Night School - Paperjale.eus

Azal biguna, 496 orrialde

2017ko mai. 8a(e)an Dell(e)n argitaratua.

ISBN:: 978-0-8041-7882-2

(berrikuspen 1)

It’s 1996, and Reacher is still in the army. In the morning they give him a medal, and in the afternoon they send him back to school. That night he’s off the grid. Out of sight, out of mind.

Two other men are in the classroom—an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. Each is a first-rate operator, each is fresh off a big win, and each is wondering what the hell they are doing there.

Then they find out: A Jihadist sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has received an unexpected visitor—a Saudi courier, seeking safe haven while waiting to rendezvous with persons unknown. A CIA asset, undercover inside the cell, has overheard the courier whisper a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.”

For what? And who from? Reacher and his two new friends are told to find the American. Reacher recruits the best soldier he has ever …

It’s 1996, and Reacher is still in the army. In the morning they give him a medal, and in the afternoon they send him back to school. That night he’s off the grid. Out of sight, out of mind.

Two other men are in the classroom—an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. Each is a first-rate operator, each is fresh off a big win, and each is wondering what the hell they are doing there.

Then they find out: A Jihadist sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has received an unexpected visitor—a Saudi courier, seeking safe haven while waiting to rendezvous with persons unknown. A CIA asset, undercover inside the cell, has overheard the courier whisper a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.”

For what? And who from? Reacher and his two new friends are told to find the American. Reacher recruits the best soldier he has ever worked with: Sergeant Frances Neagley. Their mission heats up in more ways than one, while always keeping their eyes on the prize: If they don’t get their man, the world will suffer an epic act of terrorism.

From Langley to Hamburg, Jalalabad to Kiev, Night School moves like a bullet through a treacherous landscape of double crosses, faked identities, and new and terrible enemies, as Reacher maneuvers inside the game and outside the law.

2 edizio

ridel@bookwyrm.social (e)k Lee Child(r)en Night School liburuaren kritika egin du (Jack Reacher, #21)

The First Prequel I Liked

4 izar

Night School is the first Reacher prequel novel that I actually like, where he's in his prime as an MP but events aren't written overtly to bridge the gap to The Killing Floor and the events in Margrave. I've found previous prequels to be hamfisted in those attempts, and the central mystery to be boring compared to modern-day Reacher settings.

Lee Child also delivers everything in the highly refined Reacher formula: the mystery is excellent, the action is rare, but brutally violent when it occurs, and the details are critical and carefully thought through. Reacher has an excellent foil in Neagley, who is the only ex-Special Investigator with a personality that I can recall and isn't the standard Lee Child female character. The weaknesses are also the same... for me, that's the standard cringeworthy Reacher-gets-the-girl plotline, which is completely unnecessary but probably services a certain subset of readers, as well …

Night School is the first Reacher prequel novel that I actually like, where he's in his prime as an MP but events aren't written overtly to bridge the gap to The Killing Floor and the events in Margrave. I've found previous prequels to be hamfisted in those attempts, and the central mystery to be boring compared to modern-day Reacher settings.

Lee Child also delivers everything in the highly refined Reacher formula: the mystery is excellent, the action is rare, but brutally violent when it occurs, and the details are critical and carefully thought through. Reacher has an excellent foil in Neagley, who is the only ex-Special Investigator with a personality that I can recall and isn't the standard Lee Child female character. The weaknesses are also the same... for me, that's the standard cringeworthy Reacher-gets-the-girl plotline, which is completely unnecessary but probably services a certain subset of readers, as well as a conclusion that is far too abrupt for the number of characters introduced in the novel.

What lifts this above the standard Reacher-fare is an antagonist that isn't cartoonishly evil. There's a number of plots-within-plots and all the antagonists feel realistic. Sadly though, I still prefer Reacher when he's avenging small problems, and this is pretty much the opposite. His antics don't feel as unique when he needs to save the world.

Night School is not in the top tier, but is an above-average Reacher novel. Given how many there are, that's saying something.

Recommended.