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Lee Child

Jack Reacher

The Sentinel: A Jack Reacher Novel Mass Market Paperback – April 27, 2021

by Lee Child (Author), Andrew Child (Author)

60,919 ratings

Book 25 of 27: Jack Reacher

Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE BLOCKBUSTER JACK REACHER SERIES THAT INSPIRED TWO MAJOR MOTION PICTURES AND THE STREAMING SERIES REACHER

Jack Reacher is back! The “utterly addictive” (The New York Times) series continues as acclaimed author Lee Child teams up with his brother, Andrew Child, fellow thriller writer extraordinaire.

“One of the many great things about Jack Reacher is that he’s larger than life while remaining relatable and believable. The Sentinel shows that two Childs are even better than one.”—James Patterson

As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee.

But there’s nothing pleasant about the place.

In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution.

The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name.

Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against.

Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.

Print length

464 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dell
Publication date

April 27, 2021
Dimensions

4.16 x 1.11 x 7.5 inches
ISBN-10

1984818481
ISBN-13

978-1984818485
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

“It protects the integrity of the election system software in forty-eight states. It’s the only thing that does.”
Highlighted by 278 Kindle readers
“When your instinct tells you something’s wrong, then something’s wrong. Always listen to your gut. It’s what will save you from getting shoved into the back of some thug’s car.”
Highlighted by 237 Kindle readers
Cops are the same the world over. Once they commit to a position in public they never back down. Trying to make them is a waste of time. Reacher knew that from personal experience. But still, there are standards to uphold.
Highlighted by 221 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I loved The Sentinel! Classic Reacher, great story. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I do love the spare writing style, the descriptions, Reacher’s responses to threats. Joyous stuff. I hope there will be many more Reachers to come.”—Conn Iggulden

“It’s great to be back in [Reacher’s] company in a world where the bad guys get what’s coming to them. . . . A smooth transition for a much-loved character.”—The Observer

“As always, the bad guys—this time, Russian spies and American-Nazi thugs—discover too late that they are no match for Reacher. Despite the change in authors, the writing remains tight and the non-stop action is as propulsive as ever.”—Associated Press

“As ever, [Reacher is] the sole, unrivalled champion of the average man.”—Daily Mail

“Fresh, perfectly plotted, and packed with action, The Sentinel is one of the year’s best, must-read thrillers.”—The Real Book Spy

“It’s terrific. . . . The story is just as powerful. . . . Brutal action mixes with keen-eyed detective work as Reacher metes out his own brand of justice. . . . If this novel is a harbinger of what’s to come, then Jack is in good hands.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Much of The Sentinel is humorous as Reacher patiently teaches bad guys about the flaws in their tactics. While there’s lots of action, the novel also feels like a procedural as Reacher interviews suspects and delves deeper toward the truth. . . . [The Sentinel has] one of the most inventive action sequences in recent memory. . . . It continues the series without any sense that there’s now a coauthor. In a year of drastic change, fans will welcome the consistency.”—Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Jack Reacher series

“The truth about Reacher gets better and better. . . . This series [is] utterly addictive.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“Jack Reacher is today’s James Bond, a thriller hero we can’t get enough of. I read every one as soon as it appears.”—Ken Follett

“Reacher is the stuff of myth. . . . One of this century’s most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes.”—The Washington Post

“The Reacher novels are easily the best thriller series going.”—NPR

“Reacher is a man for whom the phrase moral compass was invented: His code determines his direction. . . . You need Jack Reacher.”—The Atlantic

“I pick up Jack Reacher when I’m in the mood for someone big to solve my problems.”—Patricia Cornwell

“[A] feverishly thrilling series . . . You can always count on furious action.”—Miami Herald

About the Author

Lee Child is the author of more than two dozen New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, with most having reached the #1 position, and the #1 bestselling complete Jack Reacher story collection, No Middle Name. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in one hundred territories. A native of England and a former television director, Lee Child lives in New York City and Wyoming.

Andrew Child, who also writes as Andrew Grant, is the author of RUN, False Positive, False Friend, False Witness, Invisible, and Too Close to Home. Child and his wife, the novelist Tasha Alexander, live on a wildlife preserve in Wyoming.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

Rusty Rutherford emerged from his apartment on a Monday morning, exactly one week after he got fired.

He spent the first few days after the ax fell with his blinds drawn, working through his stockpile of frozen pizzas and waiting for the phone to ring. Significant weaknesses, the dismissal letter said. Profound failure of leadership. Basic and fundamental errors. It was unbelievable. Such a distortion of the truth. And so unfair. They were actually trying to pin the town’s recent problems on him. It was . . . a mistake. Plain and simple. Which meant it was certain to be corrected. And soon.

The hours crawled past. His phone stayed silent. And his personal email silted up with nothing more than spam.

He resisted for another full day, then grabbed his old laptop and powered it up. He didn’t own a gun or a knife. He didn’t know how to rappel from a helicopter or parachute from a plane. But still, someone had to pay. Maybe his real-life enemies were going to get away with it. This time. But not the villains in the videogames a developer buddy had sent him. He had shied away from playing them, before. The violence felt too extreme. Too unnecessary. It didn’t feel that way anymore. His days of showing mercy were over. Unless . . .

His phone stayed silent.

Twenty-four hours later he had a slew of new high scores and a mild case of dehydration, but not much else had changed. He closed the computer and slumped back on his couch. He stayed there for the best part of another day, picking at random from a stack of blu rays he didn’t remember buying and silently begging the universe to send him back to work. He would be different, he swore. Easier to get along with. More patient. Diplomatic. Empathetic, even. He would buy donuts for everyone in the office. Twice a month. Three times, if that would seal the deal . . .

His phone stayed silent.

He didn’t often drink, but what else was there left to do? The credits began to roll at the end of another disk. He couldn’t stomach another movie so he retreated to the kitchen. Retrieved an unopened bottle of Jim Beam from the back of a cabinet. Returned to the living room and put a scratchy old Elmore James LP on the turntable.

He wound up asleep, facedown on the floor, after—he wasn’t sure how long. All he knew was that when he woke up his head felt like it was crammed full of rocks, shifting and grinding as if they were trying to burst out of his skull. He thought the pain would never end. But when his hangover did finally pass he found himself experiencing a new emotion. Defiance. He was an innocent man, after all. None of the bad things that had happened were his fault. That was for damn sure. He was the one who’d foreseen them. Who’d warned his boss about them. Time after time. In public and in private. And who’d been ignored. Time after time. So after seven days holed up alone, Rutherford decided it was time to show his face. To tell his side of the story. To anyone who would listen.

He took a shower and dug some clothes out of his closet. Chinos and a polo shirt. Brand new. Somber colors, with logos, to show he meant business. Then he retrieved his shoes from the opposite corners of the hallway where he’d flung them. Scooped up his keys and sunglasses from the bookcase by the door. Stepped out into the corridor. Rode down in the elevator, alone. Crossed the lobby. Pushed through the heavy revolving door and paused on the sidewalk. The mid-morning sun felt like a blast furnace and its sudden heat drew beads of sweat from his forehead and armpits. He felt a flutter of panic. Guilty people sweat. He’d read that somewhere, and the one thing he was desperate to avoid was looking guilty. He glanced around, convinced that everyone would be staring at him, then forced himself to move. He picked up the pace, feeling more conspicuous than if he’d been walking down the street naked. But the truth was that most of the people he passed didn’t even notice he was there. In fact, only two of them paid him any attention at all.

The same time Rusty Rutherford was coming out of his apartment, Jack Reacher was breaking into a bar. He was in Nashville, Tennessee, seventy-five miles north and east of Rutherford’s sleepy little town, and he was searching for the solution to a problem. It was a practical matter, primarily. A question of physics. And biology. Specifically, how to suspend a guy from a ceiling without causing too much permanent damage. To the ceiling, at least. He was less concerned about the guy.

The ceiling belonged to the bar. And the bar belonged to the guy. Reacher had first set foot in the place a little over a day earlier. On Saturday. Almost Sunday, because it was close to midnight by the time he got into town. His journey had not been smooth. The first bus he rode caught on fire and its replacement got wedged under a low bridge after its driver took a wrong turn twenty miles out. Reacher was stiff from the prolonged sitting when he eventually climbed out at the Greyhound station so he moved away to the side, near the smokers’ pen, and took a few minutes to stretch the soreness out of his muscles and joints. He stood there, half-hidden in the shadows, while the rest of the passengers milled around and talked and did things with their phones and reclaimed their luggage and gradually drifted away.

Reacher stayed where he was. He was in no hurry. He’d arrived later than expected, but that was no major problem. He had no appointments to keep. No meetings to attend. No one was waiting for him, getting worried or getting mad. He’d planned to find a place to stay for the night. A diner, for some food. And a bar where he could hear some good music. He should still be able to do all those things. He’d maybe have to switch the order around. Maybe combine a couple of activities. But he’d live. And with some hotels, the kind Reacher preferred, it can work to show up late. Especially if you’re paying cash. Which he always did.

Music first, Reacher decided. He knew there was no shortage of venues in Nashville, but he wanted a particular kind of place. Somewhere worn. With some history. Where Blind Blake could have played, back in the day. Howlin’ Wolf, even. Certainly nowhere new, or gentrified, or gussied up. The only question was how to find a place like that. The lights were still on in the bus depot, and a handful of people were still working or waiting or just keeping themselves off the street. Some of them were bound to be local. Maybe all of them were. Reacher could have asked for directions. But he didn’t go in. He preferred to navigate by instinct. He knew cities. He could read their shape and flow like a sailor can sense the direction of the coming waves. His gut told him to go north, so he set off across a broad triangular intersection and on to a vacant lot, strewn with rubble. The heavy odor of diesel and cigarettes faded behind him, and his shadow grew longer in front as he walked. It led the way to rows of narrow, parallel streets lined with similar brick buildings, stained with soot. It felt industrial, but decayed and hollow. Reacher didn’t know what kinds of businesses had thrived in Nashville’s past, but whatever had been made or sold or stored it had clearly happened around there. And it clearly wasn’t happening anymore. The structures were all that remained. And not for much longer, Reacher thought. Either money would flow in and shore them up, or they’d collapse.

Reacher stepped off the crumbling sidewalk and continued down the center of the street. He figured he’d give it another two blocks. Three at the most. If he hadn’t found anything good by then he’d strike out to the right, toward the river. He passed a place that sold part-worn tires. A warehouse that a charity was using to store donated furniture. Then, as he crossed the next street, he picked up the rumble of a bass guitar and the thunder of drums.

The sound was coming from a building in the center of the block. It didn’t look promising. There were no windows. No signage. Just a thin strip of yellow light escaping from beneath a single wooden door. Reacher didn’t like places with too few potential exits so he was inclined to keep walking. But as he drew level, the door opened. Two guys, maybe in their late twenties with sleeveless T-shirts and a smattering of anemic tattoos, stumbled out onto the sidewalk. Reacher moved to avoid them, and at the same moment a guitar began to wail from inside. Reacher paused. The riff was good. It built and swelled and soared, and just as it seemed to be done and its final note was dying away, a woman’s voice took over. It was mournful, desperate, agonizing, like a conduit to a world of the deepest imaginable sorrow. Reacher couldn’t resist. He stepped across the threshold.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dell (April 27, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1984818481
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1984818485
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.16 x 1.11 x 7.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #17,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #243 in Mystery Action & Adventure
- #509 in Thriller & Suspense Action Fiction
- #2,716 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
60,919 ratings

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Lee Child
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Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

60,919 global ratings

5 star		57%
4 star		26%
3 star		11%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Amazon Customer

Antifa, really . And whitensupremacsit Nazis. ?I love your books and read them tonescalendaly news like antifa and whitensupremacits. Dind some different bad guys li, terrorists or drug dealers or organized crime . leave present day political crapnoutnofnthensrores.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

Antifa, really? Stupid white supremacist Nazis? Come on, I read these books to escape what is in the news everyday. You’re pushing the story into the political realm a little, especially by making the white Nazis look stupid but giving antifa
a pass. Stay away from todays bad guys and go back to using terrorists, organized crime or just plain old greedy criminals. If I want to see crap about antifa and white supremacists I can watch the stupid daily news. It was very subtle and minimal but please don’t start down the path of pandering to any particular political persuasion. Reacher is one of my all time favorite characters! Please keep him as a bad @$$ and don’t slide him slowly into the role of a social justice hero. I’m not saying that’s what you did with this book, but I see small, subtle steps. Maybe it’s Andrew’s influence. Maybe not. All I’m asking is please keep Reacher as he has always been and don’t bring pop politics to bear on the story lines.

Helpful

R. Loe

Wish Lee understood sentence structure

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 11, 2022

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Lee Child can weave an interesting tale about Jack Reacher but may drive readers who are familiar with proper sentence structure and use of punctuation to the brink. I know that’s the case for me. I purchased the entire Jack Reacher series of books after seeing the first season of the series. I never would have read so many of his books if I hadn’t already paid for them.
I have often wondered why, with all the money that Lee Child must have brought in from his writing, he can’t seem to afford a staff who will proofread and correct the many mistakes throughout his books. Same goes for his publisher.
I held onto hope with each successive book that he might learn something about writing and make his books easier to read. I hoped, with the addition of his brother on the last couple, that the books would improve but seemed to get only worse. Sometimes, 2 whole pages of back-and-forth banter are written with nothing to occasionally let you know who is speaking, so multiple readings may be needed at times to sort it out. I think almost all, if not all, of the pages have sentences with commas where none are needed, periods where commas are needed, clauses used as sentences, and a new paragraph starting from a clause that belongs in the previous sentence of the preceding paragraph. As I said, hard to read if you understand basic sentence structure.
There are often times where I wish Lee had done one iota of research to get facts right. I refer to passages in the stories where it was apparent that Lee Child had no experience or knowledge; I guess, more or less, the writing is off the top of his head.
Some problems are:
1: He thinks the flashing emergency lights of vehicles in the western states are the same as in much of the New England states (blue on fire trucks and red on police).
2: He didn’t know what the average shoe size in America is actually 10 ½ (stating it as 9)
3: He thinks a large man like Jack Reacher would have what Lee evidently thinks of as a large foot size of 11, instead of something closer to 14 or 15 (I am 6’1” and wear a 13.) I assume Lee has a small foot.
4: Lee has never been near a fast-moving train, thinking there is violent ground movement when the train is even over a mile away and hurricane force winds near one traveling 60 mph.
5: He seems to think that all gas stations and quick marts sell khaki pants and various shirts, packs of socks, and underwear.
6: Jack Reacher can knock anyone unconscious and very often dead with one punch. I can remember only a couple times when it took two.
7: He thinks face bones will “shatter” from a Jack Reacher punch and can knock out a gorilla or even an elephant. Jack also never has injuries to his hand or elbow from such amazing blows.
8: Jack Reacher’s hands are said to be as large as a dinner plate and his fists as large as Thanksgiving turkeys…really?
Yes, his books are hard to read for these and other reasons caused by lack of oversight by his publisher and lack of staff. Please, I hope never to find out he has a staff that lets this stuff through. Good storyteller, other than the lack of research on details and no idea as to sentence/paragraph structure..

Rating would be five for the story.
Won't buy future books

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Brian A. Bergman

Good read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

Some of the other reviewers complained about the partnership of the two Child brothers. I do not mind since the novel was still good and the plot a bit more modern than those of past books. Sure, Reacher is more verbal but he is still otherwise the same. I also highly recommend the amazon series which is a pretty accurate telling of the Killing Floor story which was the first novel in the series.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 13, 2023

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I like Lee child writing bygu

I like Lee Child writing alone better. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Just didn't seem the same.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2022

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An engaging and interesting read. Not the best reacher novel, but still hard to put down once you get into it. As always reacher’s brand of Justice prevails. I would have preferred a different ending for a few of the perps, but I don’t write the books.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2023

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I have read all the Jack Reachers except the ones written with Andrew and was holding off because of the reviews...but I finally broke down and bought the Sentinel. I love it. It is written just as well as the ones by Lee.

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Siltone

Failed to fully hold my attention

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Like so many others, I've been an avid reader of the Jack reacher novels. I can even recall when I was first introduced to this amazing character - it was way back in 1997. I remember browsing through my local bookshop (one of life's simple pleasures). I nonchalantly picked a book off the shelf by an author I had never heard of before. The author was Lee Child, and the novel was his debut, Killing Floor. The shop had several red Chesterfield chairs set aside for customers, I sat down in one and began reading this new novel - and couldn't put it down. Ended up reading around 30 pages, before deciding that I needed to pay up, and get on home - so I could eagerly continue reading where I'd left off. From that point on I became a fan, and have purchased each and every one of Lee Child's subsequent novels.

However, it's fair to say that Lee Child has gone off the boil with his most recent offerings. For me, the books have definitely lacked the depth, quality, and entertainment value of his earlier work. That said, I suppose it was always going to be a tough ask to keep the momentum going - especially once he'd sailed past the 20th novel in the series. That's why I welcomed the idea of Lee bringing his brother on board to assist in writing this his 25th in the series - I looked upon this collaboration as a last ditch effort to get the Jack Reacher bandwagon back on track. The big question is - has it worked? Unfortunately, I don't think it has, and that saddens and disappoints me. If nothing else, I was wishing Andrew would assist Lee in either giving Jack a good send off, or if not, at least provide fans with a glimmer of hope for the future of this smart-talking American hero of ours.

I have to mention that The Sentinel does start off really well. The opening pages introduce us to the character of Rusty Rutherford. He has spent the past week holed up in his apartment. He has recently been fired from his job as an IT manager, and has spent the time alone - eating pizzas, watching movies, listening to music, and playing video games. He feels his dismissal was totally unjustified, and is determined to clear his name, and return to the kind of work he loves. After seven days of self-imposed isolation, he decides to venture outside. However, it soon becomes apparent that the citizens of the small town where he lives have come to despise him. So, as he walks the streets, the locals give him accusing, dirty looks...

Meanwhile, around 75 miles away, Jack Reacher has just spent an 'interesting' evening in Nashville, Tennessee. He had arrived there late at night by his usual mode of transport: a Greyhound bus. He had been in the mood for some 'live' music - so eventually finds a suitable bar. As one has come to expect from this giant of a man, one thing leads to another, and he ends up getting into a fight! The following day he gets a lift from a travelling Insurance guy, who drops him off in a sleepy, small town, where a certain Mr Rusty Rutherford is receiving an hard time from the residents....

So yeah, a great opening. And for around a hundred pages this story had me well within its grasp, but I'm afraid my initial enthusiasm was short-lived. As in previous Reacher novels, the tale started to drift, and I found myself having to force my way through pages of unnecessary, boring passages. By the half-way mark I was ready to give up. It's no exaggeration to say my eyes were starting to glaze over as I willed myself on - often reading through pages that were about as interesting as a train spotters journal. Frustratingly, the story does eventually get back on track, but even then it is convoluted, and compromised by (at times) a stuttering pace, before finally getting the reader over the finishing line.

I can't imagine Lee Child ever reaching the dizzy heights he achieved with his earlier Reacher books. BUT, as this was the 25th book in the series I thought the author would at least have pulled out all the stops to make The Sentinel something special - alas, that hasn't happened, and that's a shame. You know, I post a lot of reviews, and it never gives me any great pleasure to be negative about the books I have read, especially as I appreciate the many hours that go into writing one. However, enough is enough, so it's with a degree of sadness that I end this review with the admission that I am no longer prepared to invest my time, energy, or hard-earned cash on reading any further Jack Reacher novels. Anyway, many thanks for reading my review and please continue to enjoy the magic of books.📖📚

637 people found this helpful

Cliff Dweller

The Death of Jack Reacher

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 28, 2020

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This is awful. Just simply awful.

I really wanted to enjoy it, I really wanted it to work. But I didn't, because it doesn't. Andrew has no ability to talk like Reacher.

Right there, within our very first encounter with Reacher in this book, I find my self saying, Reacher wouldn't say that, and then, worse still, Reacher wouldn't DO that.

If he doesn't talk like Reacher and he doesn't act like Reacher, well, he's just not Reacher.

It reads like poor fan fiction from the very start.

Reacher has been a very important part of my reading life since I first picked up The Killing Floor in a bookshop and couldn't put it down. (Almost literally, I read three chapters stood in the store!)

So I really wanted to like this. NEEDED to like this. So, I really tried. I eagerly embraced this book, ready to wallow in Reacher's world. Excited about it. I delivered what was expected of me, the reader. But Andrew failed as the writer. All those years ago, THIS book would have been back on the shelf very quickly.

If I was allowed to return my Kindle edition for a refund, I would. But, of course, I pre-ordered The Sentinel as soon as I could on Amazon, back in March.

As far as I am concerned, Lee Child owes me £9.99 as this is definitely not what I ordered, not as advertised, not a book to sit within a thousand miles of the legacy of Child's past work.

R.I.P. Reacher.

238 people found this helpful

trish

Not Reacher

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2020

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When he decided to stop writing any more books Lee Child said he considered letting Reacher die, alone, in a motel room somewhere. How I wish he had. It would have been a more fitting end to a character that I've loved and followed for years than the murderous attempt by Child's brother to keep Reacher going. This isn't Reacher. It makes me wonder whether Andrew Child has even read any of the previous Reacher books. I'm so sad. So disappointed. This is a shallow attempt by Andrew Child and I'm sorry to say that I won't be buying any more Reacher books. Unless Lee Child is so horrified by his brother's assassination of a fabulous character that he decides to take up the reins again. Please. Pretty please.

187 people found this helpful

Erikanissen

Reacher Should Have Said Nothing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 3, 2020

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O.M.G.
I got through the first run of Reacher dialogue and spotted IMMEDIATELY that he was being written by a different voice.
The standard of writing is barely GCSE English. I mean it is BASIC. There is no flow. There is no pace. There is no understanding of the character or his dynamic. I mean Reacher almost talks more in the first few interactions of The Sentinel than he did in the WHOLE of Killing Floor!
Like other reviewers, I really wanted to like this book. I wanted it to work and I wanted Andrew Child to "get" Reacher right from the start. It appears he has some studying to do, if he wants to bring back the fans, because they are going to leave in DROVES after this catastrophe.
This smacks of greed and publisher hubris. How often are we, as the reader, victims of these mercenary people?
It's too late to kill Reacher off, the damage is done. What a shame, what a damn shame.
As Reacher would say, “I promised my mother, a long time ago. She said I had to give folks a chance to walk away.”
Well, I'm walking away...

94 people found this helpful

namelesshere

The Sentinel - Lee Child

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 30, 2020

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To be fair this is much better than some of these reviews would have you believe.

The plot is more interesting and involving than several of the previous entries in the series - it certainly has more twists and surprises. Some of the elements to it could have felt more developed (e.g. the town is under a ransomware attack - eh?), and overall the narrative could be a bit more focussed, but never mind. Overall it's very engaging.

Sure, there some oddities to Reacher - he speaks more. He explains more. I'm not sure that's a good thing really - the whole point is that he's a man of very few words who says them only when he needs to. He doesn't tend to say them to be clever, apart from very occasionally. And the sentences overall aren't quite as "clipped" as we're used to - but if you look back to the earlier Reacher novels, neither were they always. And is stuff like that worth panning the book for? Absolutely not.

Overall, this is a really strong Reacher entry. Let's face it - these books are written to a formula anyway, and it can't be THAT difficult to replicate if it's effectively your sole job to do so, given enough time and effort and with sufficient input from the originator himself. With the right continued handling there's much life in this series yet. I'd like to see Lee & Andrew write a few of these together before Lee steps away entirely, but as long as that happens I'm not especially worried. Still very enjoyable, and more interesting than previous entries.

51 people found this helpful

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