Never Go Back

Jack Reacher, Book 18

By: Lee Child

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • THE BLOCKBUSTER JACK REACHER SERIES THAT INSPIRED THE STREAMING SERIES REACHER

Never Go Back is a novel of action-charged suspense starring “one of the best thriller characters at work today” (Newsweek).

Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had.

Reacher is there to meet—in person—the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone.

But it isn’t Turner behind the CO’s desk. And Reacher is hit with two pieces of shocking news, one with serious criminal consequences, and one too personal to even think about.

When threatened, you can run or fight.

Reacher fights, aiming to find Turner and clear his name, barely a step ahead of the army, and the FBI, and the D.C. Metro police, and four unidentified thugs.

Combining an intricate puzzle of a plot and an exciting chase for truth and justice, Lee Child puts Reacher through his paces—and makes him question who he is, what he’s done, and the very future of his untethered life on the open road.

©2013 Lee Child (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Child is a superb craftsman of suspense." (Entertainment Weekly)

“A breathless cross-country spree . . . some of the best, wiliest writing [Lee] Child has ever done . . . Child’s bodacious action hero, Jack Reacher, has already tramped through 17 novels and three e-book singles. But his latest, Never Go Back, may be the best desert island reading in the series. It’s exceptionally well plotted. And full of wild surprises. And wise about Reacher’s peculiar nature. And positively Bunyanesque in its admiring contributions to Reacher lore.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“An adrenaline-charged, action-packed thriller . . . impossible to put down.” (Lansing State Journal)

So glad Reacher's back!

I must say, I never knew how much I missed Reacher. I was outraged to see "the great pretender" portray my 6'4" blonde and blue-eyed hero on the movie trailers. Having listened to every story and loving every minute of everyone, I was literary-ly starving for the real deal. Child delivered. Thank God!

Lee Child delivers. First rate Jack Reacher.

Where does Never Go Back rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Somewhere in the middle of the pack. Reacher is getting too old for this: jet setting across the country kicking butt. When the author hints Reacher has a daughter he never met, it got more interesting but Lee Child suffers writer's let down and Reacher goes back to being Reacher. Even his woman gets tired of him. Are we getting tired of him too?

What did you like best about this story?

Reacher searching for his possible long lost daughter was pretty fascinating.

What does Dick Hill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Dick Hill has the voice of Reacher. This is a first rate reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The conversation Reacher has with his teenage daughter.

Any additional comments?

Read them all in order so you have some semblance of who Jack Reacher is. Some of you will get bored with it but Never Go Back is formula Reacher.

Great story line.

intense from the first chapter and steady throughout. Very enjoyable read. Jack Reacher at his finest.

excellent book.

not the usual reacher book. it has some excellent twists and turns and of course as many subtle nuances.

Lee Child enthralling story teller!!

Loved to get lost in the book best thing is when you can't get out of the car, even though you're home, just to keep listening! Love love love Lee Child and Jack Reacher = )

Reacher is king!

He's the baddest man on paper! Lee Child is the man! I almost read the books from front to back without stopping! Very hard to put down!

Never Go Back

For Jack Reacher fans, this was a satisfying resolution to the Major Susan Turner phone romance story line. Full of the typical Jack Reacher get-your-hits-in-first action, with the add-in possibility of Reacher being a daddy to a resourceful, pedantic 14 year old.

A typical Jack Reacher

What made the experience of listening to Never Go Back the most enjoyable?

I enjoy the reader Dick Hill. The story was a typical Jack Reacher, which is no more and no less than I expected.

May be the best one yet!

From the opening words to the final scene, the story was flawless. Not too many "silly" coincidences, but a few for good humor. Not too unlikely a scenario, but enough to make it riveting. I especially loved the first "escape" scenario -- a bit out there, but not for Reacher. As usual there is a good measure of but just enough philosophy, sociology, child psychology and scientific fact. The romancing was maybe a bit light, its power being in afterthoughts and not in present/action. Would have liked a bit more eroticism; seemed like a "task" to get done and over with the first time; the second time being described in retrospect, passively and without ardor.

The plot: Loved, loved, loved the Claughtons, believable, funny and a little caricatured. Believable except for the 1 vs. 8 "honor among thieves" episode.

My favorite parts were in Reacher's musings on Sam Dayton, the way phrases goaded him forward, and in his recountings of his childhood, the way phrases explained his particular kind of thinking.

If there is a weak point, and this is probably only my problem, it is the ending. The end was good in that it tied up and explained everything. But the all-around forgiveness was hard to accept. I DID like the way Jack and Susan ended the book. Logical, predictable, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. God forbid there would be commitment.

The book began and ended with Reacher as he is: affected but not altered by his recent episode and encounters. It was good to watch him "feel" for another person. His feelings went well beyond righting wrongs. It went to his core. If the Samantha Dayton story had worked out differently, we would have had a kinder, gentler Reacher, who might have begun building picket fences.

Instead, I wait for the next one, and a year is entirely too long.

Good book

It was a good book, the narrator did a good job. But unfortunately the ending came quick and left you wanting more.