No Plan B (Jack Reacher 27) by Lee Child

⭐⭐⭐ Stars

No Plan B (Jack Reacher 27) by Lee Child 

Blurb

In Gerrardsville, Colorado, a woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise, before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away. When another homicide is ruled an accident, Reacher knows this is no coincidence. With a killer on the loose, Reacher has no time to waste to track down those responsible.

But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “If any step is compromised, the threat will have to be quickly and permanently removed. There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows". But Reacher isn’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right. For when the threat is Reacher, there is No Plan B....

No Plan B Review

I had been hoarding this book for the last many months having got it within a fortnight of its release in October 2022. A difficult ask considering, I have been a serious series fan for two decades now.

Something is off in the series and it could be the change at the top with Andrew doing the honors or just plain fatigue from Reacher. There are finite ways in which a man can be bashed and Lee has over the years exhausted every avenue and maybe its time to explore a new story arc maybe reinvent the character or go back to his past.

Either way the last few books have been a trifle tiresome and there was no adrenalin rush in this one either.

My vote still goes to the former, and I sincerely believe the Andrew has stepped into boots too large to fill and Reacher has much to offer being one of the singular grounded action character that has made the grand stage this millennium and has few equals in books that I've read. If my statement is too grandiose, then let me be corrected with the appropriate example. I have loved the character & cannot see it being made impotent having watched it happen once in the movies with a 5 foot something Cruise as the character. Would request Lee to intervene or look further for a ghostwriter, I have invested too much in this character.

This story is also a clinical study of the above observation with Reacher in the midst of a visit when he sees a women being brutally but strategically murdered to look like an accident. He first chases the perpetrator and then pursues the case as is his wont. The standard template of Reacher novels is fulfilled with his single-minded pursuit for justice but where the book degenerates is in the filler points. The initial part of the book is slow and unlike the books of yore would leave anyone but the committed and the fanatics like me to deny the DNF way out.

The story is straightforward with multiple pursuits and multiple targets in the chain but the one thing inconsistent is the way in which Reacher's character for a quarter of century in books has changed, (maybe age is catching up with him), the by the clock disciplined ex-MP who could sleep and wake up at the drop of the hat needs help getting awake. Another serious miss was the daughter of the first victim, the incident that put Reacher on the path with concern for Angela's daughter but he never though or got back to her to even find out whether she exists or is fine. This is the same Reacher who in previous books has squared out situations and never left a thread loose. Here the girl is orphaned and Reacher thinks, "He wondered what it had to do with Angela. Which made him think of another tragic tale. One that was just beginning. For the little girl in the wallet photo. Angela’s daughter. Who would now have to grow up without a mother."

For someone like the Reacher we know, this was a thread never mentioned in the book again.

The story has at its heart a group fixated on using the managing of prisons as a way to manipulate the system and make enormous profits. Not a new or novel idea but the approach that Andrew has to the story is commendable and he has mixed in a lot of things like segregating the inmates as per their characteristics and then having the villains use them for their expertise, hit squad, grunt work, forgers, hackers, etc. and also using suitable inmates for body swapping and interestingly as guinea pigs for organ harvesting.

The organization Minerva has its fingers in several pies and seems to be making a healthy bottom-line till it runs afoul of Reacher.

Reacher having chased Angela's murderer fails to hold him but in the interlude he accesses her bag that the perpetrator was fleeing with and is able to see some documents about Angela, her work, the organisation, her daughter and a picture and profile of a person in jail but one whose case decision has been overturned and is being freed in a weeks time.

Reacher takes the information and tries to unravel a complex and lengthy yarn. On the way in his inimitable style he uncovers other murders, suspicious instances and goes on the warpath.

His companion in this quest is Hannah, an ex-wife of one of the murdered characters who shows a lot of pluck in situations and together they pit themselves against a ruthless organisation.

The story progresses at pace in the second half and reaches a satisfactory conclusion. The use of napalm by one of the fixers not affiliated to Minerva and one who has a personal hatchet to bury, is innovative and its use as a weapon to force confessions out is a revelation. Yes it takes the story into far-fetched lines but then this is a Reacher novel and we expect far-fetched.

I think Andrew has done a better job here than the previous books but the major issue for me is that Lee has a vision and feel for his character which Andrew is not able to imbibe.

I will go through to the next book in the series out of compulsion but if things do not change then, it has been a glorious run, and I would like to quit while ahead.

My rating here is based on my feel for the book and my love for the series may have been half a star. So the book would be between 2.5 to 3 star for me.

⭐⭐⭐ Stars

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