Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (Movie Tie-in Edition): A Novel

This was a great read and a nice look into what it was like for Reacher when he was CO at the 110th. You could see how he got the bad guys and why his men/women would have loved working for him. You just got to love the way he thinks, the way he talks to the bad guys, and especially how he puts them DOWN! Really chuckle worthy. This was also a good glimpse into how he might feel about a family member, a daughter. And how he would respond and react to her. But there was a real satisfying resolution to this plot, one that is true to the Reacher character, and actually most true to the two central bad guys. Though the reader might have wanted a legal resolution for them, Lee Child's choice of ending was actually truer to who these men were. For them it couldn't have ended any other way. Reacher is such an intriguing character, so unlike most anyone we would ever know, living a life so totally different than most of us will ever live, with reasons for doing so. He has a strong core and belief system, and a no nonsense and realistic approach and understanding of life and people. It will be interesting to see where this character continues to go, and the brilliance of Lee Child in keeping the reader hooked on this character. It keeps me reading -- to see eventually where this character finally ends up and how the series concludes -- though I hope that is many books down the road. If you haven't read the books in this series, you are really missing out. You should fix that. And if you have read all these books, you agree with me and look anxiously for the next one!

Never Go Back isn't the best Jack Reacher thriller but it isn't the worst either. Fourteen novels into the series, some of Reacher's tics are becoming too noticeable -in this novel, his fascination with numbers and his use of the coin flip metaphor for making a choice in a situation where the odds can't be calculated. And the ending of this novel, though it makes sense, is a bit flat. But other than those, Never Go Back is a perfectly enjoyable action thriller and Reacher an intriguing hero. In a retrospective preface to the paperback reissue of the first Reacher novel, Killing Floor, 1997, Child tells how he decided what Reacher would look like and what skills he would have: he would be oversized big, muscled and fit and rough looking, so that any ordinary man would take a look at him and walk away, possessed of all sorts of knowledge acquired in thirteen years in the Military Police, aggressive -certainly not slow to take matters to attack when a potential threat looms--and utterly lacking "the remorse gene. It just wasn't there." (Quote from The Hard Way, 2006) Fourteen novels in, Reacher is still an interesting character, more than just an attack machine, a man with complicated tastes in some areas though drastically simplified in others, and determined to lead his life his own way. Reacher would scorn most survivalists as dogmatists, but I suspect survivalists would find him a very appealing hero, perhaps matched only by Stephen Hunter's sniper hero, Bob Lee Swagger. One of the things Child has done consistently since his first novel is to set the scene for explosive violence in the very first chapter. Once you've read the first chapter of a Reacher novel, it's hard not to continue, and this novel is no exception. (Child is one of the few authors whose novels I read from start to finish as soon as I get them. Dick Francis was another, also Donald Westlake writing as `Richard Stark" and Robert Crais's Joe Pike novels for a long time Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. There are mystery and action thrillers who are their equals but they draw me in from the first page and I can't put them down until I'm done with them.) In this novel, it's an encounter with two fit young men, obviously military from their botched brutal haircuts, who come to `persuade' Reacher to leave town. Push comes to shove, and Reacher demolishes both in a scene of precise and controlled violence, graphically told. There's a little too much revealed wisdom about attack strategies and what they do to the human body. It's extraneous to the central flow of action. But who cares? I read it any way and enjoyed those passages as well as the action scene, and two and a half hours, finally put down the book, having read it from start to finish without a break. I haven't talked about plot yet, because plot is the lesser partner in all of the novels in this series. Not that Child doesn't plot well. He -usually--does but plot is just a hanger on which he dresses the clothes of Reacher's character and actions. Reacher needs a dire situation to react against. In this case, Reacher travels to northeast Virginia, the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. He's stopping by to meet the head of the unit he used to supervise. She's major Susan Turner, and if they get along as well face to face as they did on the phone, he intends to ask her out to dinner before he heads on his way to his next destination, which is who knows where. But she isn't there. Behind her desk is an officious colonel (too high in rank for the post) who tells Reacher that (1) Turner is being held for taking a bribe and (2) Reacher's being recalled into the Army to face charges (a) for beating a suspect to near death sixteen years ago and (b) for a personal charge. Reacher ends up not having one, but two Army appointed attorneys (JAGs) as defense attorneys in the unrelated (but highly coincidental) charges. From that point on, things steadily grow worse. Soon, Reacher and major Turne are on the run from the Army, the FBI, the DC Metro police, and four unidentified hooligans who have an interest in terminating their activities, if not their lives. Yes, this is formula fiction. And yes, at times, it seems a bit stale, even old. It happens with series heroes. But still it works. I wouldn't recommend a new reader of this series to start with this installment of the Jack Reacher saga but it kept me occupied for three full hours and I don't regret it a bit.

Albeit through a circuitous route and a couple of books later through Nebraska. We met Susan Turner, the new CO of the 110th MP in "61 Hours" after Jack called the secret number of his old Command in need of information. He spent many hours in phone conversations with her and the information she provided (along with flirtations) helped him survive his current desperate situation and made him want to meet her. I so wanted to get to this point in the series, but instead of skipping ahead to this book that has been waiting patiently in my kindle since it's release, I held off and read the 3 books in between. It was worth the wait because in 2 those books (the 3rd being a prequel taking place in 1997) his main goal was to get to Virginia to meet Susan Turner and it made getting there all the better. Only, it's not as easy at it should be. She's in trouble and so is he and the adventure begins. It's a wild ride crisscrossing the continent in a way that only Jack reacher can do... It's full of action as always with a woman that Jack respects and admires at his side..... I won't say any more because if you've made it this far in the series you already know you're going to love it and if you're picking up a Jack Reacher novel for the first time, there is enough background information to make it a stand alone Novel like most the the Jack Reacher books are. I will add this though. After making it this far in the series and not having seen the movie based on this book I doubt my husband or I will bother. I think seeing Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher will ruin the next ones for me. I mean, really? Last time I saw a movie with Tom Cruise he wasn't 6ft 5" and he didn't weigh 250 lbs and I can't imagine how they pulled it off.

Reacher does it again with more than his back against the wall. Another great detective/action book from Child, and looking forward to the next

There are not many authors who can write 18 books in a series and keep people's interest. Lee Child has done that for years with his very successful Jack Reacher series and I was looking forward to reading this book to see if it was sufficiently different to maintain my interest. The answer is that I still found the story entertaining but, despite the unusual plot line of Reacher being dragged back into the military after many years, the rest was repetition of a well worn theme. After leaving the military Jack Reacher has become a nomad, wandering the US to wherever takes his interest. Recently his interest went back to how his old unit, the 110th MP, was faring and he had spoken with the new CO, Major Susan Turner, on the phone. Reacher liked her voice and wants to meet her so travels to Washington DC where the unit is still located. What he doesn't expect to find is that there is now another new commanding officer who promptly tells Reacher that he is under investigation for two offences, the death of a suspect who he is accused of attacking and a paternity suit for a 14 year old girl. What Reacher didn't realise was that, because of his rank and security clearance, he can be recalled to the military at any time if he is in good health and under 55 (if you have been in the US Military I would carefully examine your discharge papers). The new CO tells him he has been recalled and "You're back in the army, Major. And your ass is mine." So far so good - a scenario to make a new Jack Reacher book different. But from then on it was more of the same for Reacher - on the road escaping from trumped up charges, taking on and injuring the baddies, and getting evidence to clear himself (and on this occasion the attractive Susan Turner who is also under investigation) and sleeping in worn out motels to avoid detection. While overall I enjoyed the book I found the repetitious parts overwhelmed the different scenario. So I repeat something I said in my review of "A Wanted Man", 17th in the Jack Reacher series, that IMHO the series showing signs of running out of steam. Nevertheless I know that this book will be another bestseller for Lee Child (the back cover of the book tells me that a Jack Reacher novel is sold somewhere in the world every four seconds and the sales of this book will keep up the momentum). Many of you may not be aware of the minor stoush between Lee Child and David Baldacci which continues in this book. Baldacci has written two books in his John Puller series with a lead character with very similar size, background and abilities as Jack Reacher. In "A Wanted Man", Child included a dim witted deputy named John Puller. When Reacher met Puller and found he was a dim wit, he said "Were you dropped on your head as a baby?" In "Never Go Back" two of the pursuers gets onto a plane with Reacher, but one gets his fingers broken and the other his arm broken by Reacher (incredibly without other passengers knowledge). The name of one of them was Ronald David Baldacci. This may seem funny but I found it a bit childish (please excuse the pun).

I acquired this some time before I got around to reading it, in the proper sequence, for several reasons. By the time I read it, there were several reader-reviews posted, and the movie - from which it was, apparently, partially-"derived"** - was out and had been for awhile. Fortunately, it turned out to be substantially better than the movie (no surprise there, on several counts* - filmed versions "derived from"-even in part-this sort of "action/adventure" novel seldom-enough even closely resemble the original material, being almost-inevitably at variance in ways that make them, overall, a poor imitation [at best] of the original stories), and also than what might be expected from some of the reviewers' accounting. On balance, an intriguing, interesting and very entertaining outing for the Big Guy. Jack Reacher's, of course, that "rugged-independent" semi-hero/anti-hero that a lot of men would really love to be - and realize full-well they can never measure-up to, even if they happen to be as big and fit and perhaps even maybe as tough as he supposedly is, or could somehow find themselves in the midst of one of his storied escapades. In this outing, he stays true to type and profile, cutting-through the opposition at every encounter. It's good, hard-nosed fun. watching him deal with it all, finding out what's REALLY going-on, and managing to come out on top, once again...which everyone of the readers just KNOWS he will, by whatever means necessary... A nice, slick, fast ride to the finish - there are some minor discrepancies, here and there, but hey...it's "adventure hero" fiction - you've simply got to give a wee bit of "slack", now and then, right? Four well-deserved Stars - not the best-of-series, but up towards the top-end, that's certain. And the series rolls on...Keep 'em coming, Lee!...You may have started-out as a Brit, but you're doing pretty dang well in the American-context with that big ol' ex-M.P. Major and his nomadic adventures. (* The biggest problem, really, with the movie, was the actor who attempted to portray Jack Reacher - aside from the obvious size discrepancy [Tom Cruise is a fairly-decent actor, even though his essays into "tough-guy" characters don't generally play all that well, but compared to the Jack Reacher character in the stories, Cruise is a SHRIMP! I don't care who you are - if you're only 5'-7" and maybe 160 - 170 lb. tops, you simply can't "play" 6'-5" and 250 lb. Sorry, Cholly, that won't work - makeup and wardrobe and camera-angles can't make that "happen", even if you stand on a box for close-ups, like Alan Ladd {another shorty "action-hero"} supposedly did in "Shane", or play a bunch of the scenes while seated - which clearly Cruise couldn't do in the Reacher film - the size differential is just too great], Tom Cruise was SIMPLY NOT able to portray the sort of hard-core Alpha-Male "dominating presence" that is part-and-parcel of the Jack Reacher persona, fictional though it really is. For any actual reader of the novels, the additional "suspension of belief" is/was really too much to be managed. The role needed to be taken by someone with a much, MUCH greater ability to represent such a potent, hard-nosed, take-on-any-challenge character, fictional or not.) (**I know, I know - they CLAIM that the movie was actually made from an earlier Reacher-starring novel, the ninth one in the series called [I believe] "One Shot", but - sorry, I don't entirely buy that; the GENERAL THEME [more-or-less] of "One Shot" runs through the film, BUT there's a pretty nice piece of "Never Go Back" tied-up in there, albeit chopped into a lot of rather small bits, here 'n there - along with bits from at least a couple of OTHER Reacher episodes...and, if you make a direct comparison, aside from most of the general story-thread of "One Shot" SORTA-KINDA wandering through there, there's very little match-up between the movie and ANY actual Reacher novel in the series - and a whole bunch of the book series were "optioned", in advance, by the movie people {apparently in the expectation/hope that the film starring Cruise would be the start of a whole new "franchise series" of films from the novels - which clearly has not happened, and seems highly-unlikely to ever develop, at least not anytime soon} - and virtually ANY series-novel-to-film "translation" is always going to be a composite in some respects - so...draw your own conclusions - I've drawn mine. For what it's worth - from my recollection, "One Shot" was a very good Reacher-outing, one of the definite top-end ones.)

In NEVER GO BACK, Reacher finally arrives in Virginia to meet in person Major Susan Turner. Author Lee Child had been holding her out there for his readers since first introducing her character via a series of phone conversations in 61 HOURS in which Reacher revealed to her information about his childhood and military career that really added to the depth of his character. When I read 61 HOURS my immediate reaction was it'd be pretty spectacular if Child teamed Reacher and Turner up in a storyline featuring the military and the elite 110th MP Special Unit - and now we have that, sort of. There's really two different ways to review this - the first is easy and it goes like this: TURNER (after escaping custody and going on the run with Reacher): "We're going to need more than thirty bucks. I need street clothes, for a start." REACHER: "And I need boot laces. We'll have to find an ATM." TURNER: "We don't have cards." REACHER: "There's more than one kind of ATM." Now seriously, if you already know what Reacher is referring to by ATM then you're already a fan of this series and I'm sure you can also picture Reacher making a "withdrawal" in your mind and you're eager to read about it. If that's you, just buy this book, read it, and enjoy all the great Reacher moments it has to offer - of which there is no shortage. If you don't know about the other kind of ATM, then no worries - it's one of the many Reacher matter-of-fact no-nonsense beliefs / attitudes / behaviors that have made him such a popular character and you should definitely get to know Lee Child and spend some quality time with Reacher, but ... if you're looking to read your first Reacher book then I might suggest you start earlier in the series. I guess this is the second review - it's a bit more difficult because this is really one of the greatest series of all-time, and I don't say that lightly. Lee Child is a genius writer and storyteller and Reacher is an incredible creation. But having said that ... I mentioned already that Susan Turner's character first came into Reacher's life during 61 HOURS. He also met Janet Salter and Andrew Peterson in the same book. In just a few short chapters Peterson was absorbed in learning all he could from Reacher, trying to be a better cop - and Reacher was sitting with the old lady Salter, admiring her life and her courage and genuinely respecting and caring for her as the plot in 61 HOURS developed. At that same time you had Reacher on the phone revealing himself to Turner, as she used her contacts to help Reacher and Peterson with their developing crisis. And it was masterful, especially when Child got Reacher and us as readers to care so much about Salter and Peterson only to rip them from us, killing them both horrifically. In effect, Reacher failed - but his character grew tremendously, and it was both heartbreaking and staggeringly genius the way Child pulled it off, because out there on the horizon was this character Major Turner and you just know that if Reacher can make it to her then he's got a chance at redemption and everything else. Well, in NEVER GO BACK, I honestly felt the chemistry was lacking between Reacher and Turner. And in the end, for someone who loves this series, I can write it off as not such a big deal - but I think what's worse is that I wasn't invested emotionally in this story at all, not even a little bit. Go back to 61 HOURS or another great example, WORTH DYING FOR - now that's a story that gets you emotionally involved. It's just different in this book. Not a bad thing necessarily, just different. Look, not trying to dampen the mood for any Reacher fans - just saying new readers might not be as impressed with Reacher if NEVER GO BACK is their first foray into the series. But hey, if you love tough guys who can deliver some great lines then forget about character growth and just enjoy Reacher for who he is ... and speaking of great lines, a few from NEVER GO BACK that I think every Reacher fan will love: MORGAN (Turner's replacement, after Reacher berates him publicly): "Have you finished?" REACHER: "I've barely even started." --- TURNER: "So that's the plan? We're going to let four guys find us, and we're going to bust them, and then we're going to move on up from there?" REACHER: "Except we're not going to bust them. We're going to do to them what they were going to do to us." TURNER: "Which is what?" REACHER: "We're going to put them in the ground. And then we're going to listen out for their bosses howling in the void. And then we're going to explain to them carefully why it's a very bad idea to mess with the 110th." --- EDMONDS (one of Reacher's lawyers): "Are you going to be the winners?" REACHER: "Count on it. We're going to beat them like rented mules." --- "Reacher knew it was coming ... because fighting in the dark on the edge of Lafayette Square was not a civilized sport with rules." --- TURNER: "Are you going to cut their heads off with a butter knife?" REACHER: "I didn't get one yet. Maybe I could ask room service." TURNER: "Am I still CO?" REACHER: "What's on your mind?" TURNER: "I want a clean arrest. I want them in the cells at Dyer, and I want a full-dress court martial. I want it textbook, Reacher. I want to be exonerated in public. I want the jury to hear every word, and I want a ruling from the bench." REACHER: "A clean arrest needs probable cause." TURNER: "So should cutting their heads off with a butter knife."

The concept: three or four books ago Jack Reacher talked to the new commander of his old unit, the 110th MP, a woman named Susan Turner. He liked the sound of her voice and he wanted to meet her, but for various reasons he was unable to do so. Until now. Reacher travels from the Dakotas to northern Virginia, expecting to meet Major Turner. When he gets there he runs into some toughs who tell him to get out of Dodge. After banging their heads against the side of their car he decides not to leave. What he does learn is that Major Turner is in the executive version of the Stockade, accused of taking a bribe. $100K in an account in the Caymans says that she's guilty. Moreover, Reacher himself is up on dual charges: the grievous-bodily-harm assault on a perp, some years ago (Reacher doesn't remember the man) and the impregnating of a woman in Korea, who has raised her (and Reacher's?) daughter into an attractive and intelligent teenager. Reacher doesn't remember her either. So what's up with this? If Reacher can trust Susan Turner, which he does, he is forced to conclude that someone is conspiring to sideline her from her command. Who? Why? They are sidelining him (or urging him to flee) because they know that he and she have been in contact and that she may have shared something with him which `they' do not wish to become public. The case appears to concern the selling of American ordnance to bad guys. Afghanistan troops are being drawn down and materiel is being returned to the U.S. Or is it? What you can count on: a set of new and attractive, engaging characters; a riveting, slam-bang plot which keeps your eyes or your ears glued, an unputdownable story with short chapters which keep you coming back for more, despite the positions of the hands on the clock or your other responsibilities; and (in addition to the constant suspense and detailed accounts of hand-to-hand fighting) an excellent depiction of the novel's settings--north Arlington, the wilds of West Virginia and the Studio City section of the San Fernando Valley. This is one of the very best of the Jack Reacher novels. In it we get to see Reacher the bunkhouse lawyer as well as the lover, fighter, detective and soldier who we have come to respect and celebrate. Now that he has a girlfriend and, perhaps, a daughter, his life could take on new dimensions. Will it? At the very least we can hope for some reappearances in later novels.

goed boek, fijn om te lezen

Lee Child has been building his Jack Reacher series up to this story for several years, it following on from events in two of the last three novels, and it certainly doesn't disappoint. Reacher has been making his way back to his former army posting, to meet the woman who currently holds his old position in the military police, but instead finds someone else, and a surprising number of complications. The story really does make for addictive reading - I was hooked right from the start and read through the book in just a couple of days. Child's style seems to have matured slightly and the short, clipped sentences of the older books have, in places, stretched out to slightly more filling prose, but without losing any of the action, excitement and suspense that the series typically brings. The plot is filled with puzzles and twists and the usual Reacher-style violence and problem solving, and for once he's presented with a strong emotional storyline to accompany this. As usual, Reacher is joined by a new supporting cast of characters, but some of these feel stronger and better defined than before, and this really helps build up the belief in the plot and wonder at where Child is taking the reader. The best book in the series? Probably, yes.

Produto novo, mas chegou com marcas na capa. Comprei esperando receber um livro em perfeito estado, porém a capa apresenta diversos riscos e marcas, como se o exemplar tivesse sido mal armazenado ou manuseado. Não vou devolver, mas deixo registrada minha insatisfação. Produto vendido como novo deveria chegar em condições impecáveis.

A m a z i n g r e a d, a b s o l u t e p a g e t u r n e r b u t.... I dont lime that you have a minimum word limit on reviews, it disuades me from actually leaving reviews they should remove it

I am a diehard fan of the series and probably one of those crazy ones who given a chance would totally bribe, threaten or kidnap the author and make him write and narrate a jack reacher story every day to me. The cover of the book had a tagline which said that according to statics, a jack reacher novel is brought every four second in the world while I do not know the authenticity of this argument I definitely feel that it is true because I for one can never turn my back on a jack reacher novel. Lee child undoubtedly is one of those authors who gives a perfect thriller with high dose of adrenaline, testosterone for the male readers and enough masculinity and plot for the female readers and maybe that’s the reason that Jack reacher finds himself fans with both the gender The concept of one man army walking without anything to tie him down and nothing to scare him makes one hell of a character to let go and the factors that contribute to the success of this character is his, confidence which technically touch upon the level of arrogance and over confidence yet is one of the best reading experience you can bargain for. This book too comes with the usual jack reacher-isms and a well narrated and weaved together plot. The fact also remains that I could be a bit biased because of my liking for the series but truth is that if you love a bit of action and thriller is your genre then you must give jack reacher series a try