A book cover with trees and the title of the novel.

Blue Moon, Lee Child 2019

As a reader of every one of Lee Child’s books and a big fan, I was very disappointed with his latest creation.  The usual “Jack Reacher stumbles into a murderous plot by accident while ambling across the U.S.” gambit was stretched beyond the point of generous credibility as Reacher becomes involved in a old man’s attempt to pay for his daughter’s medical treatment with loans from an Albanian loan shark.  The next thing you know is that Reacher is ground zero in an all out gang war between the Albanians and the Ukrainians with the Russian hackers thrown in for good measure.  The bodies start to pile up early in the book and the gratuitous violence and murders (mostly by a berserk Reacher) are truly staggering.  I’d give this one a pass and swear off Child for good, but I’ve failed at that once before and probably won’t be able to resist his next one.  I just hope it’s better.

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