| Gone Tomorrow |  | Author: Lee Child
Publisher: Bantam Books
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
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Rating:  107 reviews
Sales Rank: 53
Media: Paperback
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0553824694
EAN: 9780553824698
ASIN: 0553824694
Publication Date: February 18, 2010 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Lee Child has steadily accrued one of the keenest groups of admirers for any contemporary thriller writer – and the reason is easy to discern. In such gritty and authoritative novels as Tripwire, Killing Floor and Die Trying, Child established his tough itinerant protagonist Jack Reacher as a key modern hero, with a taciturn, hard-boiled appeal that has not palled over many books (though some have queried Jack’s transformation from a man who triumphed -- with difficulty – over insuperable odds – into a nigh-invulnerable super-hero). But the narrative grasp of the author remains absolutely iron-clad, and there are the stunningly drawn American locales that are so notably impressive from an English author. In the latest outing for Jack Reacher, Gone Tomorrow, Child’s resourceful hero is travelling in New York City, observing his fellow passengers on the subway. He’s aware that suicide bombers are easy to spot – they’re usually nervous, and (as he wryly notes) by definition they're first-timers. As an ex-law enforcer, Jack notices that of his five fellow travellers, one is distinctly giving out the signals that spell danger. Grand Central Station is approaching – will Jack act and save lives – including his own? But⦠what if he's wrong? This high voltage situation is the arresting curtain opener here, and the tension is screwed tighter, as Jack Reacher is pitched against the one of the most challenging threats he has come up against. Gone Tomorrow has all the dynamism of Child’s earlier work; spruced-up, super-charged and showing no sign of age. --Barry Forshaw
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 107
 Lee Child is back in form April 15, 2009
Julia Flyte
71 out of 79 found this review helpful
The first and best news is that Lee Child is back in form with "Gone Tomorrow". While not the all time best Reacher novel that I have read, this is a more than satisfactory addition to the series. It involves some truly unpleasant villains, a politician with a deeply guarded secret, a missing son and plenty of tension. One thing I love but also find quite disconcerting when I'm reading a Reacher novel is the way that he deliberately seeks out and provokes the bad guys. It's so much the opposite of the way that I would behave that I find it quite nerve-wracking to read. And in this book, he does it a LOT.
It starts with Reacher on a New York subway in the small hours of the morning. He spots a woman, Susan Marks, whose behaviour meets every criteria for a suicide bomber. She's not. But she is a woman in trouble. Reacher can't help Susan, but he can't let the matter rest until he finds out what was behind her state of mind and finds the people who drove her to that point. Although at various times he recruits her brother and a friendly police officer as allies, essentially this is Reacher taking on the bad guys on his own.
The first half of the book is all set up and it's quite gradual. Reacher is a little slow off the mark: there are a couple of revelations that seemed pretty obvious to me, but which take some time to emerge. On the other hand, I wasn't sure for quite some time who the villains would turn out to be, which I enjoyed. In the second half, Reacher goes after the villains: this half is dead exciting and includes some of the most graphic descriptions of violence that I remember Lee Child writing.
There is one central implausibility: Reacher is told repeatedly that he'll be in deep trouble if he finds out a particular secret. But when he does find it out, suddenly it doesn't seem to matter that he knows. Child also leaves a couple of key plot elements unresolved. And the obligatory roll in the sack feels just that: out of place and only there because it's expected. However, at the end of the day these are just annoyances, not critical flaws.
Unusually, this book is written in the first person (as if Reacher is narrating): only three other Lee Child books have used this. It's not my preference given that Reacher is such an enigma, but it works fine. It's a great read: enjoy!
Excellent thriller: Reacher on form May 5, 2009
T. D. Welsh (Basingstoke, Hampshire UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Well, I've read all Lee Child's books so far, and this is the 13th Jack Reacher novel - but there's no trace of anything going wrong (except for the villains). Child is a real professional: it's far from easy to maintain a consistent level as a writer, still less a consistently high level. And thrillers are among the hardest of books to write. The Reacher books obviously follow a formula, and in some sense are almost a sub-genre of superhero comics, in that Reacher is seemingly invincible. Yet, book after book after book, Child pulls off the trick of managing to make us worry about him. Maybe this time his luck will run out, or he will overlook that one tiny fatal detail. I find it rather amusing the way Child gives Reacher a few small personal weaknesses to make him seem more human and appealing. He sometimes mentions that he is a very slow runner, but it is quite untrue that big muscular men run slowly, even if it takes them longer to get going. And how likely is that Reacher would still not have made himself familiar with computers and other electronic gadgetry? What that does, of course, is to strike a chord with those readers who feel at sea with electronic kit.
According to the blurb Child divides his time between France and New York, and it shows. His local knowledge and background colour are second to none, from knowing exactly which hotels are best for hiding in to the precise (and I do mean "precise") specifications of subway cars. (There was one thing I wasn't sure about: Reacher recognises some men as native New Yorkers by the way they look left when crossing a particular one-way street. But don't all Americans look left, as traffic usually keeps right?)
As usual, Reacher has an ambivalent relationship with the authorities, especially the forces of law and order. On one hand, they want to keep him out of the game as a dangerous random factor and notorious interfering amateur. But then again, occasionally they can't see any better resolution than just to let Reacher have his head, clean up the mess afterwards, and carefully avoid noticing his many and various felonies.
No Reacher book would be complete without a powerful, dangerous, and frightening enemy, and the people he comes up against in "Gone Tomorrow" certainly meet that description. Without giving too much away - because, as always, this book contains tricks, turns, and surprises - Reacher sees a woman on a subway train who looks exactly like a suicide bomber. He reacts accordingly, only to find himself caught between the police and the FBI on one side, and a mysterious but dreaded crew of killers on the other.
Maybe it's just me, but the political assumptions of "Gone Tomorrow" looked to me like compensation for those of the previous book, "Nothing to Lose". Normally I just take it for granted that Child's research is immaculate, but I was just a little dubious about the background to this story, in terms of consistency and logic. But it really doesn't matter: the Reacher books are thrillers - and, quite frankly, escapist fun - so the author gets a lot of artistic licence to improvise.
Bottom line: if you are a Reacher fan, or if you like macho thrillers that blend detective-style reasoning with occasional ultra-violence, you cannot go wrong with "Gone Tomorrow". But be careful when you choose to pick it up: you may not be "open for business" until you have finished page 441 - with the large print, about 6-8 hours steady reading. You won't find a single word that's worth skimming over!
Excellent thriller. May 20, 2009
Kirsty B (England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was brilliant. I couldn't put it down. The action was there right from the beginning and didn't let up throughout the whole story. The plot was fast paced, which made it a real page turner. The main character is one of those people that you can't help but like, despite the fact that he's a killer. The characterisation of Reacher is in-depth and gives the book real integrity. Having read Killing Floor - which introduced Jack Reacher - but nothing in between, I liked how the character has developed between the two books.
I liked the length of the chapters. They were relatively short, which meant that each part of the book could be digested in smaller chunks and it made it easier to come back to after a break. There were a couple of twists in the book that kept my interest, and I thought they added to the plot - sometimes twists can seem contrived, but not in this case. I liked the plot - suicide bombing is a very relevant subject and I liked Child's take on it.
A great book, definitely one I'd recommend to fans of fast-paced thrillers. I'll definitely be reading the previous books in this series.
Back on form May 24, 2009
R. West (Rochester UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reacher is back alive & kicking. After a disappointing last outing, Child has got right back on track with this one, unputdownable
Lee Child, Gone Tomorrow September 18, 2009
M. Allfrey (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Another excellent well written book that has all the greatness of Jack Reacher at his best
Had alot of trouble putting it down once I had started
Highly recomended
Showing reviews 1-5 of 107
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