Weak 3 stars. Not as good as other Reacher books. Mostly solving a mystery. Not enough action. But it kept my interest.

STORY BRIEF:
Reacher is sitting in a coffee shop and observes a man enter a parked car and drive away. Reacher soon learns that this man was a kidnapper picking up ransom money. Lane’s wife and daughter were kidnaped. Lane asks Reacher to help find them. Lane runs a group of military mercenaries for hire.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
It’s mostly police style investigating. Not enough smart things were being done, either by the bad guys or the good guys. The husband was wealthy and could have put tracking devices on the car, or had video/pictures taken near the car. There is almost no action until the end of the book. The best Reacher stories have been thrillers, with a bad guy plotting and trying to harm Reacher. This is not a thriller. It’s mostly just solving the mystery with some action at the end. But because I like the character Reacher so much, I was ok with this. I didn’t feel a need for it to be over.

I noticed some reviewers complain that the phrase “Reacher said nothing” is overused in these books. I disagree. He’s the “silent type.” Studies have shown that most women use twice as many (or more) words per day than most men. In that sense, it fits. Reacher is not as talkative as others.

I was disappointed that the author did not show one scene. A female does something stupid which allows the bad guys to capture her and others. We don’t see how it happened. It was told, not shown. In one scene the good guys are safe in their house. In the next scene they are tied up in another location and being hurt by the bad guys.

I had one other problem. I almost wish I had not read the book because one back story was too horrible for me. Two soldiers were captured and kept in an African prison for five years, with body amputations and repulsive living conditions. I’ve read a lot of fiction with bad guys doing horrible things, but other books did not bother me the way this did. I’m not sure why, but it kept me awake at night.

THE SERIES:
This is book 10. I suggest reading the books in order, but not required. I gave 4 or more stars to all of the preceding books except four: Running Blind, Without Fail, The Enemy, and this one. Save these for last if you’re NOT a die hard Reacher fan.

NARRATOR:
The narrator Dick Hill was very good.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 11 hrs and 31 mins. Swearing language: I don’t recall any. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: two referred to not shown. Setting: current day New York City, NY and England. Book copyright: 2006. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: pleasant and feel good.