...and I don’t say that lightly. I wanted to give the transition a chance. After all, I’d just started reading the series in late October 2023, and was looking forward to not running out of fun reading material for a while. But “The Sentinel” gave me pause, with its unimaginative plot. “Huh, ripped from the headline,” I’d thought. “Don’t think I ever saw that in a Reacher novel.” The style was gone too. Instead of the musical, whippy prose I’d grown to admire, “The Sentinel” adopted a more staccato yet droning quality. By that time, I’d read 24 Reacher novels and one short story collection in under 10 weeks, so I was in a good position to notice the change. Rebooted into the Mashable-grist plot and reimagined by a new clomping voice, Reacher has become...ordinary. I figured the first book was a gimme, and immediately plunged into “Better Off Dead.” It is, as stated, nearly unreadable. The pointless fragmentation of sentences is in full force. People. Do this. On Instagram. A lot. Too. And I have no idea what they think they’re achieving. Reacher has morphed into just a big dude moved by conventional loyalties and wisdom, and there’s a welter of unconvincing telling, not showing, of his smarts. Faint nods are given to Reacher character tics we’ve come to know, like his preoccupation with prime numbers—but so phoned in that you wonder if the new author just doesn’t get what that feels like, that pleasure Reacher takes in pattern recognition. I don’t know what happened. Conan Doyle could kill Holmes but bowed to public pressure and resuscitated him. Maybe today’s authors have publishing contracts that require a “use it or lose it” approach to valuable franchises. Whatever the case, I wish the Childs well. Thank you, L.C., for a wonderful 2 1/2 months.

I’ve never put a Jack Reacher book down as many times as i did this one. The flow was rough

The collaboration of father and son or more likely son writing and dad editing has not turned out well. Over described scenes and a Jack Reacher who no longer would recognize himself on the page. Jack should have gotten a eulogy instead of this treatment. Reacher fans be forewarned Jack is dead Andrew Child killed him.

This series is going downhill fast. Reacher does not drive. He always has someone with him that drives. You expect us to believe he drives a big rig Truck? Huh. There is no “story” here. Oh wait, there is, in the last 20 pages of the book. The rest of it is boring. Let’s read one more to finish this series. It’s a true shame these books are not what they used to be.

Classic Reacher novel. Nice flow and pace with a couple of twists and turns. Easy to read and a page turner. I skipped over some of Lee’s descriptions as he can tend to get a little too descriptive for my taste and attention span but, overall, I enjoyed it.

I am a fan but this story was not believable. Just off in plot, descriptions, every part of writing he is so good at. Actual boring which is never a word you would use for Lee Childs previous books.

Nepitism at its finest, Andrew Child has come in and ruined the legend his father built.

A good puzzle. And a great story the entire way thru.

Lee’s writing seems to have more rhythm that’s fairly pleasing. The books coauthored just kinda drone on and on.

Dialogue and fighting are staples of typical Reacher adventure and this one is no different. “I’m Jumpin Jack Flash it’s a gas, gas gas!”