#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Jack Reacher is back! The “utterly addictive” (The New York Times) series continues as acclaimed author Lee Child teams up with his brother, Andrew Child, fellow thriller writer extraordinaire.“One of the many great things about Jack Reacher is that he’s larger than life while remaining relatable and believable. The Sentinel shows that two Childs are even better … shows that two Childs are even better than one.”—James Patterson
As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee.
But there’s nothing pleasant about the place.
In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution.
The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name.
Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against.
Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.
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It has been several books since I read a Jack Reacher novel. For me, they had become entirely too predictable. Reacher drifts into town, finds a more than friendly local cop or waitress, cleans out the problem caused by entrenched locals, and moves out and on down the road. Names and places changed, but the basic premise did not. Just like twelve or more books later, the private detective still goes to the abandoned warehouse at 2 am without a weapon or self-awareness, Reacher had become far too predictable for me.
It also did not help that my reading speed and concentration has dipped markedly for the last three years. Not only have I not been able to resume my own writing, I simply don’t read as fast as I was used to and have a far harder time tracking a story from start to finish. Reading well enough to review is an increasingly rare phenomenon. I blame it on the grief though it just as easily could be related to a couple of my disabilities or some new medical freight train headed my way.
All that being said, thanks to Scott’s help, I was able to get my hands on the new novel in eBook form via my local library. I figured I would know soon enough if it was worth taking a look at. Within a few pages, it was clear that The Sentinel: A Novel by Lee Child and his son, Andrew Child, (aka Andrew Grant) was a different Reacher novel.
It was also very good.
One week after Rusty Rutherford was fired from his job, Jack Reacher shows up in the small town roughly seventy-five miles northeast of Nashville, Tennessee. Rusty used to run the IT Department for the town. For all intents and purposes, he was the IT Department. Things have gone disastrously wrong. The town is now under a ransomware attack with critical services no longer working. The local citizenry now hates his guts.
Reacher knows none of this and wants nothing more than a cup of coffee and heads for the nearest coffee place he sees. As it happens, it is the morning haunt of Mr. Rusty Rutherford. Not only did he get a hostile reception in the place, Mr. Rutherford seems to be oblivious to the fact as he moves down the sidewalk that he is headed into an even more hostile reception. Rutherford being surrounded by several people in a carefully orchestrated plan. They are closing in on him. Clearly an abduction is planned as a car has moved into position at the mouth of the nearby alley. They have a good plan and their target is oblivious. It would have worked too if Reacher hadn’t decided to intervene.
He does and that sets off an intense seven days for Rutherford, Reacher, and numerous folks in this tale of espionage, the cold war, modern day computer technology, and a lot more. While Reacher is still Reacher, the tale is complicated and reads very differently from earlier books in the series. It also finds the spark that made the first books in the series so very good.
If you have not been around the series for a while, take a look at The Sentinel: A Novel by Lee and Andrew Child. I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised as it is well worth your time.
The Sentinel: A Novel
Lee Child
Andrew Child
https://www.jackreacher.com/us/home-us/
Delacorte Press (Penguin Random House)
http://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/635231/
October 2020
ASIN# B084FLW5KM
eBook (also available in audio and print formats)
368 Pages
Review copy provided by the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
With Reacher novels there is never any doubt who the Bad folks are, nor is there any doubt that they will get their comeuppance, this one was as gratifying as always.
This is the last Reacher book I will buy.
I like this author but this one was not a favorite.
Same old Reacher – very predictable……..couldn’t finish it.
I’ve read every Jack Reacher book at least twice. I love the strength and moral fiiber of the character as well as the intricate plotting. In The Sentinel LI was slightlly put off by what seemed to be the overcomplicatins of the plot, the number of players reperenting different groups of goodies and baddies. But I’ll read it again and maybe get it straighter this time!
I’m a huge Lee Child/Jack Reacher fan. Lots of action and twists, but somehow, it bogged down in the middle. I didn’t read this one with the gusto that I normally have for his work.
A good jack reacher but not one of the best. Too many misdirections which did not to the basic story line. One of my less favorite of the series.
Jack Reacher is Superman without a cape.
Lee Child’s pool are always interesting and entertaining.
I loved this book’s storyline. This book’s dialogue made me laugh . I loved the action in this story. I loved Reacher’s character. Reacher made me laugh . I loved the ending. Awesome job Mr. Lee Child & Andrew Child.
It is the usual Reacher book with the usual outcome. Reacher doesn’t disappoint.
Another greater Jack Reacher novel, full of action, twists and turns, and surprises.
Reacher might be slipping. It seems he is missing clues that are obvious these days. I read maybe a quarter of the book and quit.
Love Jack Reacher character
Another good addition to the series!
Quintessential Reacher.
As usual I could not put the book down. Love these books!
I’m a regular JACK REACHER fan so I get the latest when it comes out.
This one has to do with Russians hacking US elections.
Jack is back foiling the bad guys with expert street-fighting moves and saving the day and the helpless.
Very formulaic but fun and entertaining.
Jack Reacher is a great character. He is principled & honest. I love the twists he gets into and how he serves the truth.
Predictable! Same old same old!