Persuader (Soundings S., #2830) (Jack Reacher, #7) (Windsor Selection S.)

by Lee Child

[zooloo1983]

I did not read this book I listened to this book. I find certain books are better when listened to them rather than reading them.  That mainly depends on the narrator. I love listening to  the Jack Reacher series due to the fact that Dick Hill reads them (Check him and his sultry tones out!). Anytime I know he is reading the book I know I will enjoy it! 

This is the 7th book in the series and I just felt that Jack Reacher was a machine! Nothing was getting in the way of him and his revenge and he never quits!

Reacher is a drifter, an ex military cop and one night bumps in to someone in the street dreading up memories of what he thought was finished business 10 years ago.  We are then led through a fast paced journey that takes place over 2 weeks and wow what a journey!

Normally I hate flashbacks in books (and tv shows) but in this book they added to the story. You cared about what happened 10 years ago, you cared why Reacher is the way he is and when you get to the final flashback you want him to go get the big bad guy.  The flashbacks were slow in coming but they popped up at very specific and fitting moments. 

Why did you want to be a cop in the first place? I shrugged. "It's just the way I am. Cops put things right." "What things?" "They look after people. They make sure the little guy is OK."

When Reacher is on your side you know that he will get the job done one way or the other.  It was a fast paced book with how quickly he infiltrated the Beck family and became integral to them in a matter of days, an ambush scene with Duke was one of my favourite scene - very clever Mr Child. It just shows you Reacher knows what he is doing. You are thrown straight in to the thick of it with an abduction and you feel like you are right there in the car with Reacher and Richard Beck, praying they can escape unscathed but never knowing the bigger picture at this point. You know that something else is at work because this is not the Jack we know from the previous 6 books. I did find that I was saying "What the hell" a lot as I tried to figure out what crazy ride I was being taken on.  I was shocked when I found out.  

For a change, I felt, there were a few hair-raising moments for Reacher and I was worried if would we make it to the end of the book but then I remembered that there were another 15 books in the series (ignoring the novellas) so I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief.  I mean there was a man in the book who was bigger than Reacher! Is that even possible, ok if you watch Tom Cruise films, then yes it is, but in the book he's a 6ft 5 tank of a man. 

Like with any alpha male action books we have a 'love story', in this we were treated to two. Present day and 10 years ago. The present day one you knew would happen but it didn't feel right to me, it was forced and it felt that it was just added in the story so that there was a romance rather than a natural progression, however the flashback romance felt more real.  I did love that both women were strong women especially Kohl, she knew exactly what she wanted and she didn't hide this. 

I was upset with one of the death scenes in the book (no spoilers!) and it did move me. It just fuelled my motivation to help Reacher get the revenge he wanted and the only way I could do that is finish the book, because obviously I can not change what has already been written. 

I think my favourite quote of the book is 

"I know the difference between a Swatch and a Rolex." "OK, what's the difference?" "There isn't one," I said. "They both tell the time"

It had nothing to do with the story per se, but when I was listening to it, it made me chuckle out loud a lot! Reacher being funny just an added bonus. 

If you felt the series was wavering a little bit, do not give up as this book has revived my passion for the series and does not have the predictability of the other books.