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“Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you” is a wise old adage but scarcely one Jack Reacher finds of use. Somehow, no matter where he is or what he is doing, trouble manages, unerringly, to locate him and enmesh him in its sticky web. In this episode of the doughty drifter's deeds, Reacher finds an entire town ranged against him – quite a stretch, even for Reacher. Chapter one details the dying thoughts of a man – or should that be a boy? The poor fellow is prey to a certain amount of confusion but the reader may be sure that Jack Reacher will find the answer to the puzzle before the conclusion of the novel. As the action begins, Jack Reacher is in Colorado, leaving the town of Hope in favour of the group of dwellings known, appropriately enough, as Despair. Unfortunately, the people of Despair, unaccountably, want nothing to do with him and Reacher winds up in the slammer accused of being a vagrant. He senses something amiss about Despair so when he is released and goes back to Hope, he sets out to discover just what desperate dealings are being performed in the pessimistically named area. Reacher teams up with a woman officer, Vaughan, from the Hope police department. She warns him of the peculiar nature of the company town, Despair. Reacher rents a room in Hope’s motel and undertakes exploratory trips to Despair and finds out, as well, rather more about Vaughan – and her husband. Lee Child has a lot to prove with his novels’ hero. Mind, over the years he has, as his protagonist has become well known, possibly found he has less to do to persuade his audience that the brainchild of a Briton can be convincingly American. But Child has invested a lot of work in perfecting his creation and well deserves all the plaudits he has collected. Most of the Reacher books have concentrated on that character’s post-army experiences. For myself, I have to say I rather enjoyed the chronicles of when Reacher was a military policeman, finishing with the army as a major. While Reacher enjoys the freedom of being able to wander where he will across the US, untroubled by the reader’s foreknowledge that he is but a few punches away from murder and mayhem, I must confess that I would like to see him settle down for a while, shackled to a single spot and a bit of predictability. I admit to having enjoyed this episode of Reacher’s adventures – but then, when have I not? Perhaps, though, I would appreciate an adventure with a little more depth for the big man’s next outing.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, March 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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