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4.5
In NEVER GO BACK, Reacher finally arrives in Virginia to meet in person Major Susan Turner. Author Lee Child had been holding her out there for his readers since first introducing her character via a series of phone conversations in 61 HOURS in which Reacher revealed to her information about his childhood and military career that really added to the depth of his character. When I read 61 HOURS my immediate reaction was it'd be pretty spectacular if Child teamed Reacher and Turner up in a storyline featuring the military and the elite 110th MP Special Unit - and now we have that, sort of.There's really two different ways to review this - the first is easy and it goes like this:TURNER (after escaping custody and going on the run with Reacher): "We're going to need more than thirty bucks. I need street clothes, for a start."REACHER: "And I need boot laces. We'll have to find an ATM."TURNER: "We don't have cards."REACHER: "There's more than one kind of ATM."Now seriously, if you already know what Reacher is referring to by ATM then you're already a fan of this series and I'm sure you can also picture Reacher making a "withdrawal" in your mind and you're eager to read about it. If that's you, just buy this book, read it, and enjoy all the great Reacher moments it has to offer - of which there is no shortage.If you don't know about the other kind of ATM, then no worries - it's one of the many Reacher matter-of-fact no-nonsense beliefs / attitudes / behaviors that have made him such a popular character and you should definitely get to know Lee Child and spend some quality time with Reacher, but ... if you're looking to read your first Reacher book then I might suggest you start earlier in the series.I guess this is the second review - it's a bit more difficult because this is really one of the greatest series of all-time, and I don't say that lightly. Lee Child is a genius writer and storyteller and Reacher is an incredible creation.But having said that ... I mentioned already that Susan Turner's character first came into Reacher's life during 61 HOURS. He also met Janet Salter and Andrew Peterson in the same book. In just a few short chapters Peterson was absorbed in learning all he could from Reacher, trying to be a better cop - and Reacher was sitting with the old lady Salter, admiring her life and her courage and genuinely respecting and caring for her as the plot in 61 HOURS developed. At that same time you had Reacher on the phone revealing himself to Turner, as she used her contacts to help Reacher and Peterson with their developing crisis. And it was masterful, especially when Child got Reacher and us as readers to care so much about Salter and Peterson only to rip them from us, killing them both horrifically. In effect, Reacher failed - but his character grew tremendously, and it was both heartbreaking and staggeringly genius the way Child pulled it off, because out there on the horizon was this character Major Turner and you just know that if Reacher can make it to her then he's got a chance at redemption and everything else.Well, in NEVER GO BACK, I honestly felt the chemistry was lacking between Reacher and Turner. And in the end, for someone who loves this series, I can write it off as not such a big deal - but I think what's worse is that I wasn't invested emotionally in this story at all, not even a little bit. Go back to 61 HOURS or another great example, WORTH DYING FOR - now that's a story that gets you emotionally involved. It's just different in this book. Not a bad thing necessarily, just different.Look, not trying to dampen the mood for any Reacher fans - just saying new readers might not be as impressed with Reacher if NEVER GO BACK is their first foray into the series.But hey, if you love tough guys who can deliver some great lines then forget about character growth and just enjoy Reacher for who he is ... and speaking of great lines, a few from NEVER GO BACK that I think every Reacher fan will love:MORGAN (Turner's replacement, after Reacher berates him publicly): "Have you finished?"REACHER: "I've barely even started."---TURNER: "So that's the plan? We're going to let four guys find us, and we're going to bust them, and then we're going to move on up from there?"REACHER: "Except we're not going to bust them. We're going to do to them what they were going to do to us."TURNER: "Which is what?"REACHER: "We're going to put them in the ground. And then we're going to listen out for their bosses howling in the void. And then we're going to explain to them carefully why it's a very bad idea to mess with the 110th."---EDMONDS (one of Reacher's lawyers): "Are you going to be the winners?"REACHER: "Count on it. We're going to beat them like rented mules."---"Reacher knew it was coming ... because fighting in the dark on the edge of Lafayette Square was not a civilized sport with rules."---TURNER: "Are you going to cut their heads off with a butter knife?"REACHER: "I didn't get one yet. Maybe I could ask room service."TURNER: "Am I still CO?"REACHER: "What's on your mind?"TURNER: "I want a clean arrest. I want them in the cells at Dyer, and I want a full-dress court martial. I want it textbook, Reacher. I want to be exonerated in public. I want the jury to hear every word, and I want a ruling from the bench."REACHER: "A clean arrest needs probable cause."TURNER: "So should cutting their heads off with a butter knife."
