Die Trying (Jack Reacher : 2) by Lee Child | Book Review

Do you think that the readers have the power to make an imaginary person alive (of course, in the fictional world)?

Well, I think so.

There are so many characters which are loved so much, possibly even more than their creators’ imagination; that they became immortal.

Be it Sherlock Holmes, Ms. Marple, Hercule Poirot, Dr. Watson, James Bond, Batman, Spiderman, Superman,… Well, the list can grow longer and longer. The point is, their popularity is a proof of “the power of love/reading/imagination”.

In recent years, the fictional character of Jack Reacher also got the fame that a real person can envy for.

Today, we are going to talk a little about – Die TryingJack Reacher adventure series, by Lee Child.

Book Cover:

Despite believing in the proverb Don’t judge a book by its cover, a logical person cannot ignore the influence of the book cover in a remarkable number of book purchase and/or read decisions.

As you can see, the cover page of the latest edition of Die Trying is really attractive. Of course, different edition of this book has a different cover, each reflecting the respective time.

While the cover page doesn’t actually represent the terrain quite properly, it can be considered as a match to one of the key scenes. The illustration of the protagonist in a snowy area reflects the tough times the first half of the book represented quite well.

An interesting and eye-catching cover page.

Storyline:

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the storyline.

It seems to be just another day when Jack Reacher, a former military policeman was walking on a street of Chicago. He found a lady (who we came to know later as Holly Johnson) with physical disability is needed some help and he ended up offering her the same.

The things took an ugly turn and along with the lady, Jack also got kidnapped by unknown fellows.

They were taken to some unknown location in the closed area of a truck.

Eventually, Jack came to know about the connection of Holly with FBI!

And, if that is not enough, she is linked to the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of staff and even more importantly the president of the USA!

(Well, the former details uncovered much later !)

We came to know about the kidnappers and their plan (well, they want a leverage point in upcoming situation to negotiate their demands).

Naturally, we cannot talk about “for what?” part here, to avoid spoilers.

Obviously, the law enforcement agencies started working on solving the case of Holly’s kidnapping and they came to a conclusion that Jack is one of the kidnappers!

Voila! The things couldn’t get worse, right? Or can they?

Well, you need to read this fast paced thriller to know. And, over the course of the story you meet with Nathan Rubin, Holly Johnson, Milosevic, Brogan, McGrath, Tony Loder, Steven Stewart,, Peter Wayne Bell, Dell Fowler, Beau Borken, Joseph Ray (Joe), and others.

Views And Reviews:

The book is a good thriller.

Though, you will enjoy it more if have read some US-thrillers (or watched Hollywood Movies and/or English TV Shows). It will make you familiar with various aspects of the culture of the country and you will connect with the characters easily. Also, if you are an explorer of geopolitics and know how the big countries like USA plays their games and have impact on small countries around the world; the things will look more familiar to you.

The good thing about the book is the way the characters are developed. For example, readers see various layers of persona unfolding in Holly’s character. They are detailed and revealed one by one periodically, giving the reader a feeling of knowing something interesting about the respective characters.

The way various routes and terrains are explored is worth mentioning. Actually, the journey of both Jack and Holly in the truck, escape from an animal stable and the militia headquarter setup will make you feel watching a movie or TV Series scene.

Another aspect of the book I love, is the way emotions are weave in it. We have seen that many thrillers skip this important aspect, we humans crave for. Lee Child has done a good job infusing the same. For example, here is a line that shows the inner side of the protagonist quite effectively.

But it wasn’t her eyes that were doing it to him. Not her looks. Or her intelligence or her personality. It was her knee. That’s what was doing it to him. Her guts and her dignity. The sight of a good-looking spirited woman cheerfully fighting an unaccustomed disability seemed like a brave and noble thing to Reacher.

The protagonist is very clear about his way of living:

This is about me now, too. They made it that way. They were going to shoot me down. I’ve got a rule, Holly: people mess with me at their own risk. I try to be patient about it. I had a teacher once, grade school somewhere. Philippines, I think, because she always wore a big white hat. So it was somewhere hot. I was always twice the size of the other kids, and she used to say to me: count to ten before you get mad, Reacher. And I’ve counted way past ten on this one. Way past.

Dark humor finds its place in this thriller too. And, when you read the lines like the following, you pity the society.

“Garber told us you were clean,” McGrath said. “We didn’t believe him.”

“Naturally,” Reacher said. “Garber always tells the truth. So nobody ever believes him.”

The book has many lines which are impactful and shows traits of survival and combat skills, like:

… So he kept quiet, which was a tactic he’d used a thousand times before: when in doubt, just keep your mouth shut.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A forest is a fugitive’s best friend. It takes a lot of luck to hit a guy running through trees.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Firing a sniper rifle over a long distance is a confluence of many things. It starts with chemistry. It depends on mechanical engineering. It involves optics and geophysics and meteorology.

Governing everything is human biology.

And he knows it clearly about “what should not be done, in such situation”. Eg:

Nathan Rubin died because he got brave. Not the sustained kind of thing which wins you a medal in a war, but the split-second kind of blurting outrage which gets you killed on the street.

Here are some interesting line from the book which stayed with me after completing the same:

His fitness was just health-club tone. It counted for nothing.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
He blacked out like a television set in a thunderstorm.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
She stared at the damp and sniffed the air. She shivered. The room smelled of fear.

Do you expect the lines like the following in such thrillers?

One hundred and thirteen was a prime number. You couldn’t make it by multiplying any other numbers together. Hundred and twelve, you could make by multiplying fifty-six by two, or twenty-eight by four, or fourteen by eight. Hundred and fourteen, you could make by multiplying fifty-seven by two, or nineteen by six, or thirty-eight by three. But one hundred and thirteen was prime. No factors. The only way to make a hundred and thirteen was by multiplying a hundred and thirteen by one. Or by firing a shotgun into a truck in a rage.

These quotes must have given you a fair idea about the quality of writing you will find in this book. I liked reading it.

Summary:

So, overall, an interesting thriller that has its share of emotional moments. Nothing in the book happens without a reason. And, a reader will like it for that.

ThinkerViews Rating:

Around 7.5 stars out of 10.

Quick Purchase Links:

• Buy - Die Trying by Lee Child - Paperback - Amazon IN
• Buy - Die Trying by Lee Child - Kindle EBook - Amazon IN
• Buy - Die Trying by Lee Child - Paperback - Amazon US

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