Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Jack Reacher #19

by Lee Child

You can leave the army, but the army doesn’t leave you. Not always. Not completely, notes Jack Reacher—and sure enough, the retired military cop is soon pulled back into service. This time, for the State Department and the CIA.Someone has taken a shot at the president of France in the City of Light. The bullet was American. The distance between the gunman and the target was exceptional. How many snipers can shoot from three-quarters of a mile with total confidence? Very few, but John Kott—an American marksman gone bad—is one of them. And after fifteen years in prison, he’s out, unaccounted for, and likely drawing a bead on a G8 summit packed with enough world leaders to tempt any assassin.If anyone can stop Kott, it’s the man who beat him Reacher. And though he’d rather work alone, Reacher is teamed with Casey Nice, a rookie analyst who keeps her cool with Zoloft. But they’re facing a rough road, full of ruthless mobsters, Serbian thugs, close calls, double-crosses—and no backup if they’re caught. All the while Reacher can’t stop thinking about the woman he once failed to save. But he won’t let that that happen again. Not this time. Not Nice.Reacher never gets too close. But now a killer is making it personal.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, Action, Mystery Thriller

Mass Market Paperback

First published September 2, 2014

About the author

Lee Child was born October 29th, 1954 in Coventry, England, but spent his formative years in the nearby city of Birmingham. By coincidence he won a scholarship to the same high school that JRR Tolkien had attended. He went to law school in Sheffield, England, and after part-time work in the theater he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career as a presentation director during British TV's "golden age." During his tenure his company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker. But he was fired in 1995 at the age of 40 as a result of corporate restructuring. Always a voracious reader, he decided to see an opportunity where others might have seen a crisis and bought six dollars' worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.

Killing Floor was an immediate success and launched the series which has grown in sales and impact with every new installment. The first Jack Reacher movie, based on the novel One Shot and starring Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike, was released in December 2012.

Lee has three homes—an apartment in Manhattan, a country house in the south of France, and whatever airplane cabin he happens to be in while traveling between the two. In the US he drives a supercharged Jaguar, which was built in Jaguar's Browns Lane plant, thirty yards from the hospital in which he was born.

Lee spends his spare time reading, listening to music, and watching the Yankees, Aston Villa, or Marseilles soccer. He is married with a grown-up daughter. He is tall and slim, despite an appalling diet and a refusal to exercise.

Reviews

[Connie Rea · Rating 3 out of 5]

hmmmmm....what can I say? I love Jack Reacher. I love Lee Child. I've been a massive fan from the very start. I've recommended his books to dozens of people...probably hundreds! I've shared countless books with neighbors, co-workers and friends. I pour a cup of coffee and I think of Reacher. I buy a new toothbrush and I think of Reacher.....

But I didn't care for this book at all. Actually my least favourite book of Reacher. I'm the type of person that buys books on pre-order. Lots and lots of them. However....there are only two authors I actually READ on release day.....John Sandford and Lee Child.....Usually I read Lee's in a single sitting....no more than two days....This one took me over two weeks to muddle through it.

I've been trying to figure out why this one is so different for me. It's taken me a bit, but I think I figured it out finally. Reacher wasn't on his own. I understand he's been part of makeshift teams before. However, even as a team member he was always on his own....working for himself....because he wanted to correct some wrong in the world. This book was full of politics. It was just bogged down. The story line just got lost in all the politics and the conspiracy and back office deals. Reacher felt like a puppet in this novel. He had no personality.

I won't continue on...except to say that I was totally bored with this novel. I wouldn't have even finished it if it were not a Reacher novel. That makes it a very sad day in the life of a long time Reacher fan....

Will I wait for the next book? Damn right. Will I read it right away? Damn straight I will. This is one book out of almost 2 dozen.....it's not the end of the world....I'm still a loyal fan and I still have massive love for Lee Child and Reacher.....I will still be putting on a pot of black coffee next time he comes to town...

If I could say one thing to Lee Child it would be this....Forget your editors....forget your fans.....go back to your one new book every May.....forget the second book in the fall....yes we bitch and moan about the wait.....yes, you can make more money by writing more books....but really, Christmas only comes once a year and we've all survived our childhoods of waiting for Santa all year long.......The Real Jack Reacher is worth the wait as well......please...please.....go back to once a year and spend that extra 6 months giving us the REAL Reacher....not just words on a page....

That is all.....

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review

www.RandomBookMuses.com
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[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see England, I see France, I see Reacher's underpants.
No, only fooling. I've never seen Jack Reacher's undies, although I wouldn't mind doing so as long as it was the “real” Reacher and not the Tom Cruise midget Hack Reacher Hollywood version.
Does Reacher even wear underwear? Has Lee Child ever told us? And if he does, are they tighty whities or boxers?

Anyway, how did we get on the subject of Jack's foundation garments? Oh, yeah, I was talking about seeing England and France, which we get to do in this novel, and that's what makes it fun to read. Those of us who have been with Jack Reacher from the start have grown a mite weary of seeing him land in yet another creepy one-hydrant small town somewhere in the bowels of America. So Lee Child got smart and made him a world traveler in this latest installment.

I don't know about the rest of you, but it really purples my nurples when I look at a review of a book I've been anticipating with great relish, only to have one or two lines in that review ruin it all for me by giving away too much information. I don't generally write much in the way of reviews for books in the suspense/thriller category because I'm afraid that one little thing I say might spoil it for some eager reader.

So how to review this book? Without spoilers. Without even a hint of spoilers. You can read the publisher blurb and get a pretty good feel for the general plot, but even those dadgum blurb writers seem to include spoilers these days.

What I will say is that this book was one heck of a lot of fun to read. There's a great mix of characters we've never met before. There are colorful English hoodlums and American military has-beens and world-class snipers, one of whom takes a shot at the president of France, which sets the wheels in motion for Reacher to seek a confrontation with a guy he put in prison over 15 years ago.

This is a super-intelligent thriller with some great humor thrown in. I won't tell you my favorite laugh-out-loud lines, because I want you to be as surprised and delighted by them as I was.

Seeing how Lee Child is so smart and does his research so well, I was surprised to find that he didn't do his homework on pharmaceuticals for this novel. He apparently has Zoloft confused with Xanax, and has a major female character popping a Zoloft whenever she's nervous or needs to sleep. That's my only real criticism of the book. I read an advance copy, and I hope the error will be corrected in the final version.

Thanks for reading my rambling review. Nanu nanu.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It all began with a personal advertisement in an Army publication. After a military official reaches out to him, Reacher is flown to DC, where he learns that a sniper he put away is free again, and may have been responsible for the attempted assassination of the President of France. Reacher joins the investigating and begins with a quick trip to Arkansas, where he learns that an unhealthy personal obsession brewed during those fifteen years behind bars and has continued with a vengeance. Undaunted, Reacher and the team head out to Paris to assess the scene of the shooting, where the only thing that left the world leader safe with a pane of bulletproof glass. Reacher soon learns that the assassination attempt may only be the warm-up in a larger plan to take down world leaders at the upcoming G8 Summit. He heads to London with a young State Department official to scope out the Summit's locale and try to find the cold-blooded killer before he makes more headlines. When he determines that the sniper's being protected by a local ganf, Reacher has no choice but to infiltrate to stop any further bloodshed. A page-turner if ever there was one that takes Reacher off the continent for the first time since he's become a loner without a fixed address. Child knows just how to captivate his audience with thrills, chills, and just the right amount of drama, while adding an ending that will leave readers slapping their collective foreheads.

Child continues to captivate his readers and provide new and exciting options for Reacher to expand his adventures. For a man with no fixed address and unencumbered by family, Reacher seems to be tailor-made for the life of a spy. He is, however, deeply loyal to those he chooses to protect and will stop at nothing to ensure their safety. Able to connect with the opposite sex with ease, Reacher is always getting himself into trouble or antics that tell a wonderful secondary story along the way. Each new book proves to forge new ground, just when the reader thought they'd seen it all from this man of mystery. Child has a wonderful handle on his character and his uncharted future adventures, sure to gain fans at every turn.

Having now completed the Jack Reacher collection to date, let me take a moment to offer some views of the series as a whole and its central character. From the outset of the series, Reacher has been a lone man on his own mission, traipsing into towns with his own agenda (and sometimes no agenda at all). He ends up part of the central crime or is willing to use his years as part of the military police to help local law enforcement with whatever crime or crisis arises. There are times that this goes smoothly, but clashes with authority and a determination to follow his own rulebook can, at times, leave Reacher at odds with those he seeks to assist. While he is known to get close to a key female character in the story, he is not as Bond-esque as to bed every woman who shows an interest. While Child has ensured the reader is offered only breadcrumbs as it relates to Reacher's back story, as the series progresses, the reader learns more about his military past, the closeness he felt with his brother and mother, as well as his active role in the military for thirteen years. Grabbing hold of these loose ends, the reader can sketch a better idea of Jack Reacher, the only character who recurs in each novel. The dissociative nature of the central character and his ever-changing setting makes any book in the series a possible starting point. That said, certain nuanced clues within the novels make reading the series in its chronological order a little more exciting, at least from my perspective. Child has perfected his storytelling, offering not only up to date adventures, but flashbacks to earlier, more structured times for the protagonist. With a smattering of novels, short stories, and novellas, Child keeps his fans occupied and sated with explosive tales and wonderful thrills.

Kudos, Mr. Child for your wonderful storytelling and passionate attention to detail. Keep it up for another score of books and I am sure you will keep finding new fans.

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

One day in Paris someone takes a shot at the President of France from three-quarters of a mile away and damn near hits him, but a sheet of bullet-proof glass in front of the podium deflects the shot. Only a handful of people in the world could have made that shot, and probably only one American--a sniper named John Kott who was released from prison a year earlier after doing a fifteen-year stretch.

The evidence suggests that this may have only been a practice round. The leaders of the G8 nations are about to hold a summit in London where they will all be exposed to a sniper who could hit from that range and so, needless to say, the international intelligence people are having apoplexy trying to identify and track down the sniper before he can take dead aim at one or more targets at the summit meeting.

It's not clear that the sniper actually is John Kott; intelligence officials in a few other countries have identified potential suspects, but the bullet fired in Paris was American made, and, one by one, the international suspects tend to fall by the wayside, leaving Kott as the most likely suspect.

So what in the hell do you do in a case like this if you're in the CIA or the State Department or whatever and you need to find and deter Kott ASAP? Well, naturally, you put a personal ad in the Army Times asking Jack Reacher to get in touch. Then you hope that Reacher will find a copy of the paper lying around on whatever damned bus he's riding at the moment.

Happily, Reacher sees the ad and reports for duty. He was the guy who arrested Kott sixteen years early and the Powers That Be are hoping that Reacher can find him again. Naturally, if you are the PTB, you don't want Reacher wandering too far off the leash, though, and so they assign a young female analyst named Casey Nice to tag along and report on Reacher's activities.

The hunt covers a lot of ground in the U.S., in France, and in Britain and, as always, it's great fun watching Reacher confound not only the bad guys but his handlers as well. It's a gripping tale, somewhat reminiscent of the excellent The Day of the Jackal, and it moves along at a very fast pace. All in all, it's an excellent choice for a summer read, or any other season for that matter.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My usual rating for this much loved series is four stars, this one sits at 3.5⭐

The story didn’t hold me as much as it normally would, but not to say I still didn’t enjoy the ride. Jeff Harding as always provides a great audio narration, which enables me to fly through.

This instalment takes us the G8 Summit in France, where Reacher is on the hunt for John Kott, a man he put away years ago, but the trouble is the baddie is an ex marksman, with a very good shot. Reacher is drawn in by the CIA, again as being pulled back into service, which is a frequent theme over the last couple of books.

His helper this time around is Casey Nice, a CIA operative who freely admits is not great in the field, in fact, she’s medicated for anxiety. I really enjoyed this aspect, and the sensitive way it was handled, deftly as ever by Lee Child.

I think the favourite part in this book for me, was Reacher and his understanding of Casey and his continual encouragement and gentle advice given to her at every step of the way. He gives her a choice when going for Kott, it’s personal for him, she needn’t be involved. The funny thing about the name of Casey’s character was that every time her name was used (which was a lot) I kept thinking it should be ‘Niece’ not ‘Nice’. Just a weird thing that followed me all the way through!

Child is as always ever so clever with the wit, the banter, and in this instance I loved the dialogue where Reacher was covertly directing Nice in how to shoot a person, while standing right behind the perp at the time he needed to be killed. I love every aspect of the smart writing, the knowledge of firearms, geography in all countries, and Reacher’s straight up vibe.

So yes, as always, I enjoyed the ride, but it did fall a tad flat compared to usual at the end. But still, always can’t wait for the next of course.

I listened to this via the BorrowBox app and my public library. Reacher really does rock.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You've got the strength of two normal boys. What are you going to do with it? You're going to do the right thing." -- Josephine Reacher's instruction to her son Jack, on pages 121-122

Personal was first Jack Reacher suspense / adventure to offer up a slice of disappointment since Nothing to Lose (the twelfth book, for those who care and/or are keeping count), and that was a shame because much of the time the plot worked in that dependably formulaic way . . . until the final chapters. Breaking into some positively 'Bondian' territory (including the female lead being named Ms. Nice, practically screaming out a 007 reference), drifter Reacher is recruited by national security agencies to stop a probable assassination attempt in London. Said crime will likely be carried out by a crazily talented (and likely just plain crazy) former U.S. Army sniper who once served an extended stay in the stockade courtesy of our man Reacher during his days in the military police. Now, not that I dive into a Reacher book demanding any sort of explicit realism, but author Child is usually pretty adept at creating an air of semi-plausibility in his plots. However, once the true villain is revealed at the strained conclusion - and a reader reflects on the overly elaborate set-up of sorts staged throughout the previous 450 pages - it will seem like an unbelievable amount of time, money and effort was expended only for things to cross the line into the almost-laughable zone. And yet . . . there was a great moment where Reacher speaks of his late mother's life experiences (a French native, as a teenager she worked for the Resistance during WWII and was decorated for her actions assisting downed Allied airmen) to a new colleague during a brief visit to a cemetary. So for that surprisingly intimate part and several other scenes Personal dodges the bullet of being a bad book.

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see there is a lot of debate between Lee Child fans about whether this is a good book or not. I liked it four stars worth! Okay it was a bit different especially as the action takes place in Europe instead of America. I actually found that a refreshing change. And it does get a bit wordy in parts but makes up for it with some great action and an intriguing game of double guessing who the real baddy is. I really enjoyed it.

[Franklin Atherton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read every Reacher novel Lee Child ever wrote. Some of them are good, and some of them are magnificent. Recently there have been a few substandard, but Personal is the worst Reacher novel I've ever read. It was even worse than the one where he was supposedly being held prisoner in a car, and it all took place as they drove across country, and that's really saying something because that one really sucked. The beginning started out okay, and the ending was okay, but what was all that bullshit in the middle? The ending seemed to rationalize some of what went on, but it in no way makes up for the boring, adolescently contrived nature of the bullshit we had to endure for 200 pages. Maybe he needs to lay off the cannabis for a while, because that was the biggest pile of confusing horseshit I've ever read. (Cannabis accusation according to his own claim in an interview with the Daily Mail: “In 2013, Grant told the Daily Mail that he writes while high on marijuana, and that he has smoked cannabis five nights a week for 44 years.” per Wikipedia)

Man, I can be a diehard fan of someone as much as the next guy, but, after reading Personal, I felt the same way I did after I read the latest John Sandford novel. I felt like I'd been had, that these guys are slacking and leaning a little too heavily on their fans to prop them up, like they are coasting, like they are semi-retired rich dudes just waiting for the checks to roll in. Well, screw that, boys! There are too many people out there who are still TRYING to write something worth reading for me to waste too much time or money on that crap! I've already scrapped Sandford's Virgil Flowers series as he carelessly allowed one of his golfing buddies to get a little too involved and turned out a piece of crap, and I'm not afraid to throw any future efforts in the Reacher series on the scrap-heap, too.

It was crap. It was insulting. Look at it this way, if this had been his first novel, there never would have been another one. Nobody would have published a piece of crap like that, so I don't see why I should cut him any slack based on his previous efforts. Each effort needs to be good enough to pass this test. Every one of them.

[Lissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I LOVE Jack Reacher and have read ALL Lee Child's Reacher books but this one (and the one before, I have found disappointing to say the least in fact I have closed the latest, after giving it a good chance, and will not finish it. The "edge" seems to have gone from the books with lots of wandering around, pointless dialogue and side tracks that take the stories no-where. It is almost as if someone else is doing the writing!! I'd love to stay addicted but am finding it hard. I was desperate for Jack to find Susan (we waited two books was it, to get there) and then was there an explosion upon meeting? No - a whimper!! Ever since 61 Hours the pace of the books has slowed. I'd love to love Jack again - please!!

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always loved a good sniper novel. This one could have used a little more sniper activity but it didn’t disappoint. The threat of having a potential sniper watching the protagonists actions at all times kept the tension ratcheted up. And of course having Reacher bring Reacher was the icing on the cake.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A page turner filled with action, thrills and violence aplenty. However it feels like something is missing that exists in the other Jack Reacher books. I don't think Jack being the narrator helps as it seems to spoil the action having everything explained, often beforehand.
Enjoyable and a quick read but not the best in this series in my opinion.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 19 in the Jack Reacher series.

Lovely to have Jack in Romford, Essex.

Five stars.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 19 in the Jack Reacher series published 2014.

This was not Lee Child at his best.
For the first time ever reading a Jack Reacher story I got bored.
Jack finds himself in London and other European cities but mostly London trying to track down a sniper that has just attempted to assassinate the French President.
The man that Jack is looking for is a man that Jack put behind bars 16 years ago but he is out now and causing havoc.
This sounds like a normal Jack Reacher story and there are parts that are typical Jack Reacher. Jack the one man wrecking machine, strike first and be the last man standing, the Jack we all know and love.
But so much of it reads like it was written by a cartographer with endless descriptions of the streets of London and the aforementioned other cities of Europe. By way of a change there’s fare bit of Architectural rumination on the quality of the London homes. This would be great if I was reading A Tourists Guide to London and its Environs and not a Jack Reacher thriller.
To be fare, the bits that are typical Jack Reacher are really good and the end was totally unexpended so thumbs up for that.

I would call myself a Jack Reacher die hard but if this was my first Jack Reacher book it would have been my last one.

Not great but still worth 3 stars.

[Ammar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.

A sniper is wild ... trying to assassinate a G8 leader in the G8 summit in the UK. The sniper and Jack Reacher got a history.

Jack Reacher had put him in jail 16 years ago and how he is released...

A solid page turner and full of blood and guts ... bullets and chases.. cars... London.. Paris and the USA.

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook - 11:10 hours - Narrator: Jeff Harding
4.0 stars out of 5.0

I joined Goodreads in October 2011 and other than regularly loading my books into my GR library, I was not active as a reviewer or a commenter until several years ago. I read "Personal" as a paperback in September 2014 and at some stage I awarded it a one-star 'DNF'.

"Personal" is one of three "Jack Reacher" novels that I have awarded a 'one-star DNF'. A number of my GR friends have awarded "Personal" 4.0 or 5.0 stars and one friend in particular, William D, has commented that whereas our tastes are generally similar, he had awarded "Personal" and the other two of my three 'DNF's', 4.0 stars each. We both wondered aloud about this dichotomy, so I resolved to review each novel again and determine whether or not the 'DNF's' were justified.

Apparently I am blessed with a (probably defective!) memory that enables me to read or listen to a book at least twice while remembering only vague generalities during the second reading (listening), because I certainly have no idea when I actually 'DNF'd' "Personal" and I am surprised that I remembered literally nothing about the book at all.

This is the Jack Reacher who has been missing in my reading/hearing of novels "#18, #19, and #20". Loaded with the usual detailed repetition (weapons and ammo; etc.) which are part of the Jack Reacher 'charm', "Personal" was chock-full of high paced action, unimaginably bad 'baddies', untrustworthy 'goodies' and several very attractive women. Surprisingly Reacher kept his zippers in place and neither of the women tempted him to do otherwise.

I listened to this in virtually one 'sitting' until 2:30 am this morning! It is a novel that thoroughly deserves 4.0 stars and I think it is one of the best "Jack Reacher" novels I have ever read/listened to! To my GR friends who rated this a four stars or higher, you have greater initial discernment than I and thank you for the 'prod' to review my first impressions of "Personal".

[Gloria ~ mzglorybe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really happens until the 16th chapter, page 87 ... unusual for a Jack Reacher novel. Lee Child likes to set the foundation in detail. I realize that it's necessary to a point, but this novel, unlike the other Reacher novels I've read, focuses primarily on strategies, hypothetical situations & scenarios, and way too much detail about the artillery/ammunition used or not used as in some cases. He goes into all the technical stuff, such as velocity of bullets, ranges, angles, specifications, material used, etc., I mean pages of this. “Personally,” this reader just wanted him to get on with the story. The knock-down drag out fist-fighting is much the same, a blow by blow description of how it went down, to get the bad guy ... and when he finally gets the bad guy, which we all know he is going to do, it seems anti-climatic.

I've skimmed through this part of his novels in the past, but found myself tempted more often by this one. I like the character of Jack Reacher, and will continue reading any future releases. If you haven't read a Reacher novel, don't start with this one. Even though each can be read independently, you will enjoy the series a lot more if you start with Book 1: The Killing Floor. Then you can see how Jack grows through the years as he stumbles across various situations, always ready to help the underdog. It pains me to give such an acclaimed author a rating as low as 2-stars, but I'm trying to be honest here.

Disclaimer: I was provided a complimentary pre-release ARC of this work by Amazon for my unbiased opinion and review on Amazon.com, of which any opinion I give for review always is the truth, like it or not.

[S. ≽^•⩊•^≼ I'm not here yet · Rating 4 out of 5]

"They didn't rule the world by being nice. And neither did we, when our time came."

Yay AND We Know THAT nobody doesn't rule the world by being dumb...

My old Reacher are you getting old?!! Another great one, but not as good as the greatest ones! I just wish he wasn't in the babysitter role...and a little more realistic...

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

By coincidence, Jack Reacher picked up a discarded Army Times newspaper and discovered a classified ad directed at him – contact Shoemaker it said – and as he owed the General a favour, he did just that. But in doing so, the direction of his aimless wandering changed considerably; sixteen years previously Reacher put a man in prison – he learnt that man had been out for twelve months; was Reacher going to have to hunt him down again?

On learning that the President of France had been targeted by a sniper, and an expert in long range shooting as well, the governments of each country reacted immediately. With the G8 summit destined for London in the near future it meant that cooperation was needed on a grand scale. Accompanied by Casey Nice, a young and relatively new CIA agent, Reacher headed for London where they needed to do intense investigating, but under cover – the Brits weren’t to know they were there.

As Reacher and Nice moved deep into the London underground, the danger mounted. Reacher knew who he was after – but there were other elements at stake. Would they manage to get out with their lives?

I was disappointed in this latest instalment by Lee Child. An extreme amount of dialogue (by Reacher) with occasional bursts of action – it had me wondering when it would improve. I’ve previously enjoyed every book in the Jack Reacher series, but felt a little bored and let down by Personal. It almost felt like it was written by someone else. But in saying that, I urge Reacher lovers to give it a go – it could just be me!

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Jack Reacher then and I enjoyed this one more than the last (not as much as the early ones) but it was very good. They always are. No messing around here, Jack Reacher is Jack Reacher and that is kind of comforting.

Don't expect any surprises there are not any. The thing I mostly enjoy about these when I think about it is the fact that they are easy, predictable, do exactly what you expect them to do and are perfect reading when you don't want to have to think too much but want to be entertained. Jack Reacher is highly entertaining. He was here.

The story is good, flows out in its usual indomitable style, Jack pops into some lives, gets rid of some bad guys, puts the good guys back on track, doesnt stand for nonsense and, well, buys a toothbrush. And some new clothes. Considering how simple it sounds (and in a lot of ways it is) I was enthralled as ever.

These are good readable books of the type that don't make promises they can't keep and the success of the series does not surprise me one bit and is absolutely deserved. Lee Child may never write War and Peace but he will be read forever I have no doubt.

Recommended for thriller fans.

Happy Reading Folks!

[Bharath · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have been reading Jack Reacher novels, you surely know what to expect. Jack Reacher books are great to relax with. As a tough guy speaking his mind, and very resourceful, he is a character who is fun to read.

There has been a shot taken at the French President. There are four possible snipers who could have taken that difficult shot. One of them is John Kott, who has a grudge with Reacher who sends him to jail, and he has just completed his sentence. Reacher now takes off to Europe with an enthusiastic Ms Casey Nice for company. After a lot of violence with gangs in London, the story heads to a climax.

There is a twist in the tale towards the end - a plot which Reacher reasons through. Thought aspects of it do not come across as very plausible, as always it is a light & relaxing read.

[Mike French · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reacher is playing an away game in this non-stop action thriller. Mostly takes place in Paris and London, but now he is a one man wrecking crew on two continents! I enjoyed this episode in Reacher's life as much if not more than previous books.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Look, I've read every Jack Reacher book. Lee Child is one of my favorite authors. But by the time you get to the finale, you're just like "Wait, what? This doesn't even make sense. Is this really happening?" I thought about giving an extra star because there's a fair amount of energy in the book--it's a mess, but it's a fast-paced, rollicking mess. In the end, I decided to use one of my rare one-star ratings to wave off other folks.

Just to check that I wasn't crazy, I handed it off to my wife without saying anything about the book. She's a Lee Child fan too, but she really didn't like Personal either. She considered it a two-star book.

If you're a Lee Child fan, then consider it. But if you've never read a Lee Child book before, I'd read all the other ones before you start this one.

[Monnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As part of the "praise" for the book at Amazon.com, another favorite author of mine, Stephen King, calls this "The best one yet." It may not be the best I've ever read, but it's sure close to the top. The only real downside was the monumental effort it took not to envision the comparatively scrawny Tom Cruise in the role of 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound-plus Jack Reacher in the 2012 movie of the same name.

If it's action you want, you'll get an overload here. It begins as Reacher is called back into service for the State Department and the CIA, who inform him that someone has taken a shot at the president of France. The bullet was American-made, and the super long-distance shot could have been pulled off by less than a handful of snipers (even though it missed the target by a few hairs). One probability comes to mind immediately - John Kott, who, thanks to Reacher, spent the past 16 years in prison and was released recently.

Almost all of the time, Reacher works solo; but this time, he gets a rookie partner named Casey Nice (young and beautiful, naturally) - and it's hard for Reacher to forget thinking about a different female partner who bit the dust on his watch years earlier. Nice proves herself to be competent, which is nice, but he still doesn't want the same thing to happen again.

Trying to catch the shooter before he tries again - the conventional thinking is that the next target will be one (or more) of the world leaders who will be attending an upcoming G-8 summit - puts both Reacher and Nice within shooting distance of mobsters from various countries and, of course, whoever turns out to be the sniper. If it is Kott, the whole scenario could change; his reason for killing (and his intended target) could turn out to be very personal.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sniper tries to shoot the President of France from more than 3/4 of a mile away, a shot that could only be made by the most elite. While the bullet did not go through the protective glass, the G8 security agencies are worried about an upcoming summit in London. The list of candidates is quickly shuttled down to three men, a Brit, Russian and American. The American turns out to be a recently paroled man who Jack Reacher put in prison for 15 years. Reacher has a favor called in by a friend and is teamed with a young CIA agent, Casey Nice, to track down this sniper, in conjunction with a Brit and Russian. When the Russian is killed by a long-range shot intended for Reacher, that is blown off course, the action heats up. Reacher becomes embroiled in a turf war in East London with the Serbians. Reacher is a drifter and in this 19th book, he is far afield in most ways. Good twists at the end. Note: 4 stars is a bit generous actually.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nineteenth in the Jack Reacher thriller series revolving around a lone wolf, retired from the army and exploring his America.

A special thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Press for allowing me to enjoy this eARC.

My Take
Child knows how to pull a reader in. Of course, "knowing" Reacher, Child already has quite a bit set up for us ahead of time, lol. I do love "listening" to Reacher make his conclusions. His questions. His curiosity. His knowledge. Although…I don't remember Reacher thinking about the Socratic method that much in previous books. Hmmm, maybe I need to start my re-read…

It's part of what I love about Jack Reacher (and other stories/series of this ilk) is the intelligence and observation required. That ability to make deductions from the information gleaned, and to act on it. I know how little I observe around me — even though I want to think I see a lot. Just had a thought — shocking, I know *grin* — being Jack Reacher is similar to being an editor. Reacher knows so very much about how his world works — I'm thinking about his knowledge of snipers, guns, making one's bones, the AK-47, government identification, and more — and an editor has to know about his or her world. The one of words, sentences, plots, and more. It's a detailed knowledge, knowing the nuances of a word being used whether it's correct for the time period, for expressing that thought in the story. Soooo, maybe we each have our own strengths of observation, lol.

Oh, crack me up. Yep, Reacher is unconventional if only because he thinks ahead, plotting out all the angles. After all, people are people with the same motivations, dreams, plans all over the world. We're not so different from each other. It's also human nature when he analyzes Nice's motives and explains the difference between CIA and military. Some very excellent points there as well. There's that intriguing look behind the EU politics with that bit about why the Polish and Greek governments are suddenly about to have elections.

"…if it's some big terrorist statement … it's probably not Italy. I mean, who would notice? Those guys change every three weeks anyway."

Hmmm, Sherlock Homeless. An interesting nickname, and it certainly fits Reacher *grin*.

Oh, miaow!

"…you should take that washing machine out of the yard. I don't think it's compulsory."

Yep, it sure was an interesting trip out to Arkansas, and it was amazing how much information Reacher pulled out of it. Of course, Kott did leave quite a bit of information. Enough that it would knock me back a few miles. Not feet…miles, or at least 1,400 yards.

LOL, that initial beginning in Paris…interesting to see how alike these handlers were *more laughter*. It was sweet too, Reacher taking the time to see his mother's grave.

I wish Child had said why Nice has that nasty beat-up vehicle. What was her reasoning for it? Is it simply because it's so outside the box? Is she gonna keep it? I hope we'll see her again in future installments. Scarangello though, I'm not keen on making her acquaintance again. I didn't care for her comment about Reacher being as bad as Kott. I don't get where she's coming from, especially when she's CIA. I'd say, right off the bat, that she's a more likely candidate way before Reacher!

There's a lot of back history going on in this story. The AK-47 and the reason for its creation, which makes perfect sense. And how very sensible of the government (who knew a government could be sensible??) to plan for it. The behind-the-scenes details on how a G8 conference is choreographed. The fears behind it for the players.

There was one area in which Personal was completely unlike any previous Jack Reacher story. Tell me if you pick up on it!

Wow, that ending. It was something of an anticlimax, that betrayal, I had expected something completely different, yet this made so much sense. A shocking example of truth in human nature.

And, as Bennett says, "We didn't rule the world by being nice." And yes, I'd enjoy reading more about this character as well, lol.

The Story
It was a long-range shot at the French president that started it. Only a few snipers in the world were skilled enough. It’s the why behind the U.S.’s concern about the attempted assassination that has Reacher curious.

It soon turns out that they want Reacher out there as bait. After all, the American sniper they suspect wants Reacher dead, so…

Then comes London and two very angry gangs, which MI5 is likely to be very pleased about.

The Characters
Jack Reacher has been retired from the army for years and spent that time roaming America, but the army hasn't forgotten him. And Reacher realizes ruefully, that he's much too predictable. Dominique Kohl was one of Reacher's failures, at least in his own mind.

In North Carolina
Casey Nice is assigned through the State Department; she's actually CIA. Antonio Luna is a very good friend of Casey's. Joan Scarangello is also CIA, older, deputy to the deputy director of operations. She knew Joe Reacher and tries to use that.

Brigadier General Rick Shoemaker is second-in-command to General Tom O'Day.

In France
Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure is the French version of the CIA.

In London
Karel Libor was a big-deal Albanian gang leader. Wallace Court is where they intend to hold the G8 conference. The Romford Boys are led by Charlie White with his lieutenants: Tommy Miller, Billy Thompson, and the real "power behind the throne", the enforcer, Little Joey Green, a real brute of a man. He's enough to scare Nice off her crutches. Gary is one of Little Joey's team leaders. GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is the British version of the NSA.

The suspected snipers
John Kott was originally from Arkansas and was snapped up for sniper school. He was incapable of distinguishing between real life and the battlefield. William Carson is an ex-SAS operator with 50+ kills to his name, at some incredible distances. Fyodor Datsev is the Russian, ex-KGB. Rozan is the Israeli, and the best they ever saw with a fifty-caliber Barrett.

Yevgeniy Khenkin is Sluzhba Vneshgney Razvedki, or as Yevgeniy says "KGB really, old wine, new bottles". He was Datsev's handler back in the day. Bennett is the English representative with an interesting character. Very stereotypical English in fact. He could be MI6, he can be anyone you want, it's all pretty fluid at the moment, lol.

The Cover
The cover is shades of gray — how appropriate! — with a lone man standing on a deserted road leading to the Capitol building. One man facing down government.

The title is what this is for Reacher, Personal.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

After several recently disappointing books in this outstanding action driven series, I'm very happy to report that Lee Child is back with what might be his best book in the series. Jack Reacher is asked by a US Army General to join a multinational team to interdict a sniper who might have taken a shot at the French President in Paris and may be planning more high profile assassinations in London. Reacher accepts the assignment because he once arrested the American suspect and sent him to Leavenworth for 15 years which makes him uniquely qualified for the task.

What takes this exceptional thriller/mystery to the next level is not that Reacher is operating outside small town USA but that he uses his considerable West Point military logic and survival skills maneuvering in a politically constrained minefield of who to trust to stop another potential assassination attempt. Think homage to "Point of Impact" and "The Day of the Jackel" with Jack Reacher backed up by a young and very lovely state department operative. Everything is not what it seems and I'm still shaking my head over the elegantly complex ending. All in all, a stunning comeback by Lee Child who gave Jack Reacher a passport, a revitalized script and bad guys you won't soon forget!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somebody takes a shot at the french president and he gets saved by a new safety glass but suddenly all major security servies get mighty nervous. they make a list of the possible shooters who might be able to do a shot like the one aimed at the French president.
This list contains one wrathful person who has been put into jail by a certain military policeman by the name of Reacher. So the powers that be in the US want Reacher on the case and ship him to France were Reacher finds the weather pleasant especially the wind. His Russian counterpart loses his head due to the weather.
Next stop London England where the organised crime find out that while Sherlock Holmes might be fiction, Sherlock Homeless as some people call him makes a quite formidable threat. When Reacher flies home he has tracked down the sniper and finds the one responsible for aiming the shooter.

A quick and easy read that is certainly not one of the better Reacher novels but it is not too shabby either. It does what all Lee Child novels do entertain only this one is somewhat predictable and a more straightforward told tale. Great holiday reading fodder.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHOOPS--I did it again! I knew reading a Jack Reacher book would keep me up late--and it did. In this one, Reacher, the retired military cop, is pulled back into working for the Government. The State Dept. and the CIA want him to go to Paris and help find a would-be assassin of the President of France. It appears that the marksman is a man that Reacher put in prison when he was an MP. If Reacher caught him once, maybe he can catch him again! It's interesting to see Reacher loose in Paris. Not only does he speak French, but he knows the city of Paris well. It turns out Reacher's mom had been French. After Paris, Reacher's hunt takes him to London, also an interesting setting for the big man. I give "Personal" a solid 4 stars because of the action in Paris and London. Having visited both cities a number of times, I feel I know a lot about them and can visualize the streets that Reacher is going down.

[Linda Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee Child has written another in his Jack Reacher series that will excite his established fans and draw in those who have just discovered his books. All the elements that make Reacher a great character are present: a finely crafted story, many twists and turns in the plot, and the collision of past and present. Lee Child's writing style is spare but he includes all essential details. I love the way he tells a three hundred sixty page story in three hundred sixty pages without needless "stretch." Overall, Personal is a great read for mystery-thriller fans. The ending will catch you by surprise!

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a bus station in Seattle, Jack Reacher comes across a copy of the Army Times with a classified ad addressed to him with instructions to make contact. Reacher does and is quickly swept up into a race against time to stop a potential assassin from taking out the heads of state of the world superpowers at an upcoming economic summit.

One of the potential killers has a connection to Reacher -- he was put behind bars years ago during Reacher's time in the army. And it appears the potential assassin has an ax to grind with Reacher and wants to take him out as well as the heads of state.

The nineteenth entry in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series Personal is most disappointing one I've read so far. Usually the novels narrated by Reacher have been among my favorites in the series, but Personal never quite clicks and spends seemingly long periods of time with Reacher doing little or nothing to impact the investigation or the plot. Part of the problem is that Reacher is part of a team this time around. The character has had help in the past, but he seems less the unstoppable force that he has been in previous novels.

In fact, there were points during this book that I found myself double-checking to make sure this was a Reacher novel and not so other standard thriller I'd picked up. But every few pages, I'd be reminded of Reacher's love of coffee and diners and the portable toothbrush is the greatest invention in the history of humankind so I knew I wasn't reading the wrong book.

I've made this observation before, but I think it bears making again here. In the past year or so, Child has published several Reacher novellas and stories that felt a bit rushed and left me wanting for more and a couple of Reacher novels that felt like a short story expanded far past their natural length. Personal continues this trend, feeling more like a solid novella or short story than a full length novel.

And while I didn't love the latest entry in the series, I'm still hopeful that Child will find his grove again for the upcoming twentieth installment in the series.