Without Fail (Jack Reacher, No. 6) Reviews

• Lee Child At His Best

  
  By A2LGACKSC0MALY on 2002-05-09
  Some people want Vice President-elect, Brook Armstrong dead. They tried to kill him in September. They had the silencer on the gun and the perfect location but the bullet missed. No one in the crowd heard the gun shot. Armstrong's hair stirred as the bullet moved past him but he thought it was nothing more than the wind. The attempt was a failure and no one noticed. They would try again. Soon. ...

  So begins Lee Child's newest and best book to date, WITHOUT FAIL. ...This is the sixth in the series.

  WITHOUT FAIL takes the readers behind the scenes of the Secret Service and shows us how they react to situations, why they do what they do to protect the people they're hired to protect, and we also get to see the measures they go through to do their job successfully.

  Lee Child's books get better and better with each addition to the series. WITHOUT FAIL is a real page-turner with plenty of excitement all through it. Child has not only made a detailed study of his character, but he has delved into the workings of the military and government. Yes, on occasion Reacher and Neagley sometimes seem to have superhuman powers, but the readers will willingly forgive those moments to cheer on the heroes of this story.

  This new fast paced novel not only keeps you on your toes trying to figure out who wants to kill the Vice President-elect but also keeps you wondering why. Child gives us the answers to the questions as the book progresses. We start to understand how personal childhood experiences control our actions as adults.

  In WITHOUT FAIL, Child has written a wonderfully thrilling story. I highly recommend this well written book.
  
  

• Not a failure!

  
  By A3KLO0I1O94HQS on 2002-05-30
  Without fail is the latest installment of the Jack Reacher series, and I can honestly tell you that Lee Child keeps on getting better and better.

  An unusual proposal (how would you like to assasinate a Vice President?) leads to a page turning thriller with intelligent and sometimes unexpected twists and turns.

  You don't need the background from previous novels (L. Child neatly sums everything up in few sentences), but I can only recommend that you read 'em all up.

  More, please!
  
  

• A COMPLEX THRILLER SURE TO PLEASE

  
  By A3M174IC0VXOS2 on 2002-05-27
  England born, New York based thriller writer Lee Child has made an impact on his chosen genre with his first five novels. Much of the acclaim he has received is undoubtedly due to the creation of his memorable protagonist, Jack Reacher. Jack is a cool, canny and collected former military cop who needs all his skills and know-how in "Without Fail."

  A female Secret Service agent comes to Reacher with an astounding request: "I want to hire you to assassinate the Vice President of the United States." According to her this is the only way to test the security system she has in place to protect the newly elected V.P.

  When she makes this request, she does leave out one significant detail: a team of accomplished killers have already drawn a bead on the Vice President. They, of course, are not aware of Reacher's involvement.

  Child has spun a complex, unsettling thriller that will satisfy the most ardent suspense fiction fan.

  - Gail Cooke
  
  

• The Day of Jack Reacher

  
  By A1SKNS2DGG46XM on 2004-09-11
  While Frederick Forsyth's "The Day of the Jackal" is the classic assassination thriller, Lee Child hits another home run with "Without Fail", a page turner with all the technical accuracy of `Jackal" and the extra dose of adrenaline one would expect from Lee Child. Child's hulking loner Jack Reacher certainly has the mind of an assassin, and in "Without Fail", he is contracted by Secret Service agent M.E. Froelich to audit the security for the Vice President of the United States, the target of a threatened assassination. Froelich happens to be the former lover of Reacher's older brother, Joe, the former Treasury Department agent killed in action years before. What follows is an extremely credible portrayal of the US Secret Service and the challenges they face in protecting the holders of our highest public offices. As with all Child/Reacher novels, this one is well researched rich in detail. But just as the detail begins to hint at tedium, Child metes out another measure of plot twist, keeping the reader anxiously waiting for the next installment. Lee Child is a true student of pace, understanding the fine balance between plot development and action. Reacher's no-nonsense perspective on justice, crime and punishment is faithfully intact, but in "Without Fail", we meet Reacher's female equivalent, the formidable and lethal Frances Neagley, an ex-Army buddy of Reacher's. Like Child's hero, this is an austere, blunt, and powerful novel, ultimately predictable but never disappointing along the way. Entertainment in print simply does not get much better than this.
  
  

• at the top of the year�s political thrillers

  
  By AFVQZQ8PW0L on 2002-05-13
  In charge of providing secret service protection to Vice President elect Brook Armstrong, M.E. Froelich worries about keeping the former North Dakota senator safe. She remembers a discussion with her deceased mentor and lover Joe Reacher that the best way to do a security audit is to use an outsider. She traces Joe's brother Jack, who has no paper trail, through a bank transaction in Atlantic City. M.E. hires Jack to "assassinate" the vice president.

  When several days pass with no attempts by Jack, M.E. figures he did not try until he suddenly contacts her. Jack and his cohort Frances Neagley prove to M.E. that they had three definite hits on the VP if they chose to really kill him. M.E. invites Jack and Frances to meet her boss, Stuyvesant as the mock security audit was more than a test as the newly elected Veep has received threats. The Secret Service hires them to uncover if the threats are genuine and to help prevent the killing of the vice president.

  Jack Reacher is already a great protagonist, but his latest appearance, WITHOUT FAIL, is his strongest adventure yet because he stays in character yet works inside a great political thriller that reaches into the highest levels of DC. Though the story line is loaded with action, the key cast members are fully developed so that new readers know Jack and long term fans appreciate Frances and M.E. Readers will demand more tales of Jack and Frances perhaps in her own series while placing Lee Child's novel at the top of the year's political thrillers.

  Harriet Klausner
  
  

• Another breathtaking ride with Reacher
  By A29IYGR7SNPRIV on 2002-07-07
  So far, author Child has yet to deliver anything less than a riveting book. Without Fail gives us Reacher in the ultimate urban setting: the heart of the Secret Service in DC. What would, in less capable hands, have been a deadly dull tale of a highly experienced outsider brought in to help the woman in charge of the detail protecting the vice president-elect is, in Child's hands, a fascinating study of how seemingly innocuous pieces of evidence lead from point to point until the reason behind the threats and assassination attempts is revealed.

  Writing in the spare, tight prose that has become synonymous with Reacher's character--this man who owns almost nothing, lives anywhere, but is not emotionally unencumbered--the plot builds in pitch until it hits a crescendo, literally in the middle of nowhere. Reacher and his associate, Frances Neagley, (former military associate he has called upon for assistance on this job) work together like the proverbial well-oiled machine, and it is pure pleasure to witness how they think, how they deduce, how they calculate odds, risks, plans of action.

  The author allows the behavior of the primary characters to reveal their inner lives, rather than wasting precious narrative time (and flow) on attempts to explain them from the outside-in. Final words, a half-written letter, the touch of one hand on another all have great import as a result.

  This is a fine book. Most highly recommended.
  
  

• THIS IS THE BEST IN THE "JACK REACHER" SERIES!!
  By A3KXV8AFQ550DY on 2002-09-10
  When Lee Child wrote the KILLING FLOOR several years ago, I new that his first novel was so well written that it was going to be a difficult book to surpass. Though I continued to buy his novels in hardcover whenever they came out, I found myself more disappointed than amazed at their quality. ECHO BURNING won me back over and made me eager for the next one in the series. I'm extremely happy to say that Mr. Child's newest novel, WITHOUT FAIL, is the best in the "Jack Reacher" series. Not only did the author manage to grab my attention in the first chapter, he kept me anxiously reading during a day-and-a-half period of time while I was at the bus stop, during my breaks at work, and into the wee hours of the morning at home as sleep beckoned me. I finished the book with a big, silly grin on my face, saying a silent "thank you" to Mr. Child for writing such an excellent novel and for providing so much fun. WITHOUT FAIL brings Jack Reacher back as a private consultant to the United States Secret Service. A serious threat has been made against the newly elected Vice President, and the head of his protection detail, M.E. Froelich, believes that there's a possibility the threat is coming from inside the Service. She uses her previous relationship with Jack's late brother, Joe, as a lure to get our ex-military policeman to help her investigate the threat and hopefully to prevent the Vice President from being assassinated. Jack, knowing that two heads are better than one, calls in his own Army friend, Frances Neagley, to assist him in tracking down the potential killers and to watch his back. Together, they quickly begin to find flaws in the protection detail around the Vice President and realize that there's no way they can actually stop someone from killing the government official. Their only course of action is to anticipate the moves of the would-be assassins and to attack first. What Jack doesn't anticipate, however, is that he will fall in love with his dead brother's former girlfriend, which only adds to the problems he has to solve before the bodies start piling up. Though WITHOUT FAIL is low on action, the story line more than makes up for it with its multi-layers of suspense that keeps the reader speculating as to whether or not the threat to the Vice President is coming from within or outside of the Secret Service. We also learn more about Jack's brother, Joe, and their relationship with each other. Jack comes alive in ways that make him seem more human and gives us a greater understanding of why he's such a loner. With an inside look at how difficult it is for the Secret Service to protect a politician, WITHOUT FAIL delivers in every way, leading us to an ending that will satisfy even the harshest of critics. If you enjoyed the other "Jack Reacher" novels, then you're going to love the newest edition to the series.
  
  
• Is Jack becoming a social animal?
  By A2DSXA1E02C86D on 2003-04-29
  I'm attracted to Lee Child's novels because of the hardboiled and self-contained nature of his hero, Jack Reacher. After almost two decades as a military cop in the U.S. Army, Jack now wanders the U.S. with only the clothes on his back - no car, no charge cards - and a penchant for crossing paths with assorted villains. Very soon, the reader begins to feel sorry for the Bad Guys.

  Reacher is so unpolished that one sometimes wonders how he reached officer grade O-4 (Major), which would imply managing a wardrobe, knotting a tie, and displaying minimal social skills in the officers' mess and at the CO's annual Christmas party. It's not that Jack is a Neanderthal; he just doesn't care to run with the rest of the lemmings anymore.

  In WITHOUT FAIL, M.E. Froelich, who heads the Secret Service protection detail for the newly elected Vice President, Brook Armstrong, hires Reacher to audit the security of the new Veep's protective screen. Froelich is also the ex-girlfriend of Jack's dead brother. After finding holes through which a potential assassin could drive a monster SUV, Reacher learns why the Service really wants his help. The VP is receiving credible death threats. And it may be an inside job.

  I would've awarded WITHOUT FAIL at least one more star had it not been a Jack Reacher adventure. But it is, and here our prickly protagonist has to play well with others: Froelich, her boss Stuyvesant, FBI guy Bannon, and a colleague from Reacher's old Army days, ex-Sergeant Frances Neagley. Reacher's talent for punitive violence is severely curtailed compared to past episodes, revealing itself only at the very beginning and the very end. In between, Jack is reduced to being a consultant, even to the point of wearing a suit. Say it ain't so, Lee!

  The most interesting character is Neagley, now employed by a civilian security firm. She's ostensibly more deadly at physical combat than Reacher himself, and he admits to being afraid of her skills. So, the reader waits, hoping she'll unleash some mayhem. In the meantime, we learn that Frances, while being a little in love with her old military boss, has a severe dislike of being touched due to some unspecified trauma in her past. Unfortunately, Neagley remains mostly a cipher, and the entertainment value of her character is left pretty much unexploited. Perhaps she'll appear in a future Reacher novel. Better still, the author should give her a series of her own.

  I hope the next Reacher thriller is JACK IS BACK. With a vengeance.
  
  

• Reacher again leaves me wanting more...
  By A3R19YKNL641X3 on 2005-11-25
  I had been reading all of the Lee Child novels in order, but then I got one in the Jack Reacher series out of order at the library. Rather than wait for the other one to come in, I decided to plow on. This time it's Without Fail. Fortunately, there was no carry-on from the previous novel (that I haven't yet read), so I was able to fully enjoy another one by Child.
  
  This time, Jack Reacher is drifting up the east coast helping a couple of jazz entertainers he's taken a liking to. While in New Jersey, he's tracked down by a member of the Secret Service designated to protect the Vice President-elect. She knew Jack's brother (*real* well), and thought that hiring Jack to do an assessment on their protective security would be a good idea. In less than a week, he proves he could have killed the VP-elect three times between him and a partner he brought in. Then he finds out the real reason behind the request. Someone's sending threatening letters to the politician, and they really don't know who it is nor do they have any decent leads. He's talked into staying on the case, and during the investigation it becomes personal. Which, of course, leads to the inevitable collision course between Jack and the "other parties"...
  
  As with the rest of his books, I have a really hard time finding fault with anything. Without Fail is a fun read, and there's no clear-cut answers as to who is involved until you get towards the end. Jack's minimalist approach to life is still entertaining, and so far there is nothing to indicate that I want to slow down my pace of reading his novels. Another really good read, and I'm already looking forward to catching up with the missed novel when I get back from vacation.
  
  
• This Book Sucks
  By on 2002-05-29
  This is the last Lee Child book I buy in hardcover. His main character has dialog that makes Star Wars look like Citizen Kane. The plausibility of the plot is near zero. After Killing Floor (truly an amazing novel), all of Lee Child's books have been a disappointment - and not in a relative sense. Avoid this.
  
  
• One Thumb Up (you'll get it after you read the book)
  By ATL0PVRJAUR9L on 2002-06-09
  I've read all of the Reacher books and I have to say I put this one up toward the top. I tend to agree with the negative review that The Killing Floor was the most compelling, but Child did that one as a first person narration by Reacher, which makes it almost a different book than the rest of the series. Very interesting that he started the series that way, then switched with Die Trying (of course, Randy Wayne White did just the opposite with his Doc Ford series). In both cases I kinda wish they'd stayed with the original plan.

  My biggest disappointment with Without Fail was the motivation of the assassins, when finally revealed. And it could have been the timing of the revelation (late in the book) that caused that--established from the get-go I think it would have been more plausible or at least more acceptable. Overall I thought Child did a comparatively better job with levelness of characterization here (is it really valid to talk about character development in a thriller?). Again, the weakest point is with the assassins. Neagley is certainly an interesting creation and Child is missing a good bet if she doesn't turn up again in the future. The plot, too (with a healthy dose of "suspension of disbelief"-right the Secret Service is going to hire some wild man to give them a security audit and when things really get bad the F.B.I. and S.S will happily join arms and skip along to the same tune; wouldn't it be nice?), to me seemed at least on par with and perhaps a bit above Child's other books.

  The only other complaint I really have is that sometimes Child lets his red herrings lay out in the sun too long and tries to string the reader on a bit too far. But hey folks, we're not talking great literature here-we're talking entertainment and this one certainly did that for me.
  
  

• Lee Child is dependable
  By A1DPCXO7RDZM0S on 2002-06-12
  The Jack Reacher novels are one of the best series going right now. The hero is just on the edge of superhuman, but he has the down-to-earth blandness of Clark Kent. A drifter, he is rootless, and yet he has a rich, fascinating history. There isn't a bad Reacher novel (*Echo Burning* is a personal favorite), and *Without Fail* is one of the good ones.

  Given Amazon's breathless terror of "spoilers," I won't bother with plot details. Check out the editorial reviews for that. I will say that Child does three things here that make this novel memorable. First, he creates a complex thriller plot worthy of the Clancy/Ludlum crowd. Second, he gives Reacher a love interest with great and intriguing psychological complexity and then resolves it in a way that is cruel and true. Third, he provides a thread to the personal side of Reacher's story that has potential to take the character into some new emotional territory.

  Vague enough for ya? Read this book.
  
  

• Jack Reacher is back and he's better than ever.
  By AC1K4OQOZ90RS on 2002-07-14
  Lee Child's latest novel, "Without Fail," is a top-notch action-adventure novel that will delight Lee Child's established fans and earn him some new ones. "Without Fail" features Jack Reacher, the formidable ex-military man who answers to no one but himself. Reacher can be deadly or compassionate and a more appealing mythic hero would be hard to find.

  This time around, M. E. Froelich asks Jack to help her protect the Vice President elect of the United States, Brook Armstrong. Froelich is in charge of the Secret Service detail that is assigned to keep Armstrong safe as he travels around the country. Of late, Armstrong has received a series of threatening letters from an anonymous source. Froelich was in love with Jack's late brother, Joe Reacher, who died tragically in the line of duty, and she knows that Jack is a terrific investigator with a sharp mind and unerring instincts. Froelich wants to be certain that there are no gaps in the security that she is providing for Armstrong and she believes that Reacher is the man who can help her. He agrees and he brings on board a former military associate, a woman named Frances Neagley, who is now a security consultant in Chicago. Neagley is as well trained and as sharp as Jack himself, and she and Jack make a great team.

  Reacher and Neagley put their heads together to answer some tough questions. Who is threatening Brook Armstrong and why? Does someone have a personal vendetta against the Vice President elect? Or is the perpetrator a disgruntled individual who has a grudge against the Secret Service or perhaps against Froelich herself? Reacher and Neagley call upon all of their considerable investigative resources as they consult with representatives of both the Secret Service and the FBI to track down the killer or killers before they carry out their threats. During the investigation, Froelich and Reacher find that they are attracted to one another. This adds another complication to an already tense situation.

  Child's novel is fast-paced and entertaining. As always, his details about firearms and investigative procedure add authenticity and background color to the plot. The characters are all finely drawn, and Reacher has never been so commanding and astute as he is in "Without Fail." The denouement of the book is both surprising and unpredictable. In every way, "Without Fail" delivers the goods. It is an action-packed thriller that will have you turning pages quickly to see how the situation will play out. If you are not yet a fan of Jack Reacher and Lee Child, don?t be surprised if you soon join the ranks of those who are.
  
  

• Superb!
  By A1TWTULVD6F22O on 2002-08-26
  Lee Child gets back on track with his hero, Jack Reacher.

  After being disappointed in Running Blind and Echo Burning, I'd hoped that Child would return to the form of his first three Reacher novels, and he did!

  Although it seems as though there are some readers that didn't appreciate the story, I found it to be exciting, fast-paced, and novel. Reacher is acting as a consultant to the Secret Service, drawn in by his dead brother's former paramour, M.E. Froelich.

  There's good interaction and character development between Reacher & M.E., (not much in the way of other characters, though) and the plot builds to an exciting climax. I'm glad to see that Child has Reacher back "on the road".... and look forward to more in the series. Loved it!
  
  

• Violates the basic rule of mysteries
  By on 2003-01-20
  NOTE - SPOILERS AHEAD. I am stunned that no other reviewer has mentioned the fundamental flaw of this book. This is a mystery - who is trying to kill the vice-president? Like any good mystery it invites the reader to sleuth along with the investigators. The reader rightly expects that the bad guy is a character in the book; the question is, which one? But in this book, the bad guys are not characters in the book, they simply drop from the heavens once the story is 90 percent finished, leaving the reader feeling fundamentally cheated. I found this doubly disappointing because I had thought that Child understood this rule - Tripwire, for example, was a near to a perfect mystery as I have read. It leaves the reader with the sense that all of the clues were there, and had he just thought about them harder, he could have solved this, too. It is too bad, because Jack Reacher is indeed a great, escapist fiction character, and Child has a flair for research, economical writing and complex plotting. But one more book like this and I will give up on this series!
  
  
• Jack is back!
  By A3OJAWIMUKNHTP on 2003-05-18
  With each Jack Reacher adventure, Lee Child allows us to learn a little more about this elusive all-American hero, filling in the details of man of few words, unselfconscious competence & a contentment wherein he finds himself, wherever that may be.

  In this genre, happy heroes are far & few between. Don't get me wrong, Jack Reacher is no comedian nor a fatuous fellow! It's just that the things that bother everyone else don't bother him...no baggage, no guilt, no regrets. Perfect spook material.

  In WITHOUT FAIL, Jack joins the team protecting the Vice President-elect, ostensibly as an advisor. Except he's recruited to do something quite different. He calls on his old military co-worker, the beautiful & deadly Frances Neagley, to cover his back.

  When Jack learns about the threatening letters, everything changes. Not soon enough, he sees how the security tapes are lying, & that likely suspects are totally innocent. Too soon two men, resembling the Veep in remarkable details, are killed & a compelling chase from the Beltway into the Wild West, ricochets like a bullet from a silenced rifle.

  Top notch reading with a little love, lots of insights, & loads of action.
  
  

• Not A Failure: A Great Thriller!
  By A2F6SZLKG0TOJ7 on 2003-08-28
  The Secret Service classifies serious threats of assassination in two ways. They are separated into those assassins that want to commit the assassination and get away as compared to those that want to commit the assassination and are perfectly willing to die for it in the process. In either case, the Secret Service knows that if the assassin really wants to do it, then they can't be realistically stopped. M. E. Froelich knows this and she also knows that the Secret Service has never lost a Vice President. As team leader, guarding the newly elected Vice President Armstrong, she does not want to be the first. She has a plan and her boss has given the unprecedented okay to bring in outsiders.

  "'I want to hire you for something," she said. "On a kind of posthumous recommendation from Joe. Because of what he used to say about you. He
  talked about you, from time to time."
  Reacher nodded. "Hire me for what?"
  Froelich paused again and came up with a tentative smile.
  "I've rehearsed this line," she said. "Couple of times."
  "So let me hear it."
  "I want you to assassinate the Vice President of the United States.'"

  Actually, what she really wants is for him to use his military training and other skills and tell her if he could successfully get to Armstrong. By using the memory of his dead brother (who she worked with and was a lover) who at least on level was trying to emulate him as well as the fact that Reacher finds the exercise interesting, she gets him to agree to the attempt with specific goals and recommendations in mind for improvement. Reacher brings in Neagle with whom he has worked with before (see other novels in this series) and together they identify some manageable weaknesses in the plan.

  Reacher explains the problems to the Froelich and then pushes her for the real reason he was brought in as the Service would never bring in outsiders unless they were very concerned. As it turns out, there is a credible threat against Armstrong's life. It is serious and seems to be coming from either a current or former agent of the Secret Service. Since almost everyone is under suspicion, Reacher and Neagle are asked to identify the threat and stop him or her while Froelich continues to coordinate her team's protection of the Vice President. Reacher and Neagle begin to chase the assassins across country and back again while Armstrong's life hangs in the balance until a fateful showdown in the snow in Wyoming.

  As a parent of school age children, there are not that many books anymore that keep me up past midnight reading. Quite frankly, there aren't that many that can keep me up past ten anymore for that matter. However, this one did it and was thriller in every sense of the word. While it does not plow any new ground really in the Jack Reacher character development, we learn a few new things that reinforce the way he is while at the same time, having a heck of good twisting story to read. This novel has plenty of action and the last 50 pages are very good as Reacher takes care of business his way.

  This novel is the sixth in the series featuring Jack Reacher. While this one, more than the others could be read as a stand alone, I would recommend otherwise. A few things are covered briefly in this novel that might diminish the reading pleasure of some of the other novels in the series. The first novel of the series is Killing Floor...This is one author definitely worth reading.
  
  

• More Neagley please
  By A2MUZOG2NNUBUB on 2006-01-28
  There are, perhaps justifiably, a number of negative reviews about this book, which having read PRIOR to reading the book, put me off a little. Some of the reviews pointed out things that would, definitely, have reduced the enjoyment for me, so I read the book with a little more doubt in my mind than normal.
  
  Suffice to say that the "clunkers", boring bits, and worse still, preposterous story lines did not really materialize at all! As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. Not quite so much as others, I will admit, because there was perhaps a little less action than previous stories, but there was a lot to commend this book.
  
  I remember reading an Amazon review about "Killing Floor" which said that the book was unbelievable because the FBI, CIA, Secret Service etc would have descended to intervene. Here we have a much more wide ranging story that does not concentrate PURELY on Reacher, and brings in other characters and agencies. Lee Childs is criticised for that too. He cannot win, but nevertheless, produces an interesting and thought provoking read.
  
  The things I gauge thriller fiction on is a) it should be exciting. b) it should have good characters (and Neagley is a great addition; I gather she is making a return this spring, in the latest adventure ), c) you should want to finish it within 24 hours and d) each story ( in a series ) should not be a carbon copy of the last one
  
  On each count this book fairs well
  
  It depresses me when I read reviews that pick out minor points and makes them big negatives, such as the 2 hour delay by the guy who wanted to finish his family meal, because it makes it sound like it was an important issue... it was a NOTHING, throw away one line ...
  
  I also dispute the review that said this was a mystery. If every Jack Reacher novel is to do with fellow FBI or CIA agents gone bad, then I will stop reading now. Thriller does NOT equate to mystery ....Not all baddies are known all along .. that WOULD be ridiculous.
  
  This is a Jack Reacher book. I am sure most readers (if I can speak for that many people !) want the next instalment of the life and times of Jack Reacher, and any small issue of "unlikelihood" is not going to affect the overall story, nor in my opinion, is Lee Child the sort of author who would allow such a thing to spoil one of his books.
  
  The reasons for wanting to kill the VP ? I have heard of a number of massacres both sides of the Atlantic for FAR less believable reasons, and when has assassinating someone EVER had truly rational motives ?
  
  The Ending? The reasons for Jacks actions might not have had a 100% ring of believability, but they WERE explained .... Take it or leave it
  
  Not his best, but no Jack Reacher fan should be put off
  
  
  
• Well Done Entry in the Reacher Series
  By A16QQ78I8J29PA on 2007-04-24
  WITHOUT FAIL is the eighth Jack Reacher book that I've read, and it's one of the better ones. In this novel, Mr. Reacher has been enlisted by the Secret Service to foil an assassination attempt against the vice-president. What results is a race against time against a brilliant assassin who will stop at nothing.
  
  Like most of the other Reacher books, this book is very intense and suspenseful. Author Child has also plainly done a lot of research into how the Secret Service operates and investigates possible threats. I found a lot of this material to be quite interesting. All in all, I found WITHOUT FAIL to be a solid, informative page turner.
  
  My major problem with this book is the ending, when the assassins and their motivations are revealed. I found the resolution of WITHOUT FAIL to be somewhat anti-climactic and disappointing. I was hoping for something bigger and better than what I ended up with.
  
  This is a good book by Child, but I would recommend KILLING FLOOR, ECHO BURNING, ONE SHOT, PERSUADER, and THE HARD WAY as better choices.
  
  
• Finally, a Great Reacher Novel
  By A1IL6W1NK05UW9 on 2003-05-19
  I really enjoy Reacher novels for the character and action but the plots tend to be farcical and sometimes even ludicrous which spoils the fun.

  Finally, here, we have a Reacher novel that has a nice, tight, believable plot.

  Reacher is contacted by the head of the Secret Service's security detail for the Vice-President to conduct an audit of the VP's security because of an assassination threat and security breach. (She also happens to be his dead brother's former lover). Reacher, along a with former Marine comrade, Frances Neagley, take on the job. And the ride begins, with a vengeance.

  Probably the best of the Reacher series.
  
  

• Pretty good but gun lore sadly lacking
  By on 2003-09-29
  I thought this was a pretty good adventure tale, which got better as it went along. My biggest beef is that the author really needs a firearms consultant. Numerous errors in this regard ruined the ending a bit for me. I can handle an author who thinks there are safeties on Glocks, but [SPOILER ALERT] guns that just go click instead of discharging for no reason, other than it's been sitting in a drawer for five years, and the hero expected that? I thought he was going to say he removed the firing pin, which would have been rude, but at least comprehensible. And supposed army veterans going into battle with their pockets full of loose rounds of ammunition? Ever heard of extra magazines?
  
  
• Great ... Until the End
  By A2MJJDW41VUQDD on 2005-09-23
  Reacher's deductions throughout the book portray him as smarter than a score of FBI and secret service agents. However, at the very end, Reacher makes uncharacteristically absurd plans. I'm not quite sure why; possibly just to add a bit of suspense, but I suspect it is because Childs wants Reacher to be able to talk to the bad guys.
  
  This ending reminded me of a reoccurring movie theme: A good guy is chasing after a bad guy all movie. Just when the good guy gets the bad guy cornered, instead of pulling the trigger, they start talking. Eventually, the bad guy either escapes or gets the upper hand. It always pisses me off.
  
  STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON"T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE ENDING. Reacher and partner know the "bad guys" are in a truck 150 yards away. He and his partner have rifles. They could easily sneak up on the bad guys and kill them. But noooooo. Childs has Reacher tell his partner that he doesn't want the bodies to be found until the winter is over. So his plan is to scare them away (by firing bullets over their truck), chase them across rough, snowy terrain, and then kill them when they are somewhere remote. I keep asking myself why the expert marksman does just put bullets in their heads, get in their truck, drive the bodies somewhere remote, and have his partner pick him up?
  
  
  
  
• Reacher Reaches the Insider's Place
  By A1K1JW1C5CUSUZ on 2005-10-21
  If you have read any of the Jack Reacher novels you know he's the ultimate outsider, someone who was an insider and now enjoys his freedom. In Without Fail, old ties bring him into contact with the Secret Service to protect the Vice President. Reacher finds himself tied down a bit too as his brother's ex-lover becomes attracted to the resemblances between them.
  
  The premise of this book is strong. Take someone who is tough and resourceful and have them probe for security weaknesses. Reacher is obviously perfect for that role.
  
  While focused on that premise, the book works well.
  
  But it turns out there's a real threat . . . and it's frightening! In the beginning, this premise also works well. But the premise eventually breaks down into a series of plot twists that left me feeling disappointed with who the baddies are and why they are after the Vice President.
  
  The book's ending is clearly the weakest part of the story. It's too bad. The book starts off quite strong.
  
  If you don't like to read books that end weakly, I suggest you read the next book in the series, Persuader, instead. It's a much more satisfying offering.
  
  
  
• Very little action, and other problems
  By A4MSAOOL01JMG on 2006-08-10
  You have to read about 180 pages of this book before any action starts. I was frankly bored by the entire book. Once the action starts, it's fairly contrived. Reacher is one of those very lucky or very unlucky "heros." And if you're one of those readers who like to try to figure out who is doing the dirty deeds, you can't. There are absolutely no clues you can use to determine the perpetrators.
  
  And who says the Secret Service doesn't act proactively? While this is one of the book's major premises, the history of the Service is filled with proactive activities to protect those who come under their care.
  
  I remember once when the President came to my hometown and spoke on the Statehouse steps. Office workers in nearby buildings used telescopes to get a better view. All of them were seen by Secret Service agents and men with guns visited them in one big hurry. Radios were used in abundance. And this was over thirty years ago. Do you think the Service has become more capable or less capable since then? If a single radio was used in this story, the perpetrators would have been caught about halfway through the book.
  
  When President Bush (the first one) wanted to walk across the Mackinac Bridge for the annual walk, they took over the entire hotel where he would be staying, and not because they needed the space. A list of others who would be in attendance during the walk and at the dinner the previous evening had to be vetted starting 6 weeks prior to his visit, including local police. They even kept the pitcher of ice tea that he would be drinking from in a locked box watched over by an agent (same with condiments). After spending a bazillion dollars up to and after the President's meal, the Prez graciously paid for his own meal, and left a nice tip. Big of him. So agents don't just show up a couple of hours or in one case in the book, a few minutes before the big event, and throw a cordon around him.
  
  I was also left with some unexplained questions at the end.
  
  So, it's dull, inaccurate, and an insult to those brave souls who protect our nation's leaders.
  
  
• Without Fail - succeeded!
  By A3J9R2KTIP2M50 on 2002-05-28
  These book was great! I could not put it down. Jack Reacher is my hero, the guy is unbeatable.
  His brother Joe's former girlfriend, who is Secret Service guarding the VP elect, seeks Reacher out to infiltrate her team to find holes in their security and does he ever!

  After the boring part about questioning the cleaning crew, this book takes off. Reacher and his friend Neagley are pros of the first order (how does Lee do it?). This time Lee is a little kinder to the FBI. The other reviews of this book are right on. Such a good read. So worth the $.
  
  

• Jack Reacher Returns "Without Fail"
  By AAF5PEMY7R49Y on 2002-06-05
  Jack Reacher, the ex-military cop who travels around the country without real estate taxes or luggage is back! Once again he saves the day without any real base of operations or a staff to call his own. He is just bigger than life and the best fantasy hero yet. Jack's brother, Joe, was a Treasury Dept employee who was murdered on the job. Joe's former girlfriend, M.E. Froelich, is the new head of the Secret Service Detail for the Vice President Elect Brook Armstrong. Froelich is concerned about assassination threats against Armstrong and remembers that Joe had once suggested the only way to check out how good their security was would be hire someone from the outside. Froelich locates Jack Reacher and the story takes off with the suspense as compeling as the previous Jack Reacher books. Jack, as usual, arrives on the job without a change of clothes, but this time he has his dead brother's old clothes to choose from as he begins a working relationship with Froelich that quickly turns into a personal one. The clothes selection lasts about as long as it take Reacher to solve the case. He calls in an old colleague from his military days who just happens to be available to consult on the case. It's farfetched; but it works and the book is a great read. Hopefully Reacher will continue wandering around the United States solving problems and being the central point of books to come.
  
  
• The best Reacher yet
  By A9LAPV8XNKZVZ on 2002-06-12
  This is a good one, placing our hero where you wouldn't expect him to be, behind scenes at the secret service. More a puzzle than an action episode, it is highly satisfying and will leave you wanting more.
  
  
• Welcome to the School of Suspense
  By A35DI28HRSEEP6 on 2002-06-18
  The ancients believed that writers should begin modestly and then work their way through the genres until they attained the skill to attempt the epic form. Lee Child started at the top and he's not coming down from the mountain.

  His books are marked by a very high and very even level of quality; each can be recommended with equal enthusiasm. He is also one of the hardest working writers in the game, chasing down elusive facts and playing out exotic threads of detail. Check out his riff on the U.S. constitution in WITHOUT FAIL (and the Holmesian homage as Jack explains its importance).

  And yes, he is an Englishman (from Cumbria), though his subjects, ethos, and protagonist are all American. Like Tim Willocks he is an Atlantic crime novelist, equally at home on either side of the water.

  For those who may be concerned: relax, they love him in the U.K. WITHOUT FAIL is disappearing from the shelves of British bookstores and Child is commanding major media attention in his homeland. He is big, big, big.
  
  

• NOT UP TO PAR
  By on 2002-06-25
  Lee Child caught my attention with Killing Floor. It is unusual to have a novel become a page-turning story in the first few paragraphs. Since then I have read all of his novels. I was surprised that WithoutFail took nearly 60 pages to even begin to catch my attention. It had it's times of suspense, but overall it wasn't up to par, and the plot was pretty lame. He is still an above-average author, but this book was a bit slow and full of too much detail.
  
  
• Much better than previous Jack Reacher novels
  By A1AP1JYMPZ0Y0J on 2003-04-22
  I started reading the Reacher novel series a couple of years ago. the first one was great, the next one pretty good. By the time I got to Tripwire, I couldn't finish the book. Like many series, the hero had gone from tough and uncommunicative to the ridiculous--a parody of himself. He was the world's toughest human, and the villain was the world's nastiest...well, you get the idea. This comes back to amuch more simple plot and simple premise. It has just the right amount of twists and turns to keep us interested, and I can read a chapter or two, put it down for a few days, pick it up again and follow the plot--not too complex. In addition, he doesn't get overly tangled in the Washington political web. It's a very engaging book and quite well written. Much better than most of this series.
  
  

• Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4)
• Persuader (Jack Reacher, No. 7)
• The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8)
• Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, No. 1)
• Tripwire (Jack Reacher, No. 3)