Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4) [Hardcover]

Lee Child (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2000

Jack Reacher hunts the most elusive and intelligent killer he has ever faced in the latest in "one of the best new series in thriller fiction"(Publishers Weekly).

People say that knowledge is power. The more knowledge, the more power. Suppose you knew the winning numbers for the lottery. What would you do? You would run to the store. You would mark the numbers on the play card. And you would win. Same for the stock market. Same for basketball or the horses or anything. Same for killing people...

So begins Running Blind, the electrifying new novel in the acclaimed series featuring ex-military policeman Jack Reacher.

Women are dying. Women who have nothing in common except the fact they once worked for the military. And they knew Jack Reacher. How and why these women are in danger completely baffles the elite FBI team working the case. There is no trace evidence. There are no links between the victims. Their bodies have no fatal wounds. And the killer has entered their homes and exited again like a summer breeze. Are these the perfect crimes? There is only one certainty: there is a new kind of killer out there, one so calm, cautious, and careful that even the brilliant Reacher is left running blind.

"[Lee Child's novels] bring us not only bang-on suspense but an insightful look into how humans work." --Houston Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jack Reacher is back, dragged into what looks like a series of grisly serial murders by a team of FBI profilers who aren't totally sure he's not the killer they're looking for, but believe that even if he isn't, he's smart enough to help them find the real killer. And what they've got on the ex-MP, who's starred in three previous Lee Child thrillers (Tripwire, Die Trying, Killing Floor), is enough to ensure his grudging cooperation: phony charges stemming from Reacher's inadvertent involvement in a protection shakedown and the threat of harm to the woman he loves.

The killer's victims have only one thing in common--all of them brought sexual harassment charges against their military superiors and all resigned from the army after winning their cases. The manner, if not the cause, of their deaths is gruesomely the same: they died in their own bathtubs, covered in gallons of camouflage paint, but they didn't drown and they weren't shot, strangled, poisoned, or attacked. Even the FBI forensic specialists can't figure out why they seem to have gone willingly to their mysterious deaths. Reacher isn't sure whether the killings are an elaborate cover-up for corruption involving stolen military hardware or the work of a maniac who's smart enough to leave absolutely no clues behind. This compelling, iconic antihero dead-ends in a lot of alleys before he finally figures it out, but every one is worth exploring and the suspense doesn't let up for a second. The ending will come as a complete surprise to even the most careful reader, and as Reacher strides off into the sunset, you'll wonder what's in store for him in his next adventure. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Jack Reacher, the wandering folk hero of Child's superb line of thrillers (Tripwire, etc.), faces a baffling puzzle in his latest adventure: who is the exceptionally crafty villain murdering women across the country, leaving the naked bodies in their bathtubs (which are filled with army camouflage green paint), escaping the scenes and leaving no trace of evidence? The corpses show no cause of death and Reacher's sole clue is that all the victims thus far were sexually harassed while serving in the military. There's got to be some sort of grand scheme behind the killings, but with no physical evidence, FBI agents bumble around until they finally question Reacher, a former military cop who handled each of the dead women's harassment cases. After Reacher convinces investigators he's innocent, theyAcuriouslyAask him to stay on as a case consultant. Reacher doesn't like the ideaAhe's too much of a lone wolfAbut he has little choice. The feds threaten him and his girlfriend, high-powered Manhattan attorney Jodie Jacob, with all sorts of legal entanglements if he doesn't help. So Reacher joins the FBI team and immediately attacks the feds' approach, which is based solely on profiling. Then he breaks out on his own, pursuing enigmatic theories and hunches that lead him to a showdown with a truly surprising killer in a tiny village outside Portland, Ore. Some of the concluding elements to Child's fourth Reacher outingAhow the killer gains access to the victims' homes, as well as the revelation of the elaborate MOAfall into place with disappointing convenience. Yet the book harbors two elements that separate it from the pack: a brain-teasing puzzle that gets put together piece by fascinating piece, and a central character with Robin Hood-like integrity and an engagingly eccentric approach to life.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1St Edition edition (July 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399146237
• ISBN-13: 978-0399146237
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Child is the #1 internationally bestselling author of thirteen Reacher thrillers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, and the #1 bestselling Bad Luck and Trouble and Nothing to Lose. His debut, Killing Floor, won both the Anthony and the Barry awards for Best First Mystery, and The Enemy won both the Barry and the Nero awards for Best Novel. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in forty territories, and all titles have been optioned for major motion pictures. Child, a native of England and a former television director, lives in New York City, where he is at work on his fourteenth Reacher thriller, 61 Hours.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jack Reacher the Epitome of Excitement!, February 18, 2000

By 

R. Watkins "Rob The Reader" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4) (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading the latest in this great series by English author Lee Child. Just like Killing Floor and Die Trying, this novel flies along at a frantic pace that you try hard to keep up with.

Reacher is the suspect in a bizarre series of murders in which ex-army women (who left the force because of a variety of sexual harassment cases) are left naked in their bathtubs filled with green army paint. The killer leaves no clues and what is even more bizarre, they have no idea how the women died.

Even after Reacher's name is cleared, he is blackmailed by the FBI into unravelling this bizarre case. He must get to the killer before more women die, or face the consequences of the FBI's fury.

Read and Enjoy

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exciting, Well-Done Thriller, September 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4) (Hardcover)

I have now read all of the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child and I believe this one to be the best of them all. Not that it doesn't have flaws - some of the activities carried out by the FBI are pretty questionable, Reacher at times approaches super-human in his skills, and there are probably a few too many red herrings and digressions. Nevertheless, for what it is, this is an extremely fast-moving and exciting thriller. It is genuinely hard to put down and the ending will likely surprise you (though admittedly a careful reader will probably see it coming; there are clues aplenty). Child plays fair, however, and you buy the whole thing. I do wish Child's novels "reached" (pun intended) a wider audience; he is a good writer who has created an interesting and charismatic character. This book is well worth your time.

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Robin Hood and the Lone Ranger meet the 21st century, August 30, 2004

By 

Rennie Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first Lee Child book I've read, which is perhaps unfortunate, as several of the other reviews indicate that this book is not as good as some of the others in the Jack Reacher series. (By the way, this book has two different titles: "Running Blind" in the USA and Canada, and "The Visitor" in the UK and elsewhere.)

To start with the positive stuff, I love Lee Child's writing style. I'm a fan of thrillers, and this means I'm used to fairly mediocre writing, so this book was a very nice change.

The basic idea behind Jack Reacher's character is also interesting. He's a sort of vigilante Robin Hood, righting wrongs around him that the normal forces in society don't take proper care of. And he's not just muscle and weapons and fighting techniques, he's also very intelligent and knowledgeable and observant.

I also liked the basic story line, with a serial killer who has the FBI outsmarted and a motive that will come as a surprise.

So all-in-all I found the book appealing in many ways.

But now comes the list of problems that I have with this book, problems that are sufficient that it's doubtful if I'll ever get around to reading another book by Lee Child.

The characters aren't really believable. Jack Reacher is supposed be a loner, but not wanting to own anything other than a folding toothbrush must be a bit problematic. Lisa Harper is having problems with sexual harassment in the FBI so she gives up wearing a bra. Jodie Jacobs has found her long-lost secret love from her youth, but still prefers to pursue a high-flying career rather than make the relationship her top priority. And the nasty FBI guys are so nasty that Internal Affairs would be after them if they were ordinary cops.

On top of the unbelievable characters we have a story that lacks realism and seems contrived. The most unrealistic part involves the method by which the murderer kills the victims, which in my opinion is totally impossible on two different counts. Unfortunately, I can't describe this problem in detail without revealing too much and getting this review labeled as a spoiler.

So I think I'll wish Jack Reacher good luck in his continuing lonely travels, and continue my search for thrillers that appeal to me on other shelves in the bookstores of cyberspace and elsewhere.

Rennie Petersen