Comments on: Book Review: NEVER GO BACK by Lee Child

By: Pop Culture Nerd

Pop Culture Nerd — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 07:16:39 +0000

Welcome, Kyle. You should start with the first, Killing Floor, because it's very good, but you don't have to because the books are standalones. Among my favorites are Persuader, One Shot, Worth Dying For, and Without Fail. Hope you enjoy getting to know Jack Reacher!

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 13:27:32 +0000

Thank you for the discussion and the fair review. Being new to Reacher, only having been introduced through an interview with Child (which was a fairly blanketed interview) on the book report radio show (archived interview on their site) I thought; “jeesh where’ve I been? I must get this!” After having read the discussion one thing is clear – Reacher is real good, but only from the start. Which makes me ask; are all his books stand alone – or do I source the very first one?

By: Naomi Johnson

Naomi Johnson — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 00:46:46 +0000

ONE SHOT is absolutely my favorite Reacher book, and I’ve read them all. I didn’t hate this one (as I did PERSUADER) but it’s not in my top 10 list of Reacher adventures. Jack is never-a-hair-out-of-place perfect in NEVER GO BACK, and that left me a little sad. Lee Child is good enough to convince me of the impossible. except when it comes to perfection.

By: techeditor

techeditor — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:33:56 +0000

That’s what I was about to say. Anyone can like or dislike any one book without having read the author’s other books. And, as I said, I did read and like ONE SHOT. So there. 🙂

By: Pop Culture Nerd

Pop Culture Nerd — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:19:14 +0000

Techeditor can comment even if s/he has read only one. S/he said s/he didn’t like this one. S/he didn’t say the whole series is terrible or Lee Child is a bad writer.

By: Eirego

Eirego — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 16:43:42 +0000

Already started reading this one and while I do agree there are a few plot issues for me so far, I will keep reading because Lee Child knows what he’s doing with the character.

By: Eirego

Eirego — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 16:40:48 +0000

I don’t think you’ve read enough Reacher to comment, Techeditor. Try The Killing Floor and then work your way up to this one. Like PCN says, Lee Child is a reliable writer. He is one of the few writers whose books are under the category of automatic buys for me.

By: techeditor

techeditor — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 14:47:28 +0000

I read this too. I was disappointed. I’ve read only one other Jack Reacher novel, ONE SHOT, and I liked that book. That’s why I wanted to read another. But this one was way too farfetched. Here’s my review.

Jack Reacher fans will be glad to see NEVER GO BACK, the next book in Lee Child’s series, and they will probably love it. I didn’t.

This story is corny, even cartoonish. Jack Reacher is an all-knowing superman with supersenses and an ability to predict the future. Almost everything that happens is either impossible or unlikely.

By comparison, Child’s ONE SHOT is less corny and even enjoyable. Perhaps that is because Child could write anything he wanted about the fictional places and circumstances in ONE SHOT. Whereas, in NEVER GO BACK, Reacher goes back to the U.S. army, where his actions are questionable; no one could get away with what he gets away with in NEVER GO BACK.