one of the less than average Reacher books (so far)
3 stars
this Reacher installment has all the competence porn of a normal Reacher book, but lacks some of the plot coherency. to be honest, I'm not expecting things to reflect the real world, but I'd like them to follow some basic logic. for example, unnamed Feds disappear key witnesses, and then later put out APBs and release names to the press. if they're going to be blacks ops, be black ops. black ops don't reveal their presence to massive numbers of cops and the press. can't keep secrets that way. lazy plotting in this book.
Gone Tomorrow is an excellent return to form for Lee Child after the horror that was Nothing to Lose. As a first-person Reacher novel, you get Reacher narration 100% of the time, which already means this novel is going to be pretty awesome. That said, if you don't like first-person, you don't have much to worry about. You get very little of Reacher's internal thoughts and analysis, but there's a few first-person narration points where Reacher implies something about the future... like "oh I hadn't met them yet". I find that kind of foreshadowing to be cheap, especially since there's no indication that Reacher is telling this story to anyone else. But otherwise the first-person narration is purely style over substance.
Speaking of which... the antagonists are competent but nothing special, and while the plot unfolds in a very satisfying and multi-layered way, there were a number of twists that …
Gone Tomorrow is an excellent return to form for Lee Child after the horror that was Nothing to Lose. As a first-person Reacher novel, you get Reacher narration 100% of the time, which already means this novel is going to be pretty awesome. That said, if you don't like first-person, you don't have much to worry about. You get very little of Reacher's internal thoughts and analysis, but there's a few first-person narration points where Reacher implies something about the future... like "oh I hadn't met them yet". I find that kind of foreshadowing to be cheap, especially since there's no indication that Reacher is telling this story to anyone else. But otherwise the first-person narration is purely style over substance.
Speaking of which... the antagonists are competent but nothing special, and while the plot unfolds in a very satisfying and multi-layered way, there were a number of twists that felt like it required Reacher to be more ignorant than usual. As well, Lee Child returns to writing about NYC for the fourth time, and I find myself exasperated at the author's failure to keep his character exploring all of the USA like Reacher says he wants to.
Ultimately, this is a classic Reacher mix of a multi-layered mystery, unclear character allegiances, and multiple groups of antagonists and law-enforcement agencies with their own agendas. It makes this one of the better Reacher novels... just not the best.
I am enjoying Reacher slowly acclimating to the digitization of society, and am curious how Lee Child is writing Reacher in the 2010s or even 2020s. The book covers NYC during the Patriot Act craze, and I've always enjoyed the way Lee Child describes the aggressive, asshole nature of law enforcement agencies. Combining both made for a very enjoyable set of restrictions / antagonists for Reacher to fight against, and is one of the reasons why this novel is so enjoyable.
That said, the idea that Reacher was actually fooled by Lyla, and did very little of the follow up work to confirm her story (including just giving her description to the victim's brother) seemed grossly out of character. This led to the critical twist of bringing in Al-Queda, but I had found his trust in the character to be unwarranted and unsubstantiated by all the conflicting evidence (that of the victim's fear at meeting Lyla, as well as the four former MP's fear of Lyla's large crew). This all leads to an ending where he knife fights against the two women, which was fine but felt excessive. Could he not have reloaded with those loose rounds? I liked Springfield's explanatory comment that the 3-round bursts were equally excessive and evidence of Reacher's thirst for revenge, but the idea that he couldn't slow down at any point to reload felt like author fiat.
I think those minor points weakened the fairly strong plot. I loved the cat and mouse between Reacher and the DOD, as well as against Lyla near the end. It was soooo close to five stars.
