Never Go Back

October 28, 2013
Back in Child’s 14th book about Jack Reacher (61 Hours), the amazingly self-sufficient, peripatetic ex-MP began thumbing his way from South Dakota to Virginia to meet Maj. Susan Turner, the CO of his old unit. It’s taken him three more adventures, but he’s finally made it and—no surprise—finds a mess of trouble instead of the major. Not only has she gone missing, he is immediately dragged back into the Army, facing a court martial for a crime he supposedly committed 16 years earlier. Dick Hill’s voice has a properly hardboiled timbre that fits perfectly with Child’s fast-flowing prose. It carries the insouciant, mildly sardonic attitude of a tough guy so aware of his capabilities that nothing intimidates or surprises him. Also of note are Hill’s well-tuned voices of villainy, from the sarcastic, overconfident bullies who try using physical force on Reacher to the cold, demanding master schemers who call themselves Romeo and Juliet. By piling troubles on his noble hero and handing him a particularly knotty puzzle to solve, Child has delivered a superior series entry and Hill’s rendition adds another level of enjoyment to the mayhem and mystery. A Delacorte hardcover.

This latest Jack Reacher thriller is a winner from the get-go. Although actor Tom Cruise played Reacher in a recent movie, narrator Dick Hill is the REAL Jack Reacher to many listeners. This book is likely one of Child's best, though in many ways it's different from the rest because this time Reacher is forcibly recommissioned in the army and charged with several crimes. After breaking Major Susan Turner out of the brig, the pair set off to make things right. Hill seems to know there's something special about this book because he continues to pump up the action, and he's exuberant in his characterizations. You can appreciate Hill's artistry as he changes Reacher's voice while Reacher is cruising in a top-down Corvette. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine