring writer I wish I could come up with a plot like this). It's because I really liked the character Jack Reacher a somewhat cliched hardman and drifter and it's great fun seeing your theories proven to be right. I read somewhere Child is a former tv writer and it shows in some parts of the book: the stereotypical portrail of the FBI and the gangsters, the beautiful woman FBI sidekick etc. RUNNING BLIND isn't at all realistic. But I think no reader would come in expecting that! Like I said earlier it doesn't make it a bad read though. Just not great.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Keeps Getting Better
Review: Lee Child's previous books were all rated a perfect 10, which made rating this one difficult: it was even better! You just can't be disappointed in reading the ongoing travail of Jack Reacher. Child's talent is developing with each book, and he now takes his place with the spellbinding authors of today. I don't like to give away the plot of any books I review, but please do yourself a favor, and read this. But make sure you have time when you start, because you won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: TO UNBELIEVEABLE!
Review: Have read the first four of Child's Jack Reacher books. They all have had some parts that are really unbelieveable but so much of this one is it is unreal. Reacher is blackmailed into helping the FBI track down a seriel killer. Why is the killer taking out single women? The connection seems to be they were all military and filed charges of sexual harrasement charges against a higher authority. But is that the reason? We have Julia Lamarr and Nelson Blake, bad FBI agents and Lisa Harper, good FBI agent. I really think a lot of the actions by the FBI is really what is happening in the world today. Women keep getting killed in bathtubs covered in paint. How did they die? No one can figure out. Jack must be slipping, the FBI has followed him for a week and he is not aware of it. The crimes take place to far apart and it takes forever for Jack to explain to Lisa how he knew who the killer was. I agree with other reviewers that Jack needs to clean up more often. I guess I will read more about Jack Reacher but hope the next one is more believeable.
Rating: 
Summary: Where did Child get his info about psychology?
Review: I don't know much about the military or the FBI, but whoever is teaching Lee Child psychology needs to be reprimanded. I'm not a total expert in that, either, just a BA, but anybody who's had a year or two of psych knows that that is NOT how hypnosis works. I'm afraid that completely ruined this book for me. I read it through, but since I already knew who the bad guy was (in what was surely the most telegraphed foreshadowing I've ever seen), and I knew the manner of killing was completely unrealistic, it was hard for me to get into it. Thrillers are cool because they *could* be true -- there was just no way this premise could be true, that's all. I don't ask much out of thrillers. Consistency and coherence and some modicum of real-world fact -- that's all I want.
Rating: 
Summary: Lee Child's Writing Blind
Review: This is the fourth Reacher novel I've read and they've steadily gone downhill from 'Killing Floor'. From Lee Child not knowing diddly-squat about the military life Reacher purports to come from to the unbelievable string of coincidences in the storyline, Child totally stretches the realm of credibility. Jack Reacher is coerced in to leading a FBI investigation of several murders, and all the while the FBI steadfastly refuses to entertain any of his ideas. If that isn't bad enough for Reacher, the FBI is persistently trying to blackmail and pin crimes on him. Of course, that cannot stop our hero, Reacher, from solving the murders. Heck, he even gets all the girls, but just temporarily. I guess what really turned me off about this book was that: Reacher is seemingly infallible, the FBI is an incompetent modern day Gestapo, and the egregious errors about the military i.e., Fort Dix, NJ being a Marine Corps Air station, C'mon! Jack Reacher would be a somewhat interesting character if Child didn't continually try to turn him in to a psychic superman who never changes his clothes.
Rating:
Summary: My least favorite so far!
Review: I have been reading Lee Child's books in order and this one was kind of disappointing. Knew fairly early who the killer was because I happened to remember one sentence in the beginning chapters.Fort Dix is NOT a Marine base! Heavens, what a boo boo!(My husband is a formr Marine)and his Mecca is much further south. And I really hope our FBI isnt similar to the protrayal in this story. Altho the premise was a new one for me, the ending left me wanting for some other explanation. Still, I will read Mr. Child's next. Jack Reacher is getting to be a cult figure!
Rating: 
Summary: Jack Reacher May Be Running Blind, But He's Oh, So Good!
Review: For those such as myself, who were a bit disappointed with Lee Child's "Tripwire," take heart! Jack Reacher is back at his very best; not too smart, not too slow witted, but just right. Also, he's still very capable of handling most adversaries and charming all (well, almost all) women and pissing off most men. It is a fast paced thriller in search of a serial killer which takes many twists and turns, but entertains all the way. It leaves you a bit exhausted, but exhilarated at the same time! No author seems to get along with the FBI, but this book has a lot of fun with their procedures, while bending a few military rules along the way. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: Real Red Herring Book
Review: I loved this book. It started out kind of slow and I didn't think I was going to care for it, but it picked up speed. For those of you who are real "sleuths" you will figure out the killer fairly early on, but there are enough twists and turns for everybody to enjoy. Jack Reacher is a "real" guy with foibles and all! You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: I've only read one other Lee Child book: "Killing Floor" and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Gotta go back and get the ones I missed!) This book is a great read, but the crime is impossible. It could not have happened, if everything I've read on the subject is true. For the sake of those of you who have not read the book, I won't elaborate on "the subject." But that's my gripe. This scenario could not have happened as he wrote it. So... read it (you won't be bored) and see if you don't agree with me.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: My first Jack Reacher novel and all I can say is WHAT A RIDE! Just when you think you know what's going to happen next, you're thrown a curve ball and it's off and running again. I can't wait to go back and read the previous books!
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