Gone Tomorrow
Ratings92
Average rating4
Wow, this was actually an interesting book. Couldn't put it down, would recommend to thriller lovers.
Rating 3.5
This definitely wasn't my favorite Reacher novel, but I guess after 13 books in the same series, can you really expect every one of them to be fantastic? No, not really. After a while, they get pretty formulaic. In some ways, that may be what the majority of the readers actually want. They want that familiar “feel” of their leading character, and see how they're going to deal with the given scenario.
In that sense, this is a great Jack Reacher novel. All the typical elements are there.
So what's my beef with Gone Tomorrow? It may be me majoring on the minors, but I felt the “set up” was weak. Reacher got in deeper than I think was justifiable for the given situation. And he went farther than I felt was justifiable given that set up. By the end, you feel pretty fine about what goes down, but for 4/5 of the book, the actions of Reacher belie the nobility of the character that has been established throughout the series. While he has the capacity to be a violent character, in the previous dozen books, it's very well established that he's only going to go there when the situation truly deserves it.
In this book, it felt like an unjustified rage rant. Like someone had done something personal to Reacher. Or his family. But the setup isn't personal. If this were a movie, I would strongly suspect that an editor cut some critical material or something. Maybe that's what happened here, as well.
All in all, I felt the author Lee Child took the main character somewhere unjustifiable. I'll read the next book or two fairly carefully as this is a direction that would definitely end the series for me.
What did you think? Am I overreacting here?
4.5 out of 5 really. Not sure why I'm holding that .5 out, but let's say it wasn't perfect – just so, so close.
On the one hand, this was a typical Jack Reacher novel* – Reacher sees a wrong that needs righting, a question that needs answered, someone who needs a little help, a little vengence that needs meting out, and he takes care of business, period. On the other hand – this was more intense, had more twists and turns, with higher (personal) stakes than your typical Reacher novel.
So, I guess it was a typical Reacher novel – just turned up to 11.
It's really hard to say much about this Gone Tomorrow without spoiling the whole thing. But I'm going to try a bit: From the outset, it's hard to tell who Reacher is working for until a little over halfway through the book (I think–didn't take notes); everyone (everyone) lies to him about all sorts of things – but there's enough truth mixed into the lies that I didn't just spoil anything there; the violence (at least on Reacher's part) is a bit more concentrated than usual, but once it starts...whoa, Nelly.
The biggest difference in this one is the looming specter of various counter-terrorism agencies and entities, functioning in the full protection and powers given by the Patriot Act and so on. Reacher and other characters in this book aren't reticent to voice their complaints with these powers and the curtailment on citizen rights, honestly, to an extent that surprised me. While Reacher's not directly in opposition to these agencies (he never would be that), his purposes and theirs do not directly align. Which gives an extra layer of danger for him – if Reacher's not careful, he can disappear like he's never existed before.
Basically the only other thing I can say without spoiling the crap out of this is simply: With Gone Tomorrow, Child, once again, shows that he and Reacher are the best around.
* And a typical Jack Reacher novel is a great read, so don't take this characterization as a complaint.
As always I love me some Jack Reacher. More brutal than past books, but sooooo good. Still can't picture Tom Cruise as Reacher. Impossible.