A Book Review: Nothing to Lose by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #12)

You just arrived at an eerie little town. The locals reacted to your arrival with hostility. During your stay, you stumbled upon a secret, discovering its entire populace is plotting a conspiracy and you are completely alone. Isn't this a horrifying thought? We have seen this scenario played out in horror novels (The Shadow Over Innsmouth), and it has also appeared in movies (The Wicker Man). This is an intriguing scenario. It is full of suspense and paranoia, but it has yet to make its way to the genre of crime thriller.

Lee Child's novel, titled Nothing to Lose, uses the above scenario and it promises readers a ticket to thrill. This is the 12^th Jack Reacher novel. Does it deliver?

Synopsis:

Jack Reacher lingers, on the boarder between Hope and Despair.

Hope and Despair? Is good old Jack suffering from an episode of anxiety attack? Not likely! What did Jack get himself into this time? On the rocky landscape of Colorado sits two lonely towns; Hope and Despair. Hope is a bright and nice little town, but Jack is intrigued by the name of its neighbor, Despair.

Why would anyone name a town Despair? Jack walked 12 miles of dusty road to find out. Over the boarder near Despair, Jack saw neighborhood houses brooding silently in the distance. The town' main street; neat, straight, and lit by a yellow sun, is curiously waylaid by a seedy looking diner and a semi-abandoned motel. Jack thirsted for a cup of coffee. Before he could walk into the diner, the cops pulled up in a car and they arrested him. The charge – vagrancy. The cops dropped Jack at the border of Despair and told him to sod off.

“Never come back”, the cops told him.

Why are the cops so desperate at keeping a stranger out? Curiosity got the better of Jack. He walked straight back to Despair, into a shocking discovery: Justice is needed in this town. It is the sort of justice that can only be dispensed by someone like Jack, a guy with nothing to lose.

My thoughts on this book:

The only Jack Reacher novel I have read prior to Nothing to Lose, is Killing Floor. Halfway into Nothing to Lose, I couldn't help but noticing these two novels were sharing some commonalities. Both books started with Jack Reacher drifting into a new town and getting himself arrested by the cops. In both novels, Jack Reacher uncovered a criminal secret hidden deep in the bowels of the town. At this point, one might be wondering if Nothing to Lose feels formulaic. Not at all! While similarities exist between these two books, Nothing to Lose distinguishes itself from Killing Floor, because this book extends the sense of paranoia and suspense to the entire town. This time, Jack is not just pitting himself against a bad guy and his crew in a small town. No, in Nothing to Lose, Jack is taking on a whole town.

Does this mean Nothing to Lose is a better book than Killing Floor? In my opinion, no. While Nothing to Lose instills a deep sense of mystery and thrills, but there are several issues with this book. I think the biggest of these issues is the book's pacing. The first 100 pages of this book gripped me. It was whipping up a story of intrigue and suspense. However, in the next 200 pages, Reacher's quest to dispensing justice moved somewhat slowly, and repetitively. The middle of the book felt particularly slow, because Reacher repeatedly traveled between Hope and Despair. The book did pick up the pace again in its final act. But the finale felt somewhat flat compared to the dramatic conclusion in Killing Floor.

This is not to say Nothing to Lose is a bad book. No, this book is far from being terrible. Despite its pacing issue, Nothing to Lose features a cast of interesting characters. Jack Reacher remains an impressive hero. He has the brawn, the brain, and a hell of an attitude. This book casts a spotlight on Reacher's deductive powers. It was fun reading how Reacher pieced together a puzzle and solved the crime. The action scenes in this book, although scarce, pumps adrenaline into the story and taking us into Jack's head, where we saw his strategic plan for ass kicking. Jack is a big guy and he is physically strong, but his brain made him an unstoppable force at dispensing justice.

Nothing to Lose may have a problem with its pacing. But this book still entertained me. The story soaked me with suspense and paranoia. Its plot surprised me here and there. It was not as good as Killing Floor but it is still a satisfying read. I want to read more Jack Reacher novels, and I would recommend Nothing to Lose to thriller fans.