The Midnight Line by Lee Child***
Reading dates: 17 May – 23 June 2023
Reacher tracks a female officer’s class ring back to its owner in the deserted wilds of Wyoming, on a raw quest for simple justice.
It will be hard to write a review of The Midnight Line without spoilers so take this as a disclaimer.
Lee Child develops here some very interesting themes such as facial disfigurement, loss of beauty and addiction to opiates and they are well considered, I think, specially the addiction side. What troubled me, and perhaps this is because I am reading all the Reacher novels in a row, is that the plot felt far fetched and the resolution was so abrupt that it happened with minimal resistance. The book starts where Make Me ended, which was with a love affair that, we find out in The Midnight Line, did not work out. There are changes in the points of view of the writing from Reacher to that partner and to a new female agent, Nakamura, a character that gets stuck and lost in the narrative. These changes in points of view are interesting and featured in other novels too but not developed to their full narrative potential. Why not edit what feel superfluous and develop the themes further?
Learning from Reacher
On Reacher himself
She had used a simile, to explain and flatter and apologize all at once. She had written, “You’re like New York City. I love to visit, but I could never live there.”
“I read your file,” the guy said again. “If you tilt it right and hold it in a sunbeam you can see the invisible writing. You were effective, but reckless.”
On aspen wood
… aspen wood was all one organism. The largest living thing on earth.
On performance art (!)
It’s Lake Forest, Illinois. You could wear a bag on your head. They’ll think it’s performance art. A year from now you’ll have your own show.”
On advice for life
We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Previous reviews of the Jack Reacher series
#1 Killing Floor ***
Jack Reacher gets off a bus in a small town in Georgia. And is thrown into the county jail, for a murder he didn’t commit.
#2 Die Trying ***
Reacher is locked in a van with a woman claiming to be FBI. And ferried right across America into a brand new country.
#3 Tripwire **
Reacher is digging swimming pools in Key West when a detective comes round asking questions. Then the detective turns up dead.
#4 The Visitor ***
Two naked women found dead in a bath filled with paint. Both victims of a man just like Reacher.
#5 Echo Burning ***
In the heat of Texas, Reacher meets a young woman whose husband is in jail. When he is released, he will kill her.
#6 Without Fail ****
A Washington woman asks Reacher for help. Her job? Protecting the Vice President.
#7 Persuader ****
A kidnapping in Boston. A cop dies. Has Reacher lost his sense of right and wrong?
#8 The Enemy ***
Back in Reacher’s army days. a general is found dead on his watch.
#9 One Shot *** (2012)
A lone sniper shoots five people dead in a heartland city. But the accused guy says, ‘Get Reacher’.
#10 The Hard Way ***
A coffee on a busy New York street leads to a shoot-out three thousand miles away in the Norfolk countryside.
#11 Bad Luck and Trouble ***
One of Reacher’s buddies has shown up dead in the California desert, and Reacher must put his old army unit back together.
#12 Nothing to Lose **
Reacher crosses the line between a town called Hope and one named Despair.
#13 Gone Tomorrow ****
On the New York subway, Reacher counts down the twelve tell-tale signs of a suicide bomber.
#14 61 hours ****
In freezing South Dakota, Reacher hitches a lift on a bus heading for trouble.
#15 Worth Dying For ***
Reacher runs into a clan that’s terrifying the Nebraska locals, but it’s the unsolved case of a missing child that he can’t let go.
#16 The Affair ****
Six months before the events in Killing Floor, Major Jack Reacher of the US Military Police goes undercover in Mississippi, to investigate a murder.
#17 A Wanted Man *****
A freshly-busted nose makes it difficult for Reacher to hitch a ride. When at last he’s picked up by two men and a woman, it soon becomes clear they have something to hide.
#18 Never Go Back *****
When Reacher returns to his old Virginia headquarters he is accused of a sixteen-year-old homicide and hears these words: ‘You’re back in the army, Major. And your ass is mine.’
#19 Personal ****
Someone has taken a shot at the French president. Only one man could have done it – and Reacher is the one man who can find him.
#20 Make Me ****
At a remote railroad stop on the prairie called Mother’s Rest, Jack Reacher finds a town full of silent, watchful people, and descends into the heart of darkness.
#21 The Night School ***
The twenty-first in the series takes Reacher back to his army days, but this time he’s not in uniform. In Hamburg, trusted sergeant Frances Neagley at his side, he must confront a terrifying new enemy.
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