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Most Helpful Favorable Review
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
So So....
Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were times when Mr.Child went too far into detail or repaeted things but I just skipped those parts. I mean how many times do you expect someone to reread about the shape of the same buildings. It is the first of the series I have read...Read More
Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were times when Mr.Child went too far into detail or repaeted things but I just skipped those parts. I mean how many times do you expect someone to reread about the shape of the same buildings. It is the first of the series I have read. I just ordered the first 3 books of the series and the last one.Show Less
posted by 1207446 on April 9, 2009
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Total Nonsense, Worst Reacher Ever
I have read and enjoyed every one of the prior Reacher novels, but without a doubt this is the worst, most inane, and nonsensical ever. What a totally ridiculous plot and a completely lame Reacher character. Really, the author and publisher should be ashamed of this tr...Read More
I have read and enjoyed every one of the prior Reacher novels, but without a doubt this is the worst, most inane, and nonsensical ever. What a totally ridiculous plot and a completely lame Reacher character. Really, the author and publisher should be ashamed of this tripe. I don't mind the 'political' overtones, per se, but the fundamental story is so completely and wildly ridiculous as to make this almost painful to read. Also, 'whole-town conspiracies' rarely work, and this story is no exception. Skip it...Show Less
posted by Anonymous on August 24, 2008
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Anonymous
Posted April 9, 2009
So So....
Overall, I enjoyed the book. There were times when Mr.Child went too far into detail or repaeted things but I just skipped those parts. I mean how many times do you expect someone to reread about the shape of the same buildings. It is the first of the series I have read. I just ordered the first 3 books of the series and the last one.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted August 24, 2008
Total Nonsense, Worst Reacher Ever
I have read and enjoyed every one of the prior Reacher novels, but without a doubt this is the worst, most inane, and nonsensical ever. What a totally ridiculous plot and a completely lame Reacher character. Really, the author and publisher should be ashamed of this tripe. I don't mind the 'political' overtones, per se, but the fundamental story is so completely and wildly ridiculous as to make this almost painful to read. Also, 'whole-town conspiracies' rarely work, and this story is no exception. Skip it...
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Reacher's Woes
"Nothing to Lose" is not one of Lee Child's best books featuring his hero Reacher. The first two hundred-odd pages plod along as Reacher goes back and forth between two towns with the patently allegorical names of Hope and Despair. Meanwhile, there is very little in the way of plot development to propel the story.
That being said, I have to admit I like the ending, and midway through the novel the pace does pick up satisfactorily.
I found the villain to be an interesting character and, ultimately, I do like the complex, if at times bewildering, plot of this thriller. If only it hadn't taken so long for it to play out!
--Bryan Cassiday, author of "Blood Moon" and "Fete of Death"2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Jack Reacher should have gone to a different town.
Jack Reacher is walking across America and gets to the intersection of Hope and Despair Colorado. He goes into Despair but is ordered out of town and told that they don't like strangers.
He goes to Hope where he meets Officer Vaughan. She tells him that Despair is a company town run by Jerry Thermond.
Reacher is a former Marine and doesn't like being told what he can and can't do. He returns to Despair after dark. He sneaks around Thermond's factory to check it out and on the return trips on the body of a dead young man.
Back in Hope he meets a girl, Lucy Anderson. He learns that she was also told to leave Despair and that her husband is missing. His description does not match that of the deceased stranger.
The story plods along with many parts defying belief. At one point Reacher is in a bar fight. He inflicts such damage that the six people he fights against need medical attention for such thngs as a broken arm, broken nose and a concussion. Reacher leaves the bar with hardly a scratch. Another time he's comeing back to Despair again and two to three hundred townies stand shoulder to shoulder blocking his way and chanting "Out! Out! Out!" This was absurd.
Besides the slowness of the story, the plot itself jumps from place to place as Reacher guesses what is the cause of Despair's attitude.
The characters are unsympathetic. Reacher usually acts as the saving Knight, helping someone who can't help themselves. In this story, no one is asking for his help and he might just as well left Despair to its own fate.2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Glenda61
Posted July 28, 2009
Lacks Substantial Interest with Dull Storyline.
Reading this book was like walking around in circles which is what the main character did throughout this book. The whole thing was rather pointless and it was a chore to get through this very boring book.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted July 14, 2009
Somewhat Disappointing
Jack Reacher is my favorite character. I look forward to any Lee Child book featuring Jack Reacher. Reading this particular book however, was a very tedious experience. The oft-repeated descriptions of the drabness of the town of Despair transcended across the pages so that devoting time to reading the book became a drab experience as well. I agree with other readers who say that the earlier Jack Reacher novels are far better than this one. Bring back the exciting Jack Reacher! He's always trying to extricate himself from seemingly impossible yet realistic situations. In Nothing to Lose the situations were implausible and unbelievable.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Minor let-down
Jack Reacher is my favorite 'bigger-than-life' cahracter in fiction today. In NTL, he's found 'fiddling' around a company town with much less evil than he normally encounters and overcomes. I felt this offering from Child was a bit "phoned in" and 'contructed' rather than 'crafted' as a story. I'm hoping for more next outing.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Fionamaud
Posted May 23, 2009
Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" never lets me down.
"Nothing To Lose" is a fast paced--keep you guessing-and on the edge of your seat brilliantly written book. The characters are well defined and full of life, the suspense is so intense I could not put it down. Lee Child is one of my favorite writers and Jack Reacher is my favorite character.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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ssgmom
Posted April 27, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Poorest Child Yet
Jack is always arrested as soon as he hits town and always innocent. His only friend is always some needy female. Books 1 thru 12, change the people names and town names and they are all the same story. My advise is that after book 4 just hang it up.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted April 16, 2009
Disappointing
I discovered Lee Child's books several years ago and found them to be great entertainment and a unique view point. I was a big fan. When this book came out I was excited and could not wait to start reading it. Nevertheless, I found Jack Reacher behaving out of character in this story and the book was a "politically correct" monstrosity. I would not recommend to my friends or even my enemies. I hope Lee Child gets back to his old ways because I will never waste my time with another of his books unless he does.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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CraigLivingstone
Posted March 14, 2009
Read Earlier Works, ONLY
Boring, silly attempt to make a buck from your loyal fans of Jack Reacher. You owe me $ 15.95!
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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1-4-da-shelf
Posted November 28, 2008
what happened???????????
All the othe reacher books are good, but this one is so boring! If you are new to the lee child books, go and read his early stuff, its way better than this mediocre offering
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted August 19, 2008
Hate to beat a dead horse but....
If you're looking for Jack Reacher, you won't find him here. This book was so disappointing that I feel as if I am in mourning. I'm embarrassed that I told friends to go out and buy it before I had read it. Very boring and the author's agenda too apparent. I'm on the other team politically I guess.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted July 28, 2008
I know what happened.
Mr. Child must have been under a contractual obligation to churn this one out. How many times can you walk back and forth between towns? How many times can you double dog dare a 6 on one confontation? This is not the Jack Reacher I have grown to adore over the years. Mr. Child, maybe it is time to let Reacher evolve just a little bit? At one time he was to be admired, now he is laughable.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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MavOR
Posted January 1, 2010
Political Screeds Ruined an Otherwise Decent Thriller
Child expressed two political rants: first that soldiers are pitiful victims of evil powers in the exercise of war; and second that fundamentalist Christians are insane hypocrites. The villain is such a stock caricature as to be laughable, and Child's knowledge of the Bible is as bad as Dan Brown's.
There is a primary plot and a subplot. The subplot, rescue of military deserters to Canada does not blend into the book as a whole and seems to be a vehicle for Child to rant on about Iraq. The main plot involves the villain's machinations to "immanentize the eschaton" by planning a major explosion falsely attributable to Iran, thus jumpstarting Armageddon. Within this plot we have a thread of government corruption in hiding the disposal of uranium used in tank production. So it appears the whole book was plotted out as a way for Child to get in his favorite political rants.
I do like the Jack Reacher character and was disappointed in Child abusing him for political purposes. Having said that, I found most of the book to have a fair amount of suspense to keep me turning the pages. I will keep reading the Reacher series in the hopes this was a lone divergence for Child.1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted September 23, 2009
Should be OpEd rather than a fiction novel
I loved all of Child's other Reacher books, but this one was too political and far fetched. I felt that Child was trying to push an agenda rather than a story.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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jam526
Posted May 26, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Jack Reacher, a true man among men!
Lee Childs does not write a bad Jack Reacher book! Doesn't happen. I have saved every one for my library. Reacher is so masculine that this is a great fix for gals who like men who come to the rescue!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted September 22, 2008
What happened to Lee Child?
I have to admit it, but I am getting VERY disappointed in this series. After enjoying most all of the rest of the series 'earliest one the best'they have just seemed to drift off of late. This issue was very slow and repetitive, to the point where it seemed like dejavu several times as i was reading. It took me two weeks to finish it, and I have NEVER read one of this series in longer than 2 days before, cause i couldnt wait to finish them before. I actually only finished this one in order to see IF the bad guys were really bad after all 'you'll know what i mean if you find yourself compelled to read this one'. So come on, I think we need to put an APB out for Lee Child and get him back here, pronto! We just want the plots and stories to match up to the greatness of the character that he created! A fan of all but the last few novels, Kal~
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted September 14, 2008
Dismal reading
I hope Lee Child is reading these reveiws to understand the depth of disappointment in regards to this poorly written novel. I kept waiting for the old Reacher to appear at some point but it never happened. What the reader recieved was a poor misguided attempt to rationalize an anti war viewpoint with a plot that strained common sense. After finishing the book I literally was angry that Child and his publisher would pawn off on a very dedicated following such tripe.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous
Posted September 22, 2008
Not a Page Turner
I've read about 1/3 of the book and was not impressed, so I turned to these reviews. I guess I'm not alone. I don't believe I will finish the book, which is disappointing in itself, since I looked forward to it. But it is pretty far fetched and not a page turner!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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