Alexander L. Belikoff reviewed THE SENTINEL by CHILD LEE
Review of 'THE SENTINEL' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Having readjusted my expectations after positively abysmal "Blue Moon" (which was beyond bad even by the genre standards), I approached the new Jack Reacher book cautiously. I obviously lied when I had proclaimed a year ago, that it was time for me to part ways with our beloved unkempt wandering protagonist - the habit is difficult to kick and who is not a sucker for some well deserved justice, where you know with confidence that evil will be punished and any kicks and punches missed by our Hero not only won't cause any harm but more likely will have a healing shiatsu effect on him...
Well, apologies for sounding too dramatic, but there are good news and there are bad news... The good news is that the book is positively better than the last year's one. There is a somewhat meaningful plot. The writing style is night and day (who …
Having readjusted my expectations after positively abysmal "Blue Moon" (which was beyond bad even by the genre standards), I approached the new Jack Reacher book cautiously. I obviously lied when I had proclaimed a year ago, that it was time for me to part ways with our beloved unkempt wandering protagonist - the habit is difficult to kick and who is not a sucker for some well deserved justice, where you know with confidence that evil will be punished and any kicks and punches missed by our Hero not only won't cause any harm but more likely will have a healing shiatsu effect on him...
Well, apologies for sounding too dramatic, but there are good news and there are bad news... The good news is that the book is positively better than the last year's one. There is a somewhat meaningful plot. The writing style is night and day (who knows, maybe it is due to the beneficial influence of Mr. Child's brother who co-authored the book). The books feels much less like a console shooter from the 80s...
On the flipside... Well, maybe there is no flipside after all - these are the rules of the genre and our expectations should be calibrated accordingly. The plot - as usual - sticks to the tried and true "Veni, Vidi, Vici" paradigm and has more holes than a bar wall in a Western movie. The writing style... Let's just say, if you've grown fond of repeated sentences, extremely detailed descriptions of the dynamics of fistfight and "somewhat limited familiarity" with how technology works - you won't be disappointed.
To summarize - if you are much like me (don't be like me!) and treat the never-ending Jack Reacher's saga as a once-a-year guilty pleasure, you'll enjoy it for what it is. Yes, Jack will stop for a moment only to be thrown into the plot by sheer accident. Yes, evil will be cast into Ye Lake of Fire. No, Jack will not stay - he has a bus to catch.
Verdict: recommended (with caveats).
