# Lee Child's latest: "Never Go Back"-opinions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 15, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334 "2013-10-15T18:43:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/1 "2013-10-15T18:43:04Z")
Any opinion on Lee Child’s latest Reacher novel “Never Go Back”? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/2 "2013-10-15T20:23:43Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > Any opinion on Lee Child’s latest Reacher novel “Never Go Back”? Let you know after I finish it:D ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/3 "2013-10-15T21:38:14Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > Any opinion on Lee Child’s latest Reacher novel “Never Go Back”? The Reacher books have been on the decline in the last few years, and imo this maintains that status quo. I finished this one, at least - there’s one I didn’t even bother… Probably time for me to stop reading them. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/4 "2013-10-15T22:09:11Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > The Reacher books have been on the decline in the last few years, and imo this maintains that status quo. I finished this one, at least - there’s one I didn’t even bother… Probably time for me to stop reading them. I stopped reading two books ago. It just got too repetitive. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/5 "2013-10-15T22:37:05Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I stopped reading two books ago. It just got too repetitive. Yeah, the same thing happened to the David Robicheaux character in the novels by James Lee Burke. Great reads, then meh. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/6 "2013-10-15T22:44:30Z")
**epbrown01** : “The Reacher books have been on the decline in the last few years, and imo this maintains that status quo. I finished this one, at least - there’s one I didn’t even bother… Probably time for me to stop reading them.” **RikWriter** : “I stopped reading two books ago. It just got too repetitive.” Agree. Having read all of the Reacher novels, I found “Never Go Back” to be almost unbearably tedious–a preposterous premise, a flabby ending, bloated with boring unnecessary description, and with cardboard characters and a plodding pace. The past four or five were mediocre, but this is the worst of the series, imo. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/7 "2013-10-17T18:51:56Z")
**Chefguy** : “Yeah, the same thing happened to the David Robicheaux character in the novels by James Lee Burke. Great reads, then meh.” That was my reaction to JLB’s latest. Quite a contrast to John D. MacDonald, whose final novel, “The Lonely Silver Rain,” was the best in the 21-book Travis McGee series. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/8 "2013-10-18T00:05:58Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > **Chefguy** : > “Yeah, the same thing happened to the David Robicheaux character in the novels by James Lee Burke. Great reads, then meh.” > > That was my reaction to JLB’s latest. I hated it enough to post a review on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/9 "2013-10-18T13:51:05Z")
I haven’t finished it yet, but I do like that beginning with 61 Hours, each of the books have begun within a few days of the previous book’s ending. Injuries, and in some cases, clothes, are overlapping from book to book. At this point, I’m guessing maybe four or five weeks have elapsed since the bus crash in North Dakota. It’s a nice change from the typical series in this genre, in which the protagonist begins each episode completely rested and recuperated from his previous adventures. Even Travis McGee would take another chunk of retirement, and by the time the next book commences, be completely recuperated, and complaining about being a little older. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/10 "2013-10-18T14:12:39Z")
It’s the worst book in the series. I can suspend disbelief for all the preposterous crap that happens in these books as long as there is some suspense, this one was boring. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/11 "2013-10-18T14:43:28Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > It’s the worst book in the series. I can suspend disbelief for all the preposterous crap that happens in these books as long as there is some suspense, this one was boring. I’ve long since adopted the mindset that they are comic books without pictures, and on that level, I keep reading them. IMO it was a typical Reacher book — Child is a good action writer, but a horrible mystery writer. [spoiler]They spend most of the book trying to figure out what this Afghan guy is doing that could account for him getting some soldiers killed to keep his activity a secret. They know only two things about him — he’s an entrepreneur, and his family has a big opium farm. Gee, what could he be selling? Give up? At the end of the book, we find out he was selling opium!!! It reminds me of a few books ago, when there was a small town next to an army base, and all these beautiful girls who had an affair with this army captain ended up dead. And everybody knew it. And the sheriff was at a total loss, didn’t have any suspects. Fortunately, by the end of the book, Reacher had figured out that the army captain was the murderer.[/spoiler] And to all the people who say it’s the most boring book of the series — have you forgotten the one where he spends the whole book walking back and forth between two towns in Colorado? Hope and Despair, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/12 "2013-10-21T15:57:49Z")
I slogged through it. Found myself skimming through most of it. Yawn… I keep hoping the series will improve. The first book was the best. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/13 "2013-10-21T16:27:30Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > And to all the people who say it’s the most boring book of the series — have you forgotten the one where he spends the whole book walking back and forth between two towns in Colorado? Hope and Despair, or something like that. This is what I came in here to add. (By the way, that particular book was “Nothing to Lose.” There’s NO WAY this is the worst book of the series. In fact it’s the best of the last 3 or 4, IMO. The book mentioned by TonySinclair (Nothing to Lose) was the most absurd thing I’ve ever read. OK maybe not… but it’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever read if I don’t count Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, and the last few Bob Lee Swagger novels by Stephen Hunter. Personally I liked this one; I liked the premise of him going back into the Army. In fact… now that Reacher is getting a little older, and think it makes for a better story line to have him back in the Army. I was actually disappointed that he walked away at the end.. Now if Michael Connelly would just come out with another Harry Bosch novel. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/14 "2013-10-21T21:35:28Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > This is what I came in here to add. (By the way, that particular book was “Nothing to Lose.” Right you are. Hope and Despair were the names of the two towns. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/15 "2013-10-21T21:46:40Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > This is what I came in here to add. (By the way, that particular book was “Nothing to Lose.” > > There’s NO WAY this is the worst book of the series. In fact it’s the best of the last 3 or 4, IMO. The book mentioned by TonySinclair (Nothing to Lose) was the most absurd thing I’ve ever read. OK maybe not… but it’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever read if I don’t count Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, and the last few Bob Lee Swagger novels by Stephen Hunter. > > Personally I liked this one; I liked the premise of him going back into the Army. In fact… now that Reacher is getting a little older, and think it makes for a better story line to have him back in the Army. I was actually disappointed that he walked away at the end.. > > Now if Michael Connelly would just come out with another Harry Bosch novel. Jesus, thank you for mentioning Stephen Hunter. He’s got Swagger coming out with a walker and a machine gun in the past couple novels. I can’t believe he keeps trotting him out there, older and older. It’s ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/16 "2013-10-21T21:53:05Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > I slogged through it. Found myself skimming through most of it. Yawn… > I keep hoping the series will improve. The first book was the best. Huh. The first book was the first Reacher book I tried reading a couple years ago, and it didn’t grab me at all. I stopped reading it about halfway through, and wouldn’t have resumed if I hadn’t heard about the Tom Cruise movie coming out. I have to admit, though, the later books hooked me. Good action, ridiculous plots. A guilty pleasure, like taco flavor Doritos. They remind me of the old _Destroyer_ series, except Warren Murphy was a much better writer. By the way, the first book has another incredibly obvious “mystery” to solve. I’m pushing 60, and I remember hearing about washing dollar bills to use the paper for counterfeiting when I was barely a teenager. I think the reason I stopped reading it was because I had already solved the “mystery”. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/17 "2013-10-22T12:13:12Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Jesus, thank you for mentioning Stephen Hunter. He’s got Swagger coming out with a walker and a machine gun in the past couple novels. I can’t believe he keeps trotting him out there, older and older. It’s ridiculous. Is he? The last Hunter I read was _Soft Target_ with Bob Lee’s kids. I stopped reading Swagger novels when he became a samurai warrior, at age 60-something, in about a week. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/18 "2013-10-22T18:41:55Z")
For those criticizing Lee Child’s _Never Go Back_: There’s a 50-50 chance that next week, Lee Child himself will visit you personally, at your home, to discuss your problems with his latest novel. Not likely, you say? Look: he either \*\*will \*\*or **will not** visit, right? That, my friends, is 50-50. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/19 "2013-10-22T21:02:40Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > For those criticizing Lee Child’s _Never Go Back_: > > There’s a 50-50 chance that next week, Lee Child himself will visit you personally, at your home, to discuss your problems with his latest novel. > > Not likely, you say? > > Look: he either \*\*will \*\*or **will not** visit, right? > > That, my friends, is 50-50. Yep, I’m a big Reacher fan, and I have to admit, this bugs the hell out of me. “It’s either going to happen. Or it won’t.” Well, no shit. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334/20 "2013-10-22T22:46:44Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > For those criticizing Lee Child’s _Never Go Back_: > > There’s a 50-50 chance that next week, Lee Child himself will visit you personally, at your home, to discuss your problems with his latest novel. > > Not likely, you say? > > Look: he either \*\*will \*\*or **will not** visit, right? > > That, my friends, is 50-50. LOL, that was so stupid and annoying that I had repressed the memory of it. But there was a better display of his math skills in another book. In _Bad Luck and Trouble_, an old friend is killed, and Reacher and some other old friends reunite to investigate and avenge his death. Reacher spends the whole book amazing people with his ability to do math in his head. Give him a number of any size, and he can instantly tell you its square root, cube root, or the exact area of a circle with the number as a radius. [spoiler] At the end of the book, the case has been cracked and the murder avenged, with some other losses along the way. Reacher and his three surviving friends have taken 65 million dollars from the villain. They agree that one of his pals will handle the money as follows: compensate one of the group for her expenses during the few days of the “mission,” set up trust funds for the dead friends’ kids, make a donation to a pet shelter, and divide up the rest. Even if they make the trust funds a million dollars each, they should end up with about 60 million to split four ways, right? Reacher, the mental mathemagician, looks at his bank balance after the split, and is stunned to see that it is now over \ _ **one hundred thousand dollars** _. And he’s pleased that it’s so much.[/spoiler] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-childs-latest-never-go-back-opinions/671334.md?page=2)