Lee Child's Without Fail - Review

Without Fail by Lee Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jack Reacher receives a plea to thwart an assassination plot.

Reacher is approached by Secret Service team leader Froelich - her responsibility to protect the Vice President Elect - requesting he undertake an independent assessment of their procedures.

Reacher finds himself persuaded to help, but the situation is far more severe than he is initially led to believe - threats have been made against the incoming Vice President that the Service have reason to take seriously.

Becoming evermore embroiled in an increasingly dangerous situation, Reacher experiences lines blurring as the mission grows more complex. Perhaps, this time, the enemy may prove the victor.

'Without Fail' is Lee Child's sixth novel featuring ex-US Army Major Jack Reacher, now a wanderer with no fixed abode, journeying from place to place having left his life behind, often becoming embroiled in trouble along the way and attempting to right injustices. In this installment, we delve a little more into his past and his relationship with his brother, Joe, who died several years earlier.

With a high-octane plot and ever-increasing stakes, the novel presents as a political thriller entwined with a heavy dose of action, mystery and a touch of romance. We are plunged immediately into the unfolding drama, the Secret Service tracking Reacher down shortly after Election Day, disturbing his anonymity. From the corridors of power to unforgiving rural terrain, against the backdrop of harsh winter, we hurtle onwards to an intense climax, Lee Child once again delivering a gripping, suspenseful and action-packed adventure.

Like many action thriller series, there is something oddly comforting about the Reacher novels, despite its violence, imposing threat and military themes. Partly formulaic, while also exploring different sub-genres in a different setting in each novel, you have confidence that Reacher will always successfully stop the villains in their tracks, by whatever means necessary. He works outside the law, outside society, to his own moral code, an antihero not averse to a touch of vigilantism or all-out vengeance if the need arises.

Engrossing and fast-paced, 'Without Fail' is another solid chapter in the Reacher series, leaving you anticipating where the next step in his journey will take him.



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