Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

9-25-14 Personal is one of Lee Child's least effective Jack Reacher novels. Once noted for novels with hallmark action scenes, Mr. Child's Personal is tepid, although it seems to start well with a planted newspaper on a bus which is a call to action for Reacher. Unfortunately, there are perhaps 4 principal action scenes scattered throughout the book lasting perhaps 6 pages in total, with a great deal of wasted space as Reacher travels from the United States to Paris, to London and elsewhere in an attempt to stop an assassin from killing world leaders. Throw into the mix a man Reacher sent to prison fifteen years early, an inexperienced CIA/State Department rookie analyst named Casey Nice--a name belonging in a Bond novel--assorted thugs, ruthless Serbs, and others and we end up with a cliché-ridden piece about a worn-out Reacher. Reacher is over the hill as an action hero. He says in the book that his father served in WWII and his mother worked with the French Resistance as a young girl during that same war. All of that places Reacher close to 60, hardly the same man he was nineteen years or so ago when he came on the scene. Now, he is ready to be put out to pasture; yet, Mr. Child seems to think that Reacher is ageless, although he does limit the amount of action and fighting to a minimum. But the Reacher that readers know and, generally cared about, is gone. This Reacher seems to be looking ahead to Social Security, Medicare, and retirement. It is curious that, while Mr. Child pairs Reacher with an inexperienced, twenties-something analysis, there is no sexual tension there; it is much like a grandfather/granddaughter relationship. In fact, Reacher is intimately involved with no one, although he does imply that he might have had a lover before he found the newspaper on the bus. Beyond his age, Reacher is placed in an unbelievable plot beginning with a failed assassination attempt on the French President, a sort of audition for the best assassin in the world, and the usual lies and misdirection that seem to be the fashion when various agencies such as the State Department and the C. I. A. have to work together. All of it leads to a resolution that seems to come from nowhere, but is clearly identifiable as soon as a central character appears, and the assassin is pursing someone other than a head of state. The reasons for the final target being chosen are extremely murky; how that is resolved is as an afterthought although, had it succeeded, it would have lead to another direction in the Reacher series. One of the more distracting parts of the novel is Jack Reacher constantly working the numbers in his head--sometimes even sharing them; one time that is fascinating, but quickly becomes tedious and appears to be designed to replace the relative lack of action. Poor Reacher is almost showing signs of early dementia, reminding the reader of someone who is constantly reliving the past or is focused on some tiny, manageable part of a life that has slipped by. There is a lot of padding and repetition in the story, which only highlights the weak plot; remove the excess baggage and there would be a relatively tight novella. Instead, it appears as though Mr. Child was forced to have Reacher repeat himself so much to "flesh out" the novel so it would reach it the required length of 300 - 400 pages for mystery novels today. The characters are all weak cutouts, stereotypes with no depth, merely set pieces moving along the turgid plot. Reacher still has problems using a cell phone, only changes his underwear after 3 days or so--which means he must be really a challenge for those who work with him--buys cheap new clothes rather than wash his, and now just goes through the motions of doing what his bosses tell him to do. He is a plodding middle-aged man who should be retired. As mentioned earlier, he is nearly 60; let him live in a home for retired heroes where he can share his past adventures with others who might be reliving their own glory days...just don't call Reacher an action hero. One final point: The writing style is not that found in the earlier books by Mr. Childs. Perhaps Personal was written by someone else, since Mr. Child has directed his efforts toward movies; indeed, recent books by Mr. Child are little more than film scenarios. Since most of the Reacher novels have been optioned for the movies, perhaps Mr. Child sees that as his goal, now, rather than raising the bar for writing better novels. The use of Tom Cruise, a 5' 7," under 150 pounds actor to play a 6' 5", 250 pound force suggests that a serious compromise was made just to get a Reacher book on the screen. A second Cruise/Reacher film is in production. Where has Reacher gone?