Product Description

The secretive, closed organization that invites Jack Reacher in is the Secret Service, the organization that protects the Presidency. Someone who was once close to Reacher's brother, needs help in her new job. Her new job? Saving the Vice President of the United States from being assassinated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #317303 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lee Child has inexorably pulled himself into the upper echelons of thriller writing with a series of tough, lean and perfectly crafted novels featuring ex-US military cop Jack Reacher. Without Fail is the sixth outing for the resourceful Reacher, and far from showing any signs of incipient fatigue, the series just goes from strength to strength as Child hones his abilities.

As in such previous books as Die Trying and The Killing Floor, Jack Reacher is a maverick. He carries no ID, and any place he hangs his hat is home. And while he's more than capable of dealing out massive violence to the bad guys who take him on, he's a sucker for a plea for help--particularly from a woman. This time, he's asked by the persuasive Ms Froelich to help her protect the Vice-President of the United States from an assassination attempt that's on the cards. So Reacher, with only the clothes he stands up in, finds himself deep in the rarefied world of the United States Secret Service in Washington, where his problems come from the stiff-necked bureaucrats as much as from the utterly ruthless killer who soon has Reacher in his sights as much as the Vice-President.

If the plot here is a tad reminiscent of the Clint Eastwood movie In the Line of Fire, that's no coincidence--Child has his characters discuss the echoes of their situation with that film at length. But, boy, does Child ring some powerful variations of his own on the theme: this the most kinetic Reacher novel yet, full of the brilliantly orchestrated set-pieces that are a specialité de la maison with the author (the final climax in a snowy ravine is a pip). The action here is relentless, but never at the expense of character--Child is canny enough to keep dark shadows from Reacher's past a key part of his motivation. And the skill that the British-born Child is so proud of--his faultless evocation of the American landscape--is the final icing on a very tempting cake. --Barry Forshaw

Review
Over the course of five books in just five years, this former (British) TV exec has won a devoted following - readers who warm to his PI, former US military cop Jack Reacher, good-looking and a loner by choice who has none of the hang-ups displayed in abundance by his dysfunctional confr res. This one finds him called in by the Secret Service over a series of threats they've received against the Vice President-elect. Each contains a single line of type, 'signed' with an untraceable thumbprint. There's no DNA either - all of which leaves the glamorous M E Froelich, in charge of the Veep's security detail, with one hell of a problem. Maybe someone wants to discredit her, show that women aren't up to such jobs? Enter Reacher, whose late brother had an affair with Froelich. Taut, tense and so authentic even Bill Clinton's a fan.

Peter Millar, The Times
‘For most fans of Lee Child the greatest draw is his tough guy Jack Reacher, who cuts through nests of bad guys like a laser-guided Schwarzenegger.

Customer Reviews

Jack and Lee stumble (It had too happen sometime)
It had too happen. It could not last. Having written excellent and very high quality action thrillers featuring the supremely self-confident and capable Jack Reacher, Mr Lee Child fails to deliver in 'Without Fail'. Oh, don't get me wrong, it is still an enjoyable read, but slower than previous novels and somehow slightly less captivating. Maybe because the theme, protecting a politician, in this case the up-and-coming future Vice-President is something that has been done many times before.

But I think the biggest problem is that Jack Reacher seems out of his depth. Yes, Jack Reacher falters and stumbles and makes a mistake in this book. And that I think is the books main problem. Jack is not supposed to be fallable. He is not supposed to get it wrong. Jack is invincible! Or at least that was the way he was in previous books. Also, the bad guys in this novel are, in my humble opinion, not very strongly written. Surely these are characters that Jack Reacher would have for breakfast.And their motivation for trying to assasinate the VP is very weak to say the least.

All in all, not the best Reacher/Lee (or is that Lee/Reacher) novel. But read it anyway, it is still good.

Darn good read
I have to disagree with previous reviewers - this is one of my favourite Reacher novels. I, too, enjoy those moments when some thug goes after our hero and Reacher smacks him down without breaking a sweat. But what I really enjoyed about this adventure was the twists and turns in the plot - the drip drip of clues and the puzzling them out angle. I also found the personal elements of Reacher's complex and rather unhealthy relationship with his brother's ex-girlfriend very poignant and absorbing.

A plus for me, too, was that the reason for the vendetta against the VP wasn't the usual political theme of most other novels of this type. I found that very refreshing. Neither did I find it unbelievable as another reviewer suggests. People can be petty and revenge is a powerful motivator - especially when coupled with personal humilation. I had no trouble believing that someone would bear a grudge under the circumstances outlined.

All in all, this adventure didn't let me down or disappoint. I haven't read a Reacher novel yet that didn't entertain, delight and fascinate me from page one to page end and this one was no exception. I like that sometimes Reacher uses brawn in a novel and sometimes his heart and head. This novel was in the latter mold - but there are plenty of Reacher adventures that encompass the former elements, too.

All things for all readers. What more can you ask for?

Not as good as his previous books
This latest Jack Reacher story is a bit of a departure for the author, and not a successful one. Reacher is embroiled in a 'save the Vice President' operation, and instead of doing what he does best - which is playing Clint Eastwood and the Man with No Name in small towns across America - he becomes a type of FBI/Special Agent.
This is a story I've read many times in other formats by other authors, and it's a shame that Child decided to set his plot in Washington this time around. The secondary character, who plays both the device to involve him, and a link to his past, is a rather unlikeable and thinly drawn fmale agent, and Reacher himself seems rather flat and uninteresting.
My advice to the author - go back to what you do best, and give us back the Reacher we all know and
love.