Not one of the best in the series, but still good. The first part of the book had me worried that the entire story was going to take place in the car he was hitching a ride in. but that finally ended and the story developed in more-or-less Reacher fashion. The premise for the tale we get in the end, and it is an interesting enough one even if it could have maybe involved some other element or elements.

Still, if you like these books then worth reading. And while looking back for this passage - classic Reacher below - I got to thinking that Lee Childs writes a bit like The West Wing TV show: fast paced, smart, snippets of dialog.

********************

[Sorenson] asked, "What's the fastest way of finding Alan King's brother from the army?"

"King claimed he was a red leg," Reacher said. "Probably just a dagby. The Gulf, the first time around. Mother Sill will know."

"I didn't understand a word of that."

"A red leg is an artilleryman. Because way back they had red stripes on their dress pants. And their branch colour is still red. A dagby is a 13B MOS. Which is a cannon crewmember's military occupational specialty. In other words, a dagby. A dumb-ass gun bunny. Mother Sill is Fort Sill, which is artillery HQ. Someone there will have a record. The Gulf the first time around was the thing with Saddam Hussein, back in 1991."

"I knew that part."

"Good."

"The brother's first name was Peter, right?"

"Correct."

"And you still think King was his real last name?"

"More likely than not. Worth a try, anyway."

"Dumb-ass gun bunny isn't very polite."

"But very necessary," Reacher said. "Unfortunately Frederick the Great once said that field artillery lends dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl. It went to their heads. They started calling themselves the kings of battle. They started to think they're the most important part of the army. Which obviously isn't true."

"Why not?"

"Because the military police is the most important part of the army."

"What did they call you?"

"Sir, usually."

"And?"

"Meatheads. Monkey patrol. And chimps, but that was an acronym."

"For what?"

"Completely hopeless in most policing situations."

"Where is Fort Sill?"

"Lawton, Oklahoma." ( )

6/10
A strong, intriguing start, but it didn’t quite live up to its promise. ( )

The setup makes very little sense. Half-assed conspiracies within half-assed conspiracies. About ⅔ of the way through (by the reckoning of my Kobo), the author stops trying to maintain the house of cards and just transitions into the end-game where it's mostly shooting.

The whole thing is very slapdash. ( )

As annoying as it was, I give the audio actor credit for portraying Reacher with a broken nose nasal sound the whole book. ( )

Good Read ( )

Only part of this book that seems to be rushed is ending. Ending is practically just veni-vidi-vici kind of ending and it is a little bit of let down.
Everything else building up to the very finale is top notch and truly has you scratching your head and wondering what is going on.

Recommended for all action thriller lovers. ( )

Excellent Reacher novel, as usual.
Reacher often uses old New York Yankees as aliases when checking into hotels. This time around he used Moose Skowron. Reminded me of the story my Dad told me a hundred times.
"...pay attention to 1960. The world series in particular. The Yankees were coming off their tenth pennant in twelve years, they outscored the Pirates 55 to 27, they outhit them .338 to .256, they hit 10 home runs against four, they got two complete-game shutouts from Whitey Ford, and still they lost." p.156 ( )

Fun book. Lee Child is a clever writer. Jack Reacher is a quirky, likeable hero. ( )

Another good outing for jack Reacher...a lot less action in this one. But Jack is still the man, even if the plot is not that interesting. ( )

Non il migliore della serie, però è sempre una lettura appassionante e Jack Reacher non si smentisce mai, perfetto nella sua unicità, difetti compresi.
Effettive quattro stelle e mezzo. ( )

Classic Child, standard characters, ruthless efficiency and the odds stacked massively in the bad guys favour. ( )

It wasn't perfect but I liked it. Hey, Jack Reacher almost came to my town, Lee's Summit. Do you think Lee Child would come to a book signing at our new bookstore that is opening up next Monday in Lee's Summit? Reacher was cool as always going his own way and ignoring the rules. I did like that his own core values shone through. That he wouldn't go off and leave a little girl missing, that he couldn't live with himself if he let a brave woman go unavenged. ( )

A Wanted Man is a good Jack Reacher story. It is interesting to learn about the secret military bases that are not used any more. All of the Reacher stories he finds himself in very disturbing situations. It is only because of his extraordinary might and military training that he has any chance of survival. The situation in this book is no different. Four stars were given in this review. ( )

He saw the woman come back out, through the door, onto the flagstone path. She still had her gun in her hand. She hadn't shot the fat man. She was clearly a person of considerable patience. ( )

I enjoyed the book, although some of the situations didn't seem very realistic. It still made for a good read. ( )

Thank you Jack Reacher and Lee Child for injecting some sort of pulse into my reading life. I've been mired in a Summer of Mediocrity, book wise. It's been a long time since a ripped through a book in four days. A Wanted Man is perhaps not quite as good a recent efforts such as the Affair, but Child is still riding this latter-day string of high quality entries (for me the series nadir was 2007's Bad Luck and Trouble, I was off Reacher for years after that turd but am now catching up again. Can't wait to read the next one. Also, there is a character named Puller who is a fucking moron - a direct shot at David Baldacci's competing character John Puller (Child has said publicly that the characters are so similar that Baldacci has committed plagiarism. Having started to read The Forgotten, I don't disagree. Plus that book was just horrible, I put it down in disgust after about 30 pages).
A Wanted Man is a bit of a by-the numbers affair in some respects (or you could say it delivers the goods), but it does have some twists, it is compelling, and some of the little details Child includes as Reacher thoughts are fascinating. And, it is no spoiler to say that Reacher kicks some serious ass along the way. ( )

Thumbing across Nebraska, Jack Reacher takes a ride with a terrorist and the undercover FBI agent that infiltrated the terrorist organization. He escapes from their clutches and hunts down the organization to save the agent’s life. He succeeds and wiping out the organization and its followers sole handedly. ( )

Jack is hitchhiking when he is picked up by two men and a woman, who are fleeing the police and trying to get through road blocks as the two men stabbed a man to death in a small Nebraskan town. The woman is a kidnapped cocktail waitress, who Jack tries to help once he figures out that he is in the middle of something bad. He allies himself with the local FBI Agent, a woman named Sorenson. Unfortunately, there were too many competing factions within the FBI and other agencies that left the book mostly confusing and sometimes silly. The good parts were, of course, Jack's rescues and release of his manic energy killing bad guys. Weak effort. ( )

First 100 pages so fast moving, it was amazing . Then on it was just downhill all the way.Almost worth skipping the last 50 pages ( )

Jack Reacher 17

I'm addicted to Dick Hill (Narrator) and in this book he does the Jack Reacher busted nose voice throughout the book, hilarious. The story line is classic Reacher style: stumble into the bad guys while on his way to Virginia. ( )

Although completely forgettable a week or so later, these Reacher books are just so damn readable. A little crazy, a "teeny" bit unbelievable, but more than enough believable, that they're simply quite fun. Mainly the characters (the good guys) are almost always real and likeable. (And, more power to Child in his quest for making a video game out of the ending!!) ( )

I've loved most of the Reacher books (but NOT all - some not even very much) but this one was a very good one. Reacher thumbs a ride in the middle of nowhere and, of course, randomly picks a car with a bad guy, an undercover guy and a hostage. Well, it is Reacher, after all. ( )

Though a very formulaic series, I enjoy the formula. ( )

First third reasonable enough, final third pretty weak. ( )