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So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.
The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher.
7 pages, Audio CD
First published November 7, 2017
The year is 1997, Heathrow terminal 4, and by some luck I bought, Killing Floor, the riveting and action-packed start to the JR series and now, 20 years and 22 books on with the latest being The Midnight Line, I mourn the loss of the real and enigmatic JR.
In all honesty, I think I've outgrown this character or perhaps the central premise of a nomad-like hero who lives free from any and all encumbrance seems implausible in this digital era amid a growing security and terrorism war.
The Midnight Line starts off with Reacher walking down a random street, window watching for nothing in particular until his eye caught on a West Point class ring-- in a pawn shop--that seems incongruous to the setting: How did it get there and to whom does it belong? Reacher automatically and rightly assumes something sinister is afoot and we are then taken on a journey for the discovery of the owner of this petite-sized ring.
You know the most infuriating thing isn't the deus ex machina plot premise, no. What I found tough to take was the blatant manipulation of the characters as well as the plot arc in order to fit the message into context. I won't go into details as not to spoil but I will acknowledge that yes, the underpinning message of this narrative is important and yes, increased awareness is vital, but, the rather oblique manner of getting to it was flagrant and a bit manipulative. It didn't help that I kept envisioning Clint Eastwood as Reacher, seeing as how Reacher must be a 100 years old or something of such.
All in all, a book to never read again, unlike the other serials in this series some of which I've read often enough to render dog-eared (here's looking at you Bad Luck and Trouble)
The year is 1997, Heathrow terminal 4, and by some luck I bought, Killing Floor, the riveting and action-packed start to the JR series and now, 20 years and 22 books on with the latest being The Midnight Line, I mourn the loss of the real and enigmatic JR.
In all honesty, I think I've outgrown this character or perhaps the central premise of a nomad-like hero who lives free from any and all encumbrance seems implausible in this digital era amid a growing security and terrorism war.
The Midnight Line starts off with Reacher walking down a random street, window watching for nothing in particular until his eye caught on a West Point class ring-- in a pawn shop--that seems incongruous to the setting: How did it get there and to whom does it belong? Reacher automatically and rightly assumes something sinister is afoot and we are then taken on a journey for the discovery of the owner of this petite-sized ring.
You know the most infuriating thing isn't the deus ex machina plot premise, no. What I found tough to take was the blatant manipulation of the characters as well as the plot arc in order to fit the message into context. I won't go into details as not to spoil but I will acknowledge that yes, the underpinning message of this narrative is important and yes, increased awareness is vital, but the rather oblique manner of getting to it was flagrant and a bit manipulative. It didn't help that I kept envisioning Clint Eastwood as Reacher, seeing as how Reacher must be a 100 years old or something of such.
All in all, a book to never read again, unlike the other serials in this series some of which I've read often enough to render dog-eared (here's looking at you Bad Luck and Trouble)