Nothing to Lose, is another in the series of Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. Though most of the Jack Reacher tales follow a similar formula, they are each still very entertaining. I started this on right before leaving in a trip to Europe with my husband (3 cities and a wedding in 10 days). Talk about a whirl-wind trip! But this blog is about the book, not the trip. This one took me a little longer than normal to finish, but it was worth the extra time.
Jack Reacher, the ever-wandering nomad, finds himself in a very small town in Colorado called Despair. He is kicked out of Despair for being a vagrant. He is dropped off at the town line and picked up by another police officer from neighboring town, Hope. Hope and Despair - there is a lot of that in this book. The officer from Hope, an attractive lady (of course), and Reacher start to build a friendship over the fishy things happening in Despair.
Never one to leave something along, and never one to walk away from a perplexing situation, Reacher begins to dig around in Despair to figure out why they are so set on keeping outsiders out of their little town. The lady cop from Hope explains that Despair is a "company" town that doesn't take to outsiders. They don't want outsiders taking jobs away from their residents, who all seem to work at the recycling plant or other services (restaurant, gas station, and rooming house) in the town.
He was thinking about Despair, and he was wondering why getting him out of town had been more important than keeping him there and busting him for the assault on the deputy.Many fishy things are discovered by Reacher during his stays in both towns, and he can't leave without figuring them out. I can't go too much into detail on what goes on (I don't like spoilers), but here are a few things to give you some idea of what this book beholds:
- a young, broke girl waiting for Reacher in a diner, who more or less bolts when she finds out he used to be a military cop
- another young, broke girl in the diner who lets Reacher buy her some meals
- a religious fanatic who owns the "recycling plant"
- a man, bigger than Reacher, who regularly wields a very large wrench
He waved his two employees forward. The plant foreman kept his hands loose at his sides and the big guy slapped the wrench in and out of his palm, wet metal on wet skin.
- wandering aimless in the desert
- a random Military Police outpost
- love-making
He bent and kissed her again. Moved his hand and caught the tag of her zipper and pulled it down. She was naked under the dress. Warm, and soft, and smooth, and lithe, and fragrant... He carried her in and put her down and her dress slipped from her shoulders and fell. They kissed some more and her hands tore at the button on his pants. A minute later they were in her bed.
- bar brawls (several of them)
- a nosy motel worker
- lots of MacGyver-ing
- Reacher kicking ass
- More of Reacher Kicking ass
- And, Reacher figuring out everything and moving on
Reacher took the borrowed phone out of his pocket and dropped it on the bed. Followed it with the registration, from the old Suburban's glove box. Asked Vaughan to mail both things back, with no return address on the package. She said, "That sounds like the start of a farewell speech." "It is," Reacher said. "And the middle, and the end."Jack Reacher books are all entertaining. They are pretty quick reads, and all have some elements that are really easy to figure out, some that are surprising, and some twists and turns that aren't expected. I've enjoyed the ones I have read so far, and look forward to seeing what other shenanigans Reacher will get himself into, and what impossible situations he will MacGyver himself out of. Until the next one...
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