Worth Dying For by Lee Child
Review of the novel Worth Dying For by Lee Child
Published by Bantam Books on 30 September 2010
Cost: £7.99 (UK)
ISBN: 978-0-553-82548-0 (Paperback Edition - 511 pages - starts on page 11)
Dedication: For Ruth my daughter
I saw a sale of Jack Reacher books recently and bought four, which were missing from my collection. The problem was which one to review. Although the series is all about Jack Reacher, they are not all the same, as we learn something new about the character in every novel.
Worth Dying For is the fifteenth book in the series of twenty-two to date, however, there is a short story collection called No Middle Name.
Just in case you don’t already know about Jack Reacher I ought to explain a little about his background.
Brought up in a USA Military Family, he spent much of his youth travelling the world living in military accommodation. It was almost inevitable he would have a career in the army. He rises to the rank of Major, earning a number of medals for outstanding bravery and conduct, finally becoming the commanding officer of the (fictional) 110th Military Police Squadron. When the military began restructuring and reducing numbers Reacher decides he doesn’t like the future as he sees it, and he retires himself out of the military. He finds the thought of settling down in one place unbearable so he becomes a drifter, travelling around the USA staying in motels for one or two nights at a time, travelling by long-distance coach or hitching rides to his next destination. His only luggage is a folding toothbrush – frequently opting to purchase new clothes rather than wash his current ones.
This story picks up where the last one, 61 hours, finished. Reacher is travelling to Virginia to meet Major Susan Turner, the current commanding officer of his old unit. On route, he stops off at a motel in Nebraska. It’s not crucial to the story but it might be of interest to give a little insight to Nebraska. It lies in The Great Plains in the Midwestern United States, an area of just over 77,220 square miles. Composed of two major land regions: The Dissected Till Plains is a region of gently rolling hills and The Great Plains occupy most of western Nebraska, characterised by a treeless prairie.
On page twelve there is a good description of Jack Reacher:
‘Connections?’
‘None at all, that we can see. He won’t be missed. He’s a drifter. Like a hobo. He blew in like a tumbleweed. Now he needs to blow out again.’
Description?’
‘He’s a big guy,’ the voice said. ‘Six-five at least, probably two-fifty. Last seen wearing a big old brown parker and a wool cap. He moves funny like he’s stiff. Like he’s hurting.’
Reacher has walked into a town ruled by the Duncans. A family of three older brothers and Seth, the son of one of the three who lives nearby with his wife.
At the bar of the motel, Reacher askes for a coffee, he’s not a beer drinker, preferring to survive on coffee and can tell what makes a good cup. When the phone on the shelf behind the bar rings it’s for the local doctor, requesting that he calls on one of his patients. However, he’s too drunk to drive and Reacher insists that he will drive the doctor to his patient. And so, the story of the Duncan family unfolds.
Eleanor Duncan has a broken nose, having been struck by her husband Seth. It seems that it’s a regular occurrence. Reacher decides to go and look for the husband and discuss his behaviour. After driving the doctor home, he takes off in the car but has no idea where to find the steakhouse and Seth Duncan. In typical Jack Reacher fashion, he reviews the situation.
Reacher killed the headlights and climbed out of the Subaru and grabbed one of the roof rails and stepping on the hood and then crouched and eased himself up on the roof. He stood tall, his eye line eleven feet above the grade in a flat part of the world. He turned full 360 and peered into the darkness. Saw the ghostly blue glow of the motel far off to the north, and then a distant pink halo maybe ten miles south and west. Maybe just a gas station, but it was the only other light to be seen. So Reacher drove south and then west.
This is typical Reacher, he uses his instinct to solve what appears impossible problems. It is the police investigative side of Jack Reacher that wants to put right the wrongs of stories that he comes across on his travels. At the heart of his actions is the loyalty to the 110th Military Police Squadron, and although not stated in the book, the USA ‘oath of allegiance’.
As you can imagine, Jack Reacher finds himself in a number of fights, some he instigates himself and others when he responds to an attack on him. This time he goes searching for Seth Duncan and lets him know his behaviour is unacceptable where women are concerned.
The next action is the heart of the story. Reacher meets Dorothy Coe, a maid at the motel. She reveals that the Duncans drove her into poverty many years ago after she accused them of kidnapping her daughter, which led to her husband committing suicide. Moved by the story, Reacher borrows Seth Duncan’s car and decides to investigate a little further into the disappearance of the daughter. Gaining access to the local police investigation files, he finds that the Duncans have been cleared of all charges after an investigation by a federal agency. The question left unanswered is whether the investigation was a coverup? So, taken by the passionate feeling that there is an aspect to the story that has not been told, Reacher decides to reopen the investigation of the missing child.
At this point in the story, a chain of gangsters gets involved, chasing a delayed delivery by the Duncan’s haulage firm. However, they prove to be incompetent and although they agree to work together they end up killing each other and help Reacher eliminate his potential killers.
Returning the borrowed car, Reacher reflects on the situation while talking to the doctor and his wife. The wife asks:
‘So what kind of gangs are they?
‘The usual kind. The kind that makes big money out of something illegal.’
‘What kind of something?’
‘I don’t know. But it’s not gambling debt. It’s not something theoretical on paper. It’s something real. Something physical. With weight, and dimensions. It has to be. That’s what the Duncans do. They run a transportation company. So they’re trucking something in, and it’s getting passed along from A to B to C to D.’
‘Drugs?’
‘I don’t think so. You don’t need to truck drugs south to Vegas. You can get them direct from Mexico or South America. Or California.’
It’s then that Reacher has an idea triggered by his review of the police investigation. Twenty-five years ago, the detective neglected to search somewhere. Reacher discovers that fifty years ago, two local farms were purchased for a development that never happened. The outbuildings of one of them are still there way out in a field - a barn, and a smaller shed. Reacher goes to investigate.
With 80 pages to go, the story begins to reach a climax and clarifies the missing pieces and explains what has been happening in the small town for the past 50 years.
Reacher explains to the terrified doctor:
‘Don’t worry, doctor. There won’t be any comebacks. Never again. This is the last day. Tomorrow you’ll be living like normal people.
Reacher reveals to the terrified town folk that have helped him solve the crime, what has been happening in their town that has been ruled and controlled by the Duncans for so many years. He sets a trap for the Duncans as they feel secure in their own homes - all very near to each other - and one by one eliminates them from the tale. It’s all over. The town can start again on a new trail and the people can begin to live their lives again without the fear and the horrors that have terrorised them for so long.
You will either love or hate the Jack Reacher stores, but I find that once I’ve started them I can’t put them down. I have read some of the novels in my collection four times. They are fast moving and captivating. OK, they do contain violence, but it is handled well by Lee Child, and it’s not needless violence, it only happens when Jack Reacher wants to get out of trouble and frequently he gives his opponent a chance to back away. Although the stories can be read out of sequence, the reader will have to bear in mind that there is a slight link to the previous story, which explains why Jack Reacher is where he finds himself. Rating: 5 stars.
Dr Sheppard
09 April 20182018
