Also by this author: Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, #1), Night School (Jack Reacher, #21), Persuader (Jack Reacher, #7)
Published by Penguin Random House Audio, Delacorte Press on November 7, 2017
Genres: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 0399593489
ASIN: B06ZYD46L2
Goodreads
Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. A tough year to graduate: Iraq, then Afghanistan. The ring is tiny, for a woman, and it has her initials engraved on the inside. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. He decides to find out. And find the woman. And return her ring. Why not?
So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.
The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher.
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#jackreacher #westpoint #afghanistan #opioidcrisis #woundedwarriors #wyoming #twins #PI #dickhill @LeeChildReacher @PRHAudio
As with last week’s post, the subject matter of Lee Child’s The Midnight Line, couldn’t be more timely. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere, you are very much aware of the crisis our country is facing with opioids. You are a rare person if it hasn’t touched your life in some way. What begins as a search for the owner of a pawned West Point class ring lands my favorite anti-hero Jack Reacher squarely in the middle of an illegal drug operation with its accompanying shady characters. It also brings him face to face with a hero of a different kind — one who has served this country well but who seems to have fallen through the cracks following a life-altering combat injury. Accompanied by the twin sister of the ring’s owner and a nattily dressed PI she has hired to help her, Reacher ends up in the wide-open country of Wyoming where one’s nearest neighbor might live 20 miles away. It’s the perfect place to hide in plain sight if being seen is someone’s greatest fear, and it’s also the perfect place to find the only thing that makes a life gone wrong seem all right.
Those of you who regularly read my posts know that Dick Hill is a favorite narrator of mine — not just as the voice of Jack Reacher, but for his outstanding narration of the work of P. T. Deutermann, Michael Connelly, and Sandra Brown as well as the late Pat Conroy. When I discovered Jack Reacher will have a new voice in Lee Child’s next book, disappointment compelled me to investigate the reason behind the change. What I found is bad news and good news. The bad news is Mr. Hill has retired! The good news is Mr. Hill has retired to pursue his love of painting, so congratulations and thank you to someone who has provided me with many hours of listening pleasure. The link above is worth following to read an interview about Dick Hill’s 30-year career as a narrator.
The Midnight Line poses several questions and is one of the more thought-provoking books in the Jack Reacher series. We all know the opioid crisis is real, but we see that not everyone in the throes of addiction is just looking for the next high. We see a wounded warrior with an injury that may make you think again about what degree of impairment is tolerable. We see the bond of shared experience that exists between combat survivors and, finally, we see the irrefutable bond that exists between twins. I highly recommend this book to those who love Jack Reacher and his unique philosophy. He always makes me want to go through my house and throw out most of my stuff!
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