By Lee Child
Jack Reacher is on a slab in the morgue. You knew it was coming sooner or later. But wait, the book is just beginning. Now the only question is, "Will he stay there?"
In Better Off Dead brothers Lee and Andrew Child tag-team for the second time to deliver volume 26 of the Jack Reacher series. Reacher, a drifter with a mission, encounters Michaela Fenton, an army veteran and former FBI agent. Fenton is determined to find the mysterious "Michael" (Michael Curtis), her biological twin. Michael is a former member of the Army. He has a troubled past, a dubious present, and very uncertain future. Is he dead or alive? Given the paranoia of Waad Dendoncker, the evil antagonist of this tale, there is a good reason to assume the former.
I enjoyed Better Off Dead. Shannan and I listened to it was we tag-teamed our way across five states in an overnight run to Arkansas. If an author can keep you going at 2:00 a.m., he's done his job!
About Andrew Child:
Andrew Child's hands were on the reins for the better part of this book. He handled them well. There were a few times when I felt the dialog "didn't quite feel like Reacher," but overall the younger Child delivers! The Reacher attitude is there; so are the mannerisms, the subtle brilliance, and the action. And there is more to this thriller than just the thrills. The authors want us to take a closer look at the army, chemical weapons, and the soldiers who suffer from them.
There is a lot of "former" in Better Off Dead. Reacher is a former Army cop, Fenton, a former member of the military and FBI, and ditto for her brother. And with this novel, Lee Child (Jim Grant) is almost a former author. The novelist is passing on his famous character to his younger brother, Andrew. Andrew Grant (pen name Andrew Child) is an accomplished author in his own right, penning nine novels in addition to collaborating with his brother on The Sentinel and Better Off Dead.
About Lee Child:
In an interview he gave Rick Pullen (Up Close: Lee Child and Andrew Child), the elder Child said,
I want to be retired, so I don’t want to write anything… I’m going to buy a real comfortable sofa and I’m just going to read for the rest of my life. I was born in Europe. I have no work ethic. So I plan on reading other people’s books.
Apparently, this won't be hard for the author who reads a book a day. Does Lee Child really have that kind of an appetite for books? He does! Pullen noted, "He recently served as a judge for the Booker Prize. Through July of this year, he read all 162 entries."
My Recommendation:
Read the reviews and you'll find those who love Better Off Dead, as well as those who want to pronounce it dead. I liked the book. It's a tough act to lose an author and maintain a character, but it can be done: Ian Fleming (Anthony Horowitz), Robert Ludlum (Brian Freeman), Tom Clancy (Mark Greany), Vince Flynn (Kyle Mills), Steig Larsson (David Lagercrantz) are living proof of that. Now we can add Lee Child to that list.
