Two lonely towns in Colorado: Hope and Despair. Between them, twelve miles of empty road. Jack Reacher never turns back. It’s not in his nature. All he wants is a cup of coffee. What he gets is big trouble. So in Lee Child’s electrifying new novel, Reacher—a man with no fear, no illusions, and nothing to lose—goes to war against a town that not only wants him gone, it wants him dead. It …
It wasn’t the welcome Reacher expected. He was just passing through, minding his own business. But within minutes of his arrival a deputy is in the hospital and Reacher is back in Hope, setting up a base of operations against Despair, where a huge, seething walled-off industrial site does something nobody is supposed to see . . . where a small plane takes off every night and returns seven hours later . . . where a garrison of well-trained and well-armed military cops—the kind of soldiers Reacher once commanded—waits and watches . . . where above all two young men have disappeared and two frightened young women wait and hope for their return.
Joining forces with a beautiful cop who runs Hope with a cool hand, Reacher goes up against Despair—against the deputies who try to break him and the rich man who tries to scare him—and starts to crack open the secrets, starts to expose the terrifying connection to a distant war that’s killing Americans by the thousand.
Now, between a town and the man who owns it, between Reacher and his conscience, something has to give. And Reacher never gives an inch.
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Love Jack Reacher. Wish I could really meet him. A Robin Hood in our day & time.
Love all Jack Reacher books. What a great character Mr. Child has invented and developed.
Less Child’s Nothing to Lose is, more than anything else, a dependable vehicle to extend the story of his hero, Jack Reacher. Child has found a formula his fans love: take his hero, drop him somewhere in the country and have him stumble onto something terrible. The story contains all the trademarks of a Child novel—Reacher winning against impossible odds, a sympathetic female compatriot, and some bad guys readers are only too glad to hate. But what makes the Jack Reacher story so sustainable is that in each of the novels, beneath the tough guy persona, beneath the explicit fight scenes and the occasional not-so-explicit sex scenes, Child tucks in a pretty nifty mystery. Not your conventional whodunnit or who killed the victim? Rather, a “what the heck is going on here” mystery. In a few of the Reacher installments, I’ve been disappointed with the outcome when the author got to the reveal. This whole thing was about this? Not this time. Without giving it away to any readers who haven’t yet read Nothing to Lose, this struggle is worth fighting for …and then some.
One more note. Even though this was published in 2008—and I read it during the pandemic of 2020-21—the novel conveys a stark warning amazingly applicable for today. His creation of the character of Thurman, the smiling preacher/owner/mayor of the town of Despair, who argued he was only doing God’s work, gave me chills. Somehow, this snake oil salesman and leader was able to convince an entire town to do his bidding, regardless of consequences. Clearly, Reacher could not have seen the future where a like-minded mob, at the urging of their “God-endowed” leader, stormed the Capitol and tried to execute officials. The scenario created by Child in Nothing to Lose is far more sinister. Unfortunately, the 2021 version became far more real.
Not one of Lee Child’s best. Jack Reacher got on my nerves several times. I wanted to see him get knocked around at least a little. The plot was unrealistic and the supporting characters somewhat dull.
Jack Reacher novel #12, NOTHING to LOSE finds our kickass hero caught between Hope and Despair. All Reacher wants to do is continue his journey to southern California. The townsfolk of Despair should have known better than to mess with Reacher. Jack won’t mess with you unless you mess with him. Once Reacher has questions, he will not stop his quest for answers.
Enjoy.
Just more of the same. Read one Reacher book and got the overall format for all of them.
I love the Reacher character and always enjoy seeing how he solves the problem
Not very realistic. Makes Reacher seem super human.
Lee Child can be depended on for an enjoyable read with Jack Reacher.
The Jack Reacher novels are like junk food in a good way. Maybe not a lot of nutrition, but plenty of fun empty calories.
Really enjoy Lee Child books.
My son turned me to Lee Child several years ago. I’ve been loving Jack ever since!
Love Reacher books but this one dragged on seemingly forever!
Same old plot but a good fast read.
What can I say beyond ‘I’m addicted to Jack Reacher novels!’ Another fine one.
Been awhile since I read it, but the Reacher books are always worth reading
I had a hard time getting into this book, the first 70% was going over the same thing in a place called Dispare. Finally at this point I became interested to see what the ending would be.
You can never go wrong with a Jack Reacher story to keep you entertained!
A typical J. Reacher novel. It didn’t disappoint.
Reacher is going to go where he shouldn’t go, guided by his own sense of duty and conscience. As he leaves HOPE and walks into DESPAIR you are asking why not just leave, walk away and there’s no reason not to –nothing there, folks, nothing behind the curtain, and yet. . . Its a Reacher novel and if you’re reading your first then be aware, he will go back until every question is answered and problem cleared up. Even though you thought there weren’t any. He is a good thinker and takes you along for the ride.
The physical action just solves problems as they pop up–that isn’t what he’s motivated by. Justice, honor, good. Yeah, that’s Reacher.