Customer Reviews

Die Trying (Jack Reacher, No. 2)

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

"Die Trying" is the second installment in Lee Child's popular Jack Reacher series. Reacher is an ex-Army-MP-turned-vigilante-drifter, a tough guy with an unflinching sense of right and wrong who always manages to stumble into a situation in need of his style of correction.

In this book, Reacher happens on to the kidnapping of a government worker and not only ends up being snatched along with the target but also gets [...] as the prime suspect after being identified by witnesses. Bad luck for Reacher - worse luck for the bad guys. As Reacher uses his MP background to put together the clues, he discovers that this is no ordinary kidnapping of any ordinary person and that the perpetrators are out for much more than simple ransom. He has to solve the mysteries, save the girl, and stop the growing conspiracy - all before the nationwide manhunt mistakenly takes him down. It's all in a day's work for Jack Reacher.

The Reacher series is a throwback in action writing, unencumbered by modern sensitivities and moral ambiguities that plague so many other contemporary heroes. All characters are cut-and-dry either on the side of right or wrong, women are typically fodder for rescue and/or quick, passionate affairs, and all problems can be solved with the right mixture of brains and force. This world view can sometimes lead the books down a path of being overly simplistic or even hokey, but ultimately Reacher's charisma and conviction make for worthwhile Summer reading. Pacing is typically swift as Child's background as a television writer becomes apparent with each passing chapter. Book after book, the Reacher series is a mixture of "24", "CSI" and even a little bit of "McGyver".

"Die Trying" is a good volume in the Reacher series. It signals the beginning of the shift from Reacher as pure tough-guy action hero to mystery sleuth, which adds some needed depth. It's not quite as well-written as "The Enemy" or "Running Blind", but definitely worth a pickup for all Reacher fans.

Die Trying is the sensational sequel to Killing Floor by Lee Child. If you haven't read Killing Floor I would recommend doing so before you read this book as it provides a basis for Reacher's character realism. As before the main character is Jack Reacher, ex military policeman and all round superhero. Reacher is intelligent, deductive and physically prodigous, so if you like heroes of the elite variety then this is the character for you. If you prefer cardiganed librarians and lack the ability to suspend disbelief (an essential criteria for FICTION readers) avoid this book as the storyline is astounding with a capital ASTOUND. Lee Child has produced a book that captivates and ensnares its readers with suspense, intrigue and a plot with more twists than a bowl of particularly tangled spaghetti. A man mountain of a psychopath, a beautiful FBI agent with more secrets than the FBI itself, moles galore and the president of the United States, all come together in the valleys of Montana, in a literary feast. If that isn't enough there's even a spot of romance (but not too much). All in all a book for those of us who believe in a world where heroes do exist.

I picked this book up on a plane from a friendly neighbor. I had no idea what I was going to read. I found the title inticing. I was immediately immersed and this is the first of the Jack Reacher stories that I read. I have read all but one and still find this the best one. So unlike the other reviewers who refer to Killing Floor as the best one as they had read it first, I believe this is it. I just finished Killing Floor and I really think Die Trying was so much better and had the character of Jack Reacher so well rounded up. After so many of Reacher's adventures, I noticed the tiny details that changed -i.e. he is always called Reacher and in this one, he is sometimes referred to as Jack.

All in all I am hooked to Reacher and wish there were more -because when I start, I cannot stop reading and read until 3am. And I am a big Hitchcock fan -and only find the mysteries and thrillers fascinating that I cannot figure out.

Keep going, Lee!

Thank you for the entertainment. What a great character you created.

Jack Reacher is walking down a Chicago street when he stops to help a woman with a cane, struggle with her dry cleaning. Three men approach her with weapons drawn and abduct her, bringing Reacher along with them.

They bring the prisoners to their enclave in Montana and hold the woman, FBI agent, Holly Johnson, as a bargaining chip for what they plan with the government.

Reacher shows the reader his many talents in this second installment of his stories. We see him as the lone man against seemingly insurmountable odds. He's highly analytical and possesses keen inteligence. He's also able to rationalize what his captors are planning and figure out a possible escape. In "Die Trying," Reacher shows his feelings and develops a fondness for Holly. His compassion and strength are two of the reasons why readers enjoy Reacher as a character and are able to sympathise with him.

The plot is original and the author provides a number of surprises and plot twists that keep the reader's attention and add to the enjoyment of the story.

This was a very good sequel to the first Jack Reacher novel. Here, Reacher gets kidnapped along with an attractive FBI agent. The kidnappers drive cross-country until they reach Montana, where a secret militia has gathered. The FBI agent is the key to their plan, since her father is the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and her godfather is the President. This was a good thriller. The writing is intense but fluid.

Lee Child is a good writer, a successful one as well.

That said, 'Die Trying' was an over-written bore. The desciptive passages are so thick I nearly tripped over them: the weapons, the motivations, the scenery...you name it, Child describes it in detail. Again and again and again.

By the time I got towards the end, I lost all empathy for the characters. I just wanted to know how the pliot was resolved.

All in all, Child has written more winners than losers. But 'Die Trying' is most certainly in the loser category.

This is a really fun book. First of all it is a pretty good story, and that's why I gave it a handful of stars, but please don't try and suspend your disbelief while reading it. Read it as a frenzied, fantasy thriller sinking under the weight of its hilarious mistakes. I'll give you one example. Our hero has spent a good half-hour crawling through a totally dark cave tunnel when he emerges into a large cavern where equipment is stored. The cavern is dimly lit from cracks of light coming through a large door to the outside. Folks are in the cavern talking amongst themselves, but before John Reacher joins them he stops to let his "vision build." The author doesn't seem to realize that vision adaptation takes place when going from light to dark, but not from dark to light. When you get up in the middle of the night and turn your 40-watt bedside lamp, you don't sit there for ten minutes waiting for your "vision to build."

Our fearless protagonist spends this book fighting a fanatic militia group located in a remote Montana forest. He's way outnumbered of course, but the FBI is coming to the rescue. Three of their stalwart agents decide to penetrate the dense, heavily patrolled forest, so they button their pin stripe suit coats, straighten their ties, shine their wingtip shoes, and head for the woods. Child doesn't tell whether or not they took their briefcases with them. What ever happened to the casual attire, the jackets with FBI emblazoned on the back?

Then there's the shrugging. When is the last time you shrugged? Child's characters do it constantly, often more than once per page. It really grates on you after awhile. The author also seems compelled to use that creaky old literary device of providing a lengthy description of every weapon used. You know, the one that goes something like this: "George picked up his Schlock .369 rifle with its lemon scented, knotty pine stock, cantilevered lead alloy barrel, and viscous damped trigger. The Schlock is capable of firing a 27.6 gram projectile at the rate of ..Etc." [...]P>In any event it's still a fun read relatively unmarred by mushy romance. Well, there is one scene where he and the lady do it, but our quick triggered hero is in and out of that tricky maneuver in two short sentences. Some of the book is rather exciting, like the law of physics bending climatic finale. I read that, then put the book down, shrugged, and went to bed.

I figured I'd read the whole series of these books. I started with The Killing Floor, which I found hard to put down at times; engaging, mysterious, violent, fun, etc. Then I bought Die Trying. It's almost as if you can sense the author, Lee Child, was trying to meet the quality of the first book and experiencing the sophomore jinx. Die Trying is still a fun read, but I found myself saying "why wouldn't Jack Reacher just do this instead? or "there's no way that would happen..." etc. way too often.

And some of the descriptions were just too long. It's interesting to hear how a bullet travels or how a helicopter has certain features, but it was just too much. By the end of the book, I was feeling Child could have cut about 150 pages or more and not lost any of the story.

Also, the plot didn't capture my imagination nearly as much as the first novel.

If you want to experience the whole series, go ahead and read this one. If you are looking for something like the Killing Floor, move on to another Reacher book. Unfortunately, I can't make any suggestions yet; I'm just ordering #3, Tripwire.

Sophomore slump (of sorts) hits another author. Though the book was an enjoyable read, it just didn't grab you like his first. Though I'd recommend it, I'd recommend "Killing Floor" much higher -- though this one will pale even more in comparison.

I am currently on book 5 of the Jack Reacher stories, and although Lee Child has gotten better, his stories always bring me to incredulous hysteria at least once per book!! Picture this; the bad guys have nailed a man's body to 2 trees, a few feet apart. They nail his hands higher on the tree trunks and his feet, lower. When the good guys come to take the body down, Child has them pull the nails from the hands first! This drops the body down over itself, they then unnail the feet. Just doesn't make sense! They should have un-nailed the feet first, then the hands and he would have slipped right into the grave. A later book describes an FBI agent as having hair a yard long, which she wears loose, sometimes. There's no way a women with a physical job, can wear long hair loose, as she would have to stop and pull it out of the way everytime she reached for a badge or a gun! It may answer a need for fantasy long hair, but it ain't gonna cut it in the real world. And then his wardrobe style, buy an outfit and throw it out when it gets dirty! Makes a point of describing his singular toiletry as being a collapsible toothbrush. Tho he showers every time he can, he dresses in dirty clothes and goes out without toothpaste or deodorant?? And still gets the girl? Not on this planet! Now he's started washing his clothes in a motel washbasin and hanging them to dry overnight on the chairs in the room......are they upholstered? Not going to dry very well. Are they straight back wooden? Wood stain will crock off on the clothes. We logical travelers use the towel rod , coat hangers, or the shower curtain rod to hang out drying clothes. Now for the piece de resistance! In the current book I'm reading, it's 110 degrees in Texas, so now he washes his clothes and puts them on wet, to help him keep cool longer! And he expects people to take him seriously? The problem is, he's such a good, descriptive word picture kind of guy, that there is no way you can miss this stuff!! He needs a common sense editor. He does great on military, law enforcement, weapons and sex, but puh-leez!!