Worth Dying For: Jack Reacher, Book 15

A.must for Reacher fans! On the Nebraska Plains. Plus a good mystery: what happened to the young girls? What is the secret of their disappearance?

Lee Child can weave an interesting tale about Jack Reacher but may drive readers who are familiar with proper sentence structure and use of punctuation to the brink. I know that’s the case for me. I purchased the entire Jack Reacher series of books after seeing the first season of the series. I never would have read so many of his books if I hadn’t already paid for them. I have often wondered why, with all the money that Lee Child must have brought in from his writing, he can’t seem to afford a staff who will proofread and correct the many mistakes throughout his books. Same goes for his publisher. I held onto hope with each successive book that he might learn something about writing and make his books easier to read. I hoped, with the addition of his brother on the last couple, that the books would improve but seemed to get only worse. Sometimes, 2 whole pages of back-and-forth banter are written with nothing to occasionally let you know who is speaking, so multiple readings may be needed at times to sort it out. I think almost all, if not all, of the pages have sentences with commas where none are needed, periods where commas are needed, clauses used as sentences, and a new paragraph starting from a clause that belongs in the previous sentence of the preceding paragraph. As I said, hard to read if you understand basic sentence structure. There are often times where I wish Lee had done one iota of research to get facts right. I refer to passages in the stories where it was apparent that Lee Child had no experience or knowledge; I guess, more or less, the writing is off the top of his head. Some problems are: 1: He thinks the flashing emergency lights of vehicles in the western states are the same as in much of the New England states (blue on fire trucks and red on police). 2: He didn’t know what the average shoe size in America is actually 10 ½ (stating it as 9) 3: He thinks a large man like Jack Reacher would have what Lee evidently thinks of as a large foot size of 11, instead of something closer to 14 or 15 (I am 6’1” and wear a 13.) I assume Lee has a small foot. 4: Lee has never been near a fast-moving train, thinking there is violent ground movement when the train is even over a mile away and hurricane force winds near one traveling 60 mph. 5: He seems to think that all gas stations and quick marts sell khaki pants and various shirts, packs of socks, and underwear. 6: Jack Reacher can knock anyone unconscious and very often dead with one punch. I can remember only a couple times when it took two. 7: He thinks face bones will “shatter” from a Jack Reacher punch and can knock out a gorilla or even an elephant. Jack also never has injuries to his hand or elbow from such amazing blows. 8: Jack Reacher’s hands are said to be as large as a dinner plate and his fists as large as Thanksgiving turkeys…really? Yes, his books are hard to read for these and other reasons caused by lack of oversight by his publisher and lack of staff. Please, I hope never to find out he has a staff that lets this stuff through. Good storyteller, other than the lack of research on details and no idea as to sentence/paragraph structure.. Rating would be five for the story.

As usual Lee Child's books are so well written that they keep your interest up no matter how long the book is.Will be reading the next one in the series.

Ok. Let me begin by saying I'm a fan of the Reacher series. I've read them all and I'll read more. The character Reacher is great. Far-fetched, but great. Its great fiction. However, much of the backround stuff Reacher travels through or deals with is so ridiculously incorrect, I have to wonder of there is an editor in the house who has ever ventured beyond the big city. A few cases in point- Worth Dying For:1. THE BASEMENT DOOR. Reacher is trapped in a pitch black "storm cellar" with no way out. The cellar door from the house upstairs is a "FEMA approved, steel core, steel framed, basement door that can withstand a category 5 storm with oversized hinges, burstproof lock and can withstand a 300 mph gust". It goes on to tell us that it "opens outward because if it opened inward, the 300 mph winds might break the lock and blow the "cellar" door in". OK, first, say Category 5 storm in Nebraska and they will look at you like you must be from the gulf coast or Mars. Category 5 is hurricane language, like in Florida. This is Nebraska, and the 300 mph winds are an F-5 tornado. Thats the tip of the iceberg though. Reacher is not in a cellar, he's in a house basement. If he was in a cellar, his door would be accessed from outside and could conceivably be a strong reinforced door set into the concrete house foundation. Reacher's door is in the kitchen and goes down the steps into the basement. This is a regular stick framed house built with 2x4s, sheetrock and siding. An F-5 tornado would turn this house into toothpicks in 1 second and that FEMA door with 30 adjectives would be stuck in a tree a half mile from the house. The door itself might be indestructable, but it is still attached to a weak little 2x4 wall just like your bathroom door at home is. It would be like taking an armored door from a tank and putting it on one of those little plastic cars kids pedal with their feet and thinking it could now take a direct missile hit...the door might survive, but the car is toast. Same thing with the house.2. DRIVING. The terrain is described to be very very flat. No hills or gullies. Yet, Reacher's maximum speed on this 2 lane road is 60 mph??? I could do that in my garage! Believe me, I've had enough tickets to know, those flat 2 lanes are good for 100 easy. This isn't the first time this has appeared in a Reacher book. In another book, set in eastern Colorado, Reacher can only drive 50 mph. An ATV will do 50. Any car on the road will do 90 with one finger on the wheel.3. ENGINE OIL. A pickup is chasing Reacher. Reacher gets under the truck while the truck is high centered and drains the oil. Unlikely, but hey, its Reacher. What happens? Well, what should happen is truck runs for a little bit and locks up tight and thats that. However, somehow this automatically leads to an instant fireball and the truck catches fire and explodes. Really? Gee, imagine what nuclear level explosion would happen when he has a flat?4. BIG V-8. The pickup has a big V-8 engine....impressed? That sounds like something Franklin W. Dixon might have wrote in a Hardy Boys book in 1952, like maybe "the sedan had a big V-8 and it was rapidly gaining on Frank and Joe and Chet and...." Real world, 90% of trucks and 1/2 the cars for the last 40 years have had a V-8. Let me just name a few V-8s. Ford 289, 302, 351, 400, 428, 429, 460. GM 283, 305, 327, 350, 396, 400, 427, 454, Mopar 318, 340, 383, 413, 426, 440...and there are many more of course. Get the picture?5. TRUCK VS FENCE. Here is my personal favorite. So, the bad guys are in their houses, which are inside a perimeter formed by a wood fence. Reacher sets the houses on fire. Their truck and Cadillac are inside this perimeter too. Reacher is waiting outside the perimeter with a gun and he knows they'll be on foot because the fire has blocked the driveway and no way the truck can break through a wood fence....Really? Sure enough, they get in the truck and ram into the fence, but no way. Really? Are they driving that little plastic truck the kids pedal with their feet again? Let me tell you right now. Any pickup from a little Toyota on up can smash down any wood fence. Period. A volkswagon would smash it down.6. PROPANE TANKS. Same fire, same houses. The fire reaches the propane tanks, located inside the house, and explode. Really? Ever seen a propane tank inside the house? Me neither. If you've ever been outside the big city, you've seen those long white or silver tanks with the red cap that sit out by the fence. Boys and Girls, those are propane tanks. And they are connected to the house by a line usually buried a few inches or a foot or so underground. Its a code and safety thing. The propane truck drives in the driveway and extends a long hose and fills the tank. Wonder how the propane company fills these inside tanks at the bad guys' house. Do they pull up in front of the porch, open the front door and pull the long 2" thick rubber hose through the house and down the hall and around the doorways and flip open the tank lid located next to the fridge, all while the family is sitting around in the kitchen eating, and stand there and smell up the house with fumes while he fills the tank. Maybe while the tank is filling he sits down and eats with the family or plays a quick game of cards, then maybe moves to the living room and watches the game on the couch while every so often he gets up and checks the tank level. Then he rolls up the hose and sets down to watch the last few plays, then says "bye, thanks for dinner, see you next month." Really???But hey, I'm just poking fun here. I like the books and the character and the series.

Book flowed well - kept my attention throughout. Tough to put down. The story line was one of the better ones.

This one was hard to put down.

Just another good Reacher-story by Lee Child. Child did again have me guessing, only to reveal what was going on at the very end. Without spoiling it for new readers, I think I can safely say that the "subject" in this Reacher-story is revolting, but unfortunately believable.

Yep, sometimes you gotta stand by your conscience and to help with the outcome !Again another masterful chronicle in Reachers wanderings .Is he unstopable ?Let's hope not 👍

とても残念です。シリーズ15作目です。前作「61Hours」同様、だらだらとした内容です。退屈なストーリー、押しつけの場面展開。主人公は必要以上の暴力に走る。これまでのキレのある会話、アクション、緻密な判断力など、スカッとさせる場面は一体どこへ失われてしまったのでしょう。とても残念です。

smart, nice plot, reading it take's your mind off ona an easy trip. Jack reacher is a a comic superhero who's lost his comic.

I know Jack Reacher novels need a thrilling subject but this is the only novel so far that had me sleep bad and with nightmares. Not recommended for mothers of young daughters, the case is just too twisted and perverted.