Die Trying by Lee Child

Die Trying is Lee Child’s second Jack Reacher novel.  Having become a Reacher fan only in the past year, I decided I needed to go back for some context… experience the character development of Jack Reacher… see what makes him tick.  Die Trying was a good place to start.

Reacher retired from the Army MP’s 14 months earlier and was traveling around the U.S.  He took odd jobs to supplement his pension and savings.  Most recently he worked as a doorman in Chicago.  One day he is walking down the street and sees an attractive young lady walking with a crutch who needs help carrying her dry cleaning.  Three thugs pull up in a Lexus with plans to kidnap the woman.  Reacher feels compelled to assist the damsel in distress and allows himself to be captured.  He and the woman, Holly Johnson are handcuffed together, thrown in the back of a panel van and hauled across the country.  He learns she is not only an FBI agent stationed in Chicago but her father is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the U.S. Military.  Normally very capable in self defense, Holly recently injured her knee while playing soccer, thus the crutch.  The kidnappers are members of a Montana based right-wing militia group with plans to declare independence from the USA and escape consequences by holding Holly hostage.

The Director of the FBI is instructed by the president to keep the kidnapping under wraps, hoping it will just go away so he can avoid political embarrassment.  But the Chicago FBI chief can’t just ignore the crime and gets approval to investigate with only two agents.  They find the dry cleaner and discover Holly’s abduction is recorded on the store’s security video tape.  They identify Reacher in the recording and assume he is one of the kidnappers. They locate his former CO, General Garber who declares, “I don’t know why he’s there, but I promise you he’s clean, and he’s going to do what needs doing, or he’s going to die trying.”  True to his military reputation, Reacher’s tactical training, analytical skills, and perseverance kick in as he manages to elude his execution day after day.  He is compelled to help the innocent cult members trapped unwittingly by the militia leader but Reacher never loses focus on his first objective, to free Holly Johnson.  A master in the art of combat, Reacher never hesitates to dispense with the enemy.. violently, efficiently, and single handedly.

Die Trying proved the perfect conduit to research the Jack Reacher character, the classic hero we know only in fiction.  The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Batman like figure is driven only by his need to help the helpless… do whatever it takes, regardless of the consequences.  He exudes self confidence, fully trusting his training, skill and judgment… often above higher authority.  This testosterone charged character combined with Child’s talent to build suspense from one situation to the next without pause, places this author squarely on the A list for men reading books.