Quick confession, Lee Child is one of my favourite contemporary writers. The Jack Reacher series of books have kept me entertained for years and I was eagerly awaiting the latest instalment; ‘Nothing To Lose.’
Although I enjoyed the previous novel ‘Bad Luck and Trouble’ I actually thought it was the weakest one so far. I was hoping ‘Nothing To Lose’ would be a return to form.
And it certainly is.
Despite having a slightly unbelievable climax the book is a classic Reacher tale.
Jack Reacher is a forty-something former Major in the military police. I must stress that these novels aren’t hardcore military books. I’m not really interested in military things but the references are understandable and explained in laymans terms so don’t let that put you off.
Reacher is a drifter, moving from town to town – no possessions, just the clothes on his back – living on the money he saved while in the army.
He always seems to find himself in a situation where he can lend his considerable expertise to help someone out.
In ‘Nothing To Lose’ Reacher is travelling across America, seeing where each day takes him as he attempts to get from one side of the US to the other.
He stops off in a small town called Hope and upon discovering the neighbouring town is called Despair, Reacher can’t resist visiting it.
When he gets to the diner in Despair the locals refuse to serve him and attempt to run him out of town.
After a confrontation that sees Reacher beat a couple of the guys up, he finds out they are deputies to the Sheriff.
Reacher is escorted to the edge of town and told if he returns he’ll be arrested.
What are the people of Despair hiding? Why don’t they allow people to travel through their town?
Reacher has a lot of questions and there’s only one way to answer them… so he heads back to Despair.
‘Nothing To Lose’ is a well crafted tale with several interlocking plotlines that will keep you guessing until the end.
It isn’t one of the strongest in the series but it’s certainly a return to form for Jack Reacher.
Rating: 8/10
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GregHorrorShow 
Nice blog about book reviews.