I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Running Blind
by
Lee Child
It is part of the Jack Reacher #4 series and is a thriller in Paperback edition that was published by Jove on August 28, 2007 and has 533 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Killing Floor, Die Trying, "Second Son", Tripwire, Echo Burning, Without Fail, Persuader, The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, Bad Luck and Trouble, Nothing to Lose, Gone Tomorrow, 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, The Affair, A Wanted Man, "Deep Down", Never Go Back, "High Heat", Personal, Make Me, "Small Wars", Night School, MatchUp, The Midnight Line, Past Tense, No Middle Name, The Hero, Blue Moon, "Cleaning the Gold"
Fourth in the Jack Reacher suspense series revolving around Reacher, a big man with nothing to prove and a heart of gold.
In 2001, Running Blind was nominated for the Barry Award for Best Novel.
My Take
Hoo, boy, Jack is between a rock and a harder place. And with a little help from Child, Jack pulls the wool over their eyes and exposes the true killer. Somehow, I knew who it was, but I just couldn’t figure it out. Not until the end when the truth had to be spoon fed me! Looking back, all the clues were there. I was just too busy racing through the pages to find out whodunnit.
Very clever, very tense. And very dramatic. Yeah, I know vigilantism is wrong, but the law only seems available to either the rich or the criminals. I like Jack’s so-very efficient approach.
The FBI’s power is terrifying.They just walked all over Reacher. If I were in charge and a profiler had their head so far up their own ass, I’d be taking a much harder look at other possibilities and not getting trapped into just one perspective. I just cracked up when the FBI gets all excited ’cause Jack doesn’t have pjs. Man, they have got to get a life. I am curious as to how the Feds got to Garrison ahead of him.
I just love how Jack’s fellow military comrades step up and help him out!
The Story
The FBI has no problem framing Jack Reacher for a slew of murders across the country. The one common denominator these ex-army women have is Jack, ergo, he’s a killer. Now, of course, if he’d be willing to put his own considerable experience in their hands and help them, why, the FBI will only threaten his girlfriend with a horrible death.
Seemingly, Jack hasn’t much choice. After all, the FBI does have first hand evidence of his threatening the bully boys.
The Characters
Jack Reacher has settled down! Never thought I’d see the day! He inherited General Leon Garber’s house and he’s spending his time learning the joys of home ownership. Well, okay, the joys of being with Jodie Garber Jacob, a hotshot financial lawyer in line for partner at Spenser-Gutman.
Alan Deerfield, Assistant Director of the FBI, runs the New York office. Special Agents Tony Poulton and Julie Lamarr, a nasty ol’ bitch of a profiler, work for Agent-in-Charge Nelson Blake who runs the Serial Crimes Unit in Quantico. Blake expects Reacher to work with Lamarr and every other word out of her mouth about Jack is “son of a bitch”…yeah, it’s direct and with bile. Jack gets his jollies ragging her for her major at school — you’ll just crack up! Agent-in-Charge James Coyo runs Organized Crime in New York City. Lisa Harper is Reacher’s FBI liaison at Quantico with some very specific instructions. Dr. Staveley is Quantico’s senior pathologist. His results make me wonder about all the other MEs.
The ex-army women include Amy Callan, Lieutenant Rita Scimeca, Caroline Cooke, Lorraine Stanley, and Alison Lamarr.
The Cover and Title
The cover is split between a metallic gold rising up from the bottom as a calendar desk blotter where it meets purple dissolving into turquoise — the result of headlights glaring out at us. Then a silver gun on the desk’s surface pointing slightly away reflecting the turquoise and gold. Pretty.
The title is Jack. He’s Running Blind as the FBI profiler insists he’s guilty.
