Very reminiscent of BAD LUCK & TROUBLE

Any additional comments?

This is the ONE series I wait a year for each new book only to listen to in one day and start counting down again the next day!! Although I have read other reviews criticizing the last few books because Reacher is/acts like an "old man" in the books, I personally think he's doing just fine. He left the military in '97, he was 36 years old. If you do the math he would have been born in 1961 (so was I). That makes him 54 years old. If the books are supposed to be in "real" time and he performed like he did at 36, I don't think it would make a believable story.
Now for this book. I think Michelle was a great sidekick and complimented Reacher well. I felt sad at the end of NEVER GO BACK, picturing him sitting alone waiting for a bus. The end of this book left me with a hopeful feeling, Reacher's basically been alone (not counting one night stands) since Jody. I think that ended with book 4.
With an awful lot of cross country travel I was completely in the dark about what was happening in Mother's Rest. I won't ruin this for anyone but this is very thought provoking, disturbing and I'm not naive enough to think it doesn't exist. I personally would like to thank Lee Child for writing this into a story. I did get an education about the "deep" web and many of the hidden sites most would prefer to not know existed.

Dick Hill is the voice of Jack Reacher. The are three other books in this series that are excellent books but without Dick Hill's narration they are better off read.

This is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

If you find this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

132 people found this helpful

Not Child’s best Reacher book

Might be the worst. The story is weak. There are so many holes in the story I’m not sure where’d I start to name them. Not that it matters. Child never really sells the story. Not that you’d expect a level of realism, but he’s done much better. In fact I got bored listening and looked forward to the end.

7 people found this helpful

Who is Mother and why does she need a rest?

I am a dedicated Jack Reacher fan. That said, I have mixed feelings about this entry. On the plus side, we get to see Reacher in some interesting and different predicaments, which is always fun. Some of the bit-part supporting characters are a real hoot. The inevitable girl sidekick has her moments but is pretty one-dimensional. The problem of "how to get in" (always a question in Reacher books) is a real puzzler and the eventual strategy is laugh-out-loud cool. And welcome to the 21st Century, Reacher actually uses some modern technology. Sort of.

But.... huge negative: new depths of gruesomeness. No spoilers here, but you'll figure out what's coming well before you get to that point.

I am continued to be amazed at what a good job Lee Child has done in keeping this series going. There's basically one plot: Reacher wanders into town, stumbles into a heinous criminal conspiracy , starts figuring out what's going on, has to "get in" (often to save a hostage), huge action scene, ride off into the sunset. (Does anyone else keep visualizing Reacher as Clint Eastwood's man with no name?)

Narration: It's hard to imagine anyone but Dick Hill reading a Reacher, but the drawn out laconic drawl tempts me to listen at 1.25x. Tempts, I say, but I remain strong and resist.

So, somewhere around 3.75 stars. Not my favorite Reacher, I'll probably skip this one when I get around to starting over and listening to the Reachers again, but all of us true fans will continue to look forward to every new addition to the series.

54 people found this helpful

Good, but still disappointing

I have been a Jack Reacher fan since purchasing the hardcover version of Killing Floor, first book in the series, when it was released in 1997. I have Audible versions of all of the Jack Reacher novels (and short stories) as well as printed version of most. This book, Make Me, is the 20th novel in the Jack Reacher series. I rated the first 18 five stars, but was somewhat disappointed that Personal, Jack Reacher Book 19, only earned four stars.

Make Me returns to the formula of several of the Reacher novels: Jack is traveling around the US where he runs into wrongs that need to be righted and a beautiful woman to help. The setting is the small, isolated town of Mother's Rest, Oklahoma where 200 people have disappeared. Jack's female helper is a private investigator from Seattle who is looking for a fellow PI who went missing in Mother's Rest. My reviews never include plot spoilers, so I'll stop there except to say that there is lots of travel to Illinois,California, etc. in the book.

Make Me lacks some of the suspense of earlier Jack Reacher releases. It is the least suspenseful, thrilling, and interesting of the 20 Reacher novels. While it is a worthwhile read, it is disappointing. Other Reacher novels are not average, but Make Me is.

Dick Hill does his usual stellar narration.

39 people found this helpful

I've listened to all and this was the slowest

It took far too long for us to find out what Jack was up against. I would say about 2/3 of the book. Then when you finally find out Lee Child does throw in an unexpected and disturbing twist. The most disappointing part is there are too many unanswered questions at the end. Things like, "What happens to.....?" "Does anyone tell.....what happened to....?"

5 people found this helpful

Normally Love Jack Reacher on Audio- Not this one.

First Jack Reacher novel and reading I havent enjoyed. I love these books, but either the author is running out of material or just didn't have it in him on this one. I also typically Iike the narrator, however for this reading each character seemed like they were continually out of breath, not like they were running but like he didn't have have the air to get the last part of the sentences read without seeming "breathy." The story seemed extra dragged out- a lot of times there's extra scene details inJack Reacher novels but this was beyond extra details to the point of me wondering if Lee Child was just trying to elongate the story. I was so ready to be done, I finished it because I don't leave books unfinished but was it disappointing.

4 people found this helpful

Break neck action

For book twenty in the Jack Reacher series Lee Child has done something different. Reacher gets off a train in a small town of “Mother’s Rest” simply because he is intrigued by the name. I have done the same thing myself when travelling by car.

Reacher meets a woman hoping to meet her partner at the train station who has asked her to come to help him. She is former Special Agent Michelle Chang. Of course, Reacher cannot resist a mystery of where is former Agent Keever? Reacher and Chang set off to find Keever and boy does the action begin. The ending took me by surprise: I would never have figured an ending to the mystery as Child wrote it.

The book is well written, fast paced and full of suspense along with the Reacher humor. I began to wonder is Child going to create something more between Reacher and Chang. The basic plot gave me the vague feeling I was reading a western. Dick Hill did his usual great job narrating the story.

24 people found this helpful

Good premise; mediocre follow through

I was trying to pinpoint why this latest installment in the Reacher series (I've read them all) didn't keep me listening on the edge of my chair. Then it came to me: There was literally no development of the "bad guy" characters. Part of Reacher's intrigue is the sense that he will meet and defeat one or more bad guys. Other than the brief scene at the doctor's house, this confrontation never happened. I liked the interaction between Chang and Reacher but it wasn't enough to rescue this otherwise weak effort by Child. It wasn't as bad as the installment two books ago (the title of which I have managed to erase from my memory). Child needs to bring back Jack Reacher and let him hang around for a few consecutive books. When asked to comment on the calibre of this most recent effort by Child, Reacher said nothing.

18 people found this helpful

Too much time spent on Reacher's toothbrush

I have, like so many others, read every one of Lee Child's books. I fell in love with Reacher because he was honest and always wanted to help others. I fell in love with Mr. Child's work because he was always able to bring the people in his books to life and allow the reader to feel them, their pain and joys. That wasn't the case in this book.
First he introduced Michelle Cheng and he was successful in building her character but he failed to allow her to live up to her persona. She is an FBI agent but she was always in Reacher's shadow. She appeared stupid, inept and totally useless. FBI agents are superbly trained individuals. If true to her training, Cheng should have been able to teach Reacher a few things. All in all she was just a bit of bed fluff and a way for Reacher to explain his intentions to the reader. It was a bore. It would have been more plausible if Cheng had been the reporter at least it would have explained her presence.
Second, Mr. Child did nothing to develop the bad guys in the book. They were really bad and we needed to feel it. I think it would have made the book much more interesting.
Third, we were not allowed to meet or even know the victims in the story. They died and we should have been allowed to mourn their passing. This effort would have sent home the disgust we felt for the bad guys and reason why Reacher was forced to deal with them in the manner in which he did.

Dick Hill was his usual fantastic self. He has worked and surpassed his narrative skills and in particular female voices. I was able to keep all the character's straight. He followed the author's suggestions for development and he was able to give the listener a picture of how the character looked and acted from his voice alone. Outstanding as always.

3 people found this helpful

Sigh! I am disappointed

Would you try another book from Lee Child and/or Dick Hill?

I am a fan of Lee Child and have listened to many of his books. However,iIt appears to me Lee Child needs to take a refresher course. I recommend: "How to End a Story 101" The premise of the story is an excellent one. However, Reacher appeared to act stupidly in this story. For example: Not being cognizant of cell phone tracking and not keeping PI Chang's cell phone off the air. He should had stayed with the trow away. But mostly, I found the ending so contrived. The bad guys ambush was not to be believed and the bad guy boss could not hit Reacher at 60 feet? Come on! I also purchased the eBook edition and sought a refund. More and more I am finding authors who serve up a long series of books surrounding a character such as Reacher get sloppy with their endings.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Allowing the daring duo to be tracked by PI Chang's cell phone is not believable and the ending is not believable.

Which character – as performed by Dick Hill – was your favorite?

I like Jack Reacher

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Only if the issues mentioned above were to be corrected

Any additional comments?

Lee, keep trucking

14 people found this helpful