I cleaned out a bookcase on my staycation (which felt horribly like a regular workday - just without work) and found a book from Lee Child called Die Trying. Based on the bookplate inside the front cover, I've had this particular book in my possession for over 20 years. I wasn't really into Jack Reacher back then, I most likely just thought it sounded good.
Well, now that I read quite a bit of Reacher (all out of order, you know me. Wouldn't do a series any other way), I plucked this from a donation pile and read it. I can definitely say that Child has improved the Reacher character over time.
Die Trying is book number TWO in the series and it didn't feel very Reacher-y to me. But Reacher is fresh out of the military and starting his jaunt around the country. He's not.... broken in yet. But he still has the knack for being in the wrong place at the right time.
Reacher is just strolling through Chicago when a woman leaves a dry cleaners. She has a full load of clothes and is using a cane which causes her to trip and Reacher to jump in and assist. Being fully the gentleman, Reacher offers to carry the clothes to wherever she's going while she limps along beside him.
And then they are abducted.
From here, we get to know the woman is Holly, an FBI agent who has very close ties with higher ups in the government. Reacher is just a fortunate mistake for the kidnappers. They are taken to a compound of people who feel the government is doing them wrong and want to create their own 'Murica. (Gosh, how familiar does this sound in 2020?) Since Holly is so connected, they are using her as bait. For whatever reason, the apparently brilliant leader of the group keeps NOT killing Reacher despite knowing he's a threat. If someone like Reacher entered my compound, and kept nosing around, I'd want him gone. But... I'm not a brilliant leader of rogue 'Mericans.
Die Trying had a lot of action and was, for the most part, a satisfactory Reacher book. I think Reacher gets more stoic as the books progress so definitely read this if you want emotion from the man.
