Dell Books, 2009, Dell Mass Market Edition, 2010

Yes, another Jack Reacher novel. I like them. This is the 13th in the series.

The initial premise is very simple: Jack is riding a New York City subway train in the wee hours. There are six passengers in the car, including him. Four of the other passengers are the sleepy, glazed-eyed characters that he would expect to see in the middle of the night on the subway. But the sixth passenger – a woman – has all the earmarks of a suicide bomber. He could have gotten out at the next stop and been done with it, but that wouldn’t have been Jack Reacher. So he confronts the woman as gently as possible. She is distraught, no question, but what does she have in the bag? Is it a bomb? Nope – it is a gun, which she pulls out after a brief conversation with Reacher, points it at him, then turns it on herself and blows her head off.

Suicide by gun on a late-night subway? Pretty unusual. Reacher is not particularly interested at first. But then the FBI and some Washington spooks show up to interview him. They seem to be convinced that the woman passed something to him – a memory stick – before she cast off her mortal coil. She didn’t, but Jack was intrigued. What the heck was going on?

The plot deepens and becomes more sinister the longer he looks into it. Without giving too much away, I will tell you that it involves a guy running for the US Senate, secret Delta Force operations in Afghanistan and Muslim terrorists. As usual it is pretty much a Reacher-against-the-world situation where the feds are trying to arrest him even as the terrorists are trying to kill him. In the end he has to single-handedly take down a 19-person (or is it 20?) terrorist cell.

But Reacher can do it, no fear. He survives to move onto his 14th novel.

Great fun and one of the best Jack Reacher novels that I have read.

9 out of 10.

Delacort Press, 2008

I love the Jack Reacher series, as you probably know.  Nothing to Lose is the 12th in the series, of which I believe I have now read 10.  They are all good, but after a while certain themes reappear.  In this case the reappearing theme is Jack-Reacher-against-the-town, a theme that appeared in the first Reacher, Killing Floor.

The town in this case is Despair, Colorado, just a few miles west of Hope.  Reacher was just traveling through, on his way to California.  He left Hope and walked to Despair. Where he was promptly arrested for vagrancy and run out of town.  Well, you just don’t do that to Jack Reacher.  Back in Hope – and in the arms of a sympathetic female officer of the law – he starts wondering why Despair was so unfriendly, so uninviting. Inquiring minds want to know.

NOTE: There is no such place as Despair CO.  I checked because I wanted to put it on the itinerary for the next west coast trip.

Turns out the town has a secret. Or two. Or three.  It is a company town, run entirely by a 70-something born-again preacher who owns a metal recycling plant that is the only industry in Despair.  And, in addition to recycling old and totaled automobiles, the plant also recycles old and damaged Humvees and tanks under contract from the Army.

All of which Reacher learns in due course when, after being warned to never return to Despair again, he returns about a dozen times, stirring up various kinds of trouble and singlehandedly taking out the entire 6-man Despair police force and burning down the police station.  A one-man wrecking crew, that Jack Reacher.

On one of these numerous return trips he finds that all 200-plus residents of Despair have been deputized and they have formed a human cordon around the town, just to keep Reacher away.  No problem for Reacher – he just sneaks through the cordon, then sneaks back out again.  There ain’t no town big enough to take on Jack Reacher. No sir-ree.

Anyway, it is preposterous and ridiculous and great fun, with a big ending that results in the recycling plant being destroyed.  And then Reacher kisses the lady cop goodbye and continues on his way to California.  Just a little interruption in his itinerary.

8 out of 10.