No Plan B: The unputdownable new Jack Reacher thriller from the No.1 bestselling authors

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The Jed Starmer plot line is superfluous. Take him out of the story and nothing is lost but maybe 5,000 words. There’s a crime sitting behind all of the mystery at the center of this book, but it’s really only presented as an aside with very little substance provided. It’s a dark, horrifying crime that may be difficult to come to terms with and if more was revealed about it, I may have been more convinced about Reacher’s actions when he reached Winson. As it is, Reacher appears to be heading further and further down the psychopathic path than ever. (Not a criticism, just an observation).

This just isn't a Reacher book. It's an Andrew Grant book with Reacher in it--or maybe the shadow of Reacher.But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows.” But Reacher isn’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right. From vastly different parts of the country there are forces at work, drawing a bunch of seemingly unrelated people together. Not surprisingly, Reacher is one of the key components of the inevitable meeting.

Lee and Andrew Child team up again in the 27th thriller of this series, the third for Andrew. As with any long-running series like this, the plot scenario never varies too far from what has always worked well. Here, Reacher has stopped in Gerrardsville, CO, to spend time in a museum that interests him. Right in broad daylight in the downtown, he sees a woman pushed to her death. But the official ruling is suicide so Reacher feels compelled to figure out what's really going on and who would want her dead. The search leads him to a privately-owned prison in Mississippi. The whole thing begins as Reacher sees a man throw a woman under the bus - quite literally - after which he steals her purse and runs. Something Reacher saw seems to have triggered feelings of ill will, so to speak, from some folks who would rather it not be seen - what was there threatens the good thing they want to keep going. Reacher, doing his Reacher thing, smells a rat (and we all know he doesn't react well to threats), so he vows to get to the bottom of it even if it takes him halfway across the country. While this is going on, those other folks begin to converge at the same place - the Minerva Correctional Facility in Winson, Mississippi. Then, just as we are beginning to link up these three threads, another is introduced: crooked Chicago businessman, Lev Emerson, who seems to specialise in arson is determined to exact revenge on those who killed his son. Exactly how he fits into the total picture we have yet to find out. There is a noticeable difference in style of writing, now that Andrew has joined the writing team, perhaps a bit less warmth about our hero, but I'm happy to see there is still an occasional bit of humor to lighten things up.Since there wasn't enough intrigue to pull me into the plot, I had plenty of time to be irked by the writing style. The truth about Reacher gets better and better. . . . This series [is] utterly addictive.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

The boy who left Los Angeles bound for Winson - Jed Sturmer. Jed seems a bit of a random piece to the puzzle (but not the most random!) and his journey cross country is an eventful one, fraught with all of the dangers you might expect a young, naive boy on the run might fall into. Clearly his path is going to cross with Reacher's; it's just a matter of where, when and how it will influence the outcome of Reacher’s quest. If it isn't careful, PRH is going to milk this cash cow dry with an annual publishing schedule that takes the loyal reader for granted (Now there's a corporate conspiracy plot line Reacher should investigate). I'd rather wait 18 months for a well-conceived story line than get another "No Plan B" threadbare "Reacher" story in a year. Although, so far, the co-written novels in this long-running series haven’t matched up to many of the earlier ones, in No Plan B there are signs that there could be life left in the series yet.But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows.” But Reacher isn’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right. This is the 27th book in the Reacher series and if you’ve read any of the previous outings you’ll be aware of how things are going to go here. Faced with difficult to impossible odds, outnumbered and outgunned, Reacher wades into the fray full of the confidence of an overly large man who is capable of causing maximum damage with his fists, elbows, knees and feet. Not to mention any gun that he manages to get hold of. There is No Plan B when the threat is Reacher. He is 6'5", 250 lbs. and scruffy. You can't miss him. So why must the bad guys constantly try him? Underestimate him? Square up against him? Maybe the better question is why the author(s) continue putting Reacher in unnecessary situations where he has to fight his way out and drop countless bodies. For why?!