Book info

• Title Better Off Dead
• Author Lee Child
• Year 2021
• Genre Thriller

Reacher never backs down from a problem. And he's about to find a big one, on a deserted Arizona road, where a Jeep has crashed into the only tree for miles around. Under the merciless desert sun, nothing is as it seems. Minutes later Reacher is heading into the nearby border town, a backwater that has seen better days. Next to him is Michaela Fenton, an army veteran turned FBI agent, who is trying to find her twin brother. He might have got mixed up with some dangerous people. And Reacher might just need to pay them a visit. Their leader has burrowed his influence deep into the town. Just to get in and meet the mysterious Dendoncker, Reacher is going to have to achieve the impossible. To get answers will be even harder. There are people in this hostile, empty place who would rather die than reveal their secrets. But then, if Reacher is coming after you, you might be better off dead.

Thoughts

This one definitely wasn’t one of my favourite Reacher books, which is a shame because it feels like there had been some really good ones in the series over the last few releases. But this one just didn’t quite feel right - the descriptions were very dry, the premise was odd, I’m still not entirely sure what the big bad plot was, or who was telling the truth. And occasionally Reacher was acting a bit out of character - I don’t believe he would have gone along with the plot to pretend to be dead, it was exceptionally flawed. Some are blaming this on the new author, but even the original Reacher books had ups and downs, so we just chalk this up to experience and move on to the next!

Rating: 2 / 5