Status
Available
Series
Genres
Description
"Discover the thriller series that The New York Times calls "utterly addictive." After eleven straight global #1 bestsellers, Lee Child sends readers back to school with the most explosive Jack Reacher novel yet. It's 1996, and Reacher is still in the army. In the morning they give him a medal, and in the afternoon they send him back to school. That night he's off the grid. Out of sight, out of mind. Two other men are in the classroom--an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. Each is a first-rate operator, each is fresh off a big win, and each is wondering what the hell they are doing there. Then they find out: A Jihadist sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has received an unexpected visitor--a Saudi courier, seeking safe haven while waiting to rendezvous with persons unknown. A CIA asset, undercover inside the cell, has overheard the courier whisper a chilling message: "The American wants a hundred million dollars." For what? And who from? Reacher and his two new friends are told to find the American. Reacher recruits the best soldier he has ever worked with: Sergeant Frances Neagley. Their mission heats up in more ways than one, while always keeping their eyes on the prize: If they don't get their man, the world will suffer an epic act of terrorism. From Langley to Hamburg, Jalalabad to Kiev, Night School moves like a bullet through a treacherous landscape of double crosses, faked identities, and new and terrible enemies, as Reacher maneuvers inside the game and outside the law. Praise for #1 bestselling author Lee Child and his Jack Reacher series "Reacher [is] one of this century's most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes."--The Washington Post"-- "In the morning, they gave Reacher a medal. That night, they sent him back to school. With eleven straight #1 New York Times bestsellers and over 100 million books sold, Jack Reacher is "the strongest brand in publishing" (Forbes Magazine). And Night School, with Reacher back in uniform, will be the biggest Reacher adventure of them all"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
The premise of Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher novel, Night School, is a solid one. Reacher, who is a 35 year old MP, along with a guy about his age from the FBI and another guy from the CIA are told to report to a class on inter-departmental cooperation. Only it's not really a class, but a top
The strength of the series is the main character, Jack Reacher. He's the strong, silent type; a man who says as little as he can, and isn't slow to bang heads when needed (in these novels, there are always several occasions that necessitate the use of fists or weapons of various kinds). He's also a thinker. He looks at situations in a Sherlockian way by putting together random details into a coherent whole. And he has a cast-iron sense of duty and moral obligation to help those weaker than himself. But in A Wanted Man, a different version of Reacher was presented; a chatty judgmental guy who seems to bear more resemblance to the actor playing him in the movie version than himself. This guy was not likable, although he had a quick mouth and did the same kind of things the real Reacher would do, and he was not a guy I'd ever read a series of action-packed thrillers about. He disappeared for the next few novels, but he's reappeared here, much to the detriment of the series and the case he's working on.
When Night School opens, Jack (as I prefer to call this alternative-Reacher) is just back from successfully assassinating two foreigners in Europe, which is one of the things the Military Police does when there aren't sufficient unruly soldiers apparently. Didn't seem likely to me, but I'm not in the military. Jack joins the two other agents and they briefly hang out while Jack tells them things. Then Jack goes to Hamburg, which is where the thing was first mentioned and the other two really talented guys sit on their hands until they join Jack in Hamburg, where they sit on their hands in the American Consulate. Sometimes they make a phone call. Jack is stuck doing everything, with the help of Neagley, his staff sergeant, a Hamburg detective, and a pretty woman from the NSA, who is there to remind us all that this is very important and that all the resources of the government are at their disposal. And also to give Jack a lady friend and the author a chance to write some exceedingly average sex scenes. Jack thinks about her hair a lot.
The final quarter of the book hangs on Jack and his crew making a ridiculous mistake, a mistake so monumentally bone-headed that the real Reacher would have reacted by thinking some very pithy thoughts.
Look, I love these books. They're well outside of my wheelhouse, but reading about a highly competent and kind individual working a complex plan with effortless grace is a lot of fun. This variation though was not fun to read. This guy is not someone you'd like to have around, even in a crisis situation. Here's hoping the real Reacher is back in the next installment.
Show More
secret mission to discover and foil a plot about something unknown. The NSA has picked up noise about a big deal going down but they don't know much more than that. To discover what's going on without tipping their hand, they've chosen a few of the brightest men and given them the vast resources of the American government.The strength of the series is the main character, Jack Reacher. He's the strong, silent type; a man who says as little as he can, and isn't slow to bang heads when needed (in these novels, there are always several occasions that necessitate the use of fists or weapons of various kinds). He's also a thinker. He looks at situations in a Sherlockian way by putting together random details into a coherent whole. And he has a cast-iron sense of duty and moral obligation to help those weaker than himself. But in A Wanted Man, a different version of Reacher was presented; a chatty judgmental guy who seems to bear more resemblance to the actor playing him in the movie version than himself. This guy was not likable, although he had a quick mouth and did the same kind of things the real Reacher would do, and he was not a guy I'd ever read a series of action-packed thrillers about. He disappeared for the next few novels, but he's reappeared here, much to the detriment of the series and the case he's working on.
When Night School opens, Jack (as I prefer to call this alternative-Reacher) is just back from successfully assassinating two foreigners in Europe, which is one of the things the Military Police does when there aren't sufficient unruly soldiers apparently. Didn't seem likely to me, but I'm not in the military. Jack joins the two other agents and they briefly hang out while Jack tells them things. Then Jack goes to Hamburg, which is where the thing was first mentioned and the other two really talented guys sit on their hands until they join Jack in Hamburg, where they sit on their hands in the American Consulate. Sometimes they make a phone call. Jack is stuck doing everything, with the help of Neagley, his staff sergeant, a Hamburg detective, and a pretty woman from the NSA, who is there to remind us all that this is very important and that all the resources of the government are at their disposal. And also to give Jack a lady friend and the author a chance to write some exceedingly average sex scenes. Jack thinks about her hair a lot.
The final quarter of the book hangs on Jack and his crew making a ridiculous mistake, a mistake so monumentally bone-headed that the real Reacher would have reacted by thinking some very pithy thoughts.
Look, I love these books. They're well outside of my wheelhouse, but reading about a highly competent and kind individual working a complex plan with effortless grace is a lot of fun. This variation though was not fun to read. This guy is not someone you'd like to have around, even in a crisis situation. Here's hoping the real Reacher is back in the next installment.
Show Less
LibraryThing member labdaddy4
A pretty run-of-the-mill Reacher yarn - easy to read and very fast paced. There was no real character development or expansion. This one was a bit more like a detective novel - less violence and action. It felt like a lot more could have been done with the new characters and with the German
Show More
nationalist group. The flirtation with Middle Eastern terrorists could have been expanded since this is set in pre-911 days. Show Less
LibraryThing member dketelsen
I received a free copy of Night School by Lee Child from GoodReads for review purposes.
This is one of the better entries in the Jack Reacher series. In this book Major Reacher is still an Army MP doing clandestine jobs that are best kept quiet. The year is 1996 and he's given a cross service
The search for the traitor takes the group to Germany where they encounter skinheads, middle eastern terrorists, afghans, and secrets from WW2 that threaten to destabilize the entire world. Scary stuff. Fortunately Jack Reacher and his omnipresent khakis are on the case.
This is one of the better entries in the Jack Reacher series. In this book Major Reacher is still an Army MP doing clandestine jobs that are best kept quiet. The year is 1996 and he's given a cross service
Show More
assignment where he along with members of the CIA and FBI are supposed to ferret out a traitor who plans to sell something unknown for 100 million dollars. There's only 2 rules for this assignment---don't burn the mole that provided the intel and don't talk to anyone since there's no way to know who the traitor is.The search for the traitor takes the group to Germany where they encounter skinheads, middle eastern terrorists, afghans, and secrets from WW2 that threaten to destabilize the entire world. Scary stuff. Fortunately Jack Reacher and his omnipresent khakis are on the case.
Show Less
LibraryThing member alluvia
These books just get better and better as the series progresses, or, since we've gone back to 1996 with Reacher, regresses?
Very much the page-turner with all of the elements that make the series so fun: outwitting, twists and turns, a little sexy something-something, a smart commentary on
Could be enjoyed on its own, but extra enjoyable to the reader who has met Reacher on his later-in-life (albeit earlier-in-the-series) adventures, both to gain insight into his later approach to life and to see how he acts as a younger man. And to meet a couple of characters in their earlier incarnations.
A goodie.
Thanks to the Advanced Reader program at Random House for this early read.
Very much the page-turner with all of the elements that make the series so fun: outwitting, twists and turns, a little sexy something-something, a smart commentary on
Show More
government agencies and their politics, bravado, fun locales, very nasty bad guys. Could be enjoyed on its own, but extra enjoyable to the reader who has met Reacher on his later-in-life (albeit earlier-in-the-series) adventures, both to gain insight into his later approach to life and to see how he acts as a younger man. And to meet a couple of characters in their earlier incarnations.
A goodie.
Thanks to the Advanced Reader program at Random House for this early read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Dokfintong
"The Day of the Jackal" by Frederick Forsyth was published in 1971 and has remained a popular book, and one that has been widely emulated. I remember loaning it to my aunt, and her comment when she finished: "It's good, but we know that nobody assassinated Charles de Gaulle." Therein we have the
Set in 1999, Jack Reacher is 35 years old and still in the military, although he certainly doesn't behave that way. There is a serious threat to world peace and he is sent to fix the problem.
But, we know that life as we know it did not end 1999.
That being said, it's a pretty good story. We learn a bit about Reacher's background. In this episode Reacher is nearly invincible which I didn't mind at all.
I received a review copy of "Night School" by Lee Child (Random House – Delacorte) through NetGalley.com.
Show More
problem with "Night School", the latest Jack Reacher story.Set in 1999, Jack Reacher is 35 years old and still in the military, although he certainly doesn't behave that way. There is a serious threat to world peace and he is sent to fix the problem.
But, we know that life as we know it did not end 1999.
That being said, it's a pretty good story. We learn a bit about Reacher's background. In this episode Reacher is nearly invincible which I didn't mind at all.
I received a review copy of "Night School" by Lee Child (Random House – Delacorte) through NetGalley.com.
Show Less
LibraryThing member phoenixcomet
Set in 1996 when Jack Reacher is still part of the military police. Fresh off a successful campaign, he is recruited for "night school" which turns out to be anything but. Working off of intelligence supplied by a young Iranian CIA agent, of nothing more than the statement "The American wants a
Show More
hundred million dollars", Reacher needs to find the American and figure out what is going on before people end up dead. Tightly written, solid story. Show Less
LibraryThing member alanteder
Not my Jack Reacher.
And if you like Reacher the hobo, armed with a tooth brush, an ATM card and this week's outfit of discardable down market clothing, perhaps this is not your Reacher either. But...
If you are still ok with Reacher the Army MP Major prequels, this is a perfectly ok suspense
I also have a fear that we will be seeing more of the prequels in the future as the present day Reacher has been allowed to age in real-time (which I actually applaud in a series character) and is now 56 years old and getting a bit long in the tooth. But maybe we could have some flashbacks to the young Reacher on the road in the future.
"Reacher said nothing." & "He said nothing." count seemed a bit low. Perhaps fewer than 10?
p.s. Minor quibble: The title has nothing to do with the book and is just a cover story for the real mission which makes up 95% of the story.
And if you like Reacher the hobo, armed with a tooth brush, an ATM card and this week's outfit of discardable down market clothing, perhaps this is not your Reacher either. But...
If you are still ok with Reacher the Army MP Major prequels, this is a perfectly ok suspense
Show More
thriller. It is just my sense that you could have had anyone else in the lead role and the book would have still been ok. So just don't look for too many Reacherisms, lots of coffee drinking, hitchhiking banter, etc. i.e. the Reacher we love.I also have a fear that we will be seeing more of the prequels in the future as the present day Reacher has been allowed to age in real-time (which I actually applaud in a series character) and is now 56 years old and getting a bit long in the tooth. But maybe we could have some flashbacks to the young Reacher on the road in the future.
"Reacher said nothing." & "He said nothing." count seemed a bit low. Perhaps fewer than 10?
p.s. Minor quibble: The title has nothing to do with the book and is just a cover story for the real mission which makes up 95% of the story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member satxreader
Well.
That was a disappointment.
Thank goodness for the public library! The whole premise of tracking down and identifying "the thing" that was being lost, stolen, hidden, sold, bought, etc. was so farfetched as to be ludicrous. Thankfully there are still some Jack Reacher books on my to-read
That was a disappointment.
Thank goodness for the public library! The whole premise of tracking down and identifying "the thing" that was being lost, stolen, hidden, sold, bought, etc. was so farfetched as to be ludicrous. Thankfully there are still some Jack Reacher books on my to-read
Show More
list--I'll go back to enjoying those, thanks. Show Less
LibraryThing member repb
I was disappointed with this book which portrays Reacher during the 90's when he was still in the service and just returned for a successful job assassinating two bad guys. Later in the book he does it again, in a cold-blooded manner. Somehow that just doesn't ring true with the Reacher I know and
Show More
love. Added to the mix is an unnecessary pornographic episode which I felt was equally distasteful. Show Less
LibraryThing member Judiex
It was 1996 and Jack Reacher, then an MP, received a medal for successfully completing an overseas assignment. Before he could celebrate, he was sent an another one, allegedly to a special training school. When he got there, he realized that the school was a cover story: It was interagency
The US received word that someone in Hanover, Germany, was making arrangements to receive one hundred million dollars from a foreign government, probably Arab. The range of possible objects is very large: a Y2K virus? Drugs? Hostage? Weapons? Information? Blackmail? The assignment required them to discover the buyer, the seller, and the object before whatever the plan could be executed without letting outsiders know what they were doing. They don’t know whom they could trust.
Reacher received a great deal of leeway on how he did the assignment though he did go beyond the boundaries at times, as usual. A lot of responsibility for an MP.
The story is typical Reacher: Lots of action, fighting off groups of villains almost singlehandedly, and some sex scenes. It’s fast-paced and has some repetition, usually indicating what he was thinking, e.g., whenever a certain woman came near. One possible way to identify a potential murderer was ignored: There was DNA evidence available but it was not examined. There is humor. When he met with his two counterparts, they asked each other about their histories. The usual answer: “I can’t tell you.” At one point, one of the leaders of the group asked “Who here can articulate this administration’s national security policy in simple plain English.” “No one spoke.” “Why aren’t you answering?” The CIA man “shrugged as if to say the immense complexities obviously precluded ordinary language, and anyway weren’t the notions of simplicity and plainness entirely subjective, and therefore clearly in need of a preliminary round of argument in order to agree definitions?”
Food for thought: In 1943, the allies attacked Hamburg, starting fires throughout the city. “Forty thousand dead in one raid. Britain had lost sixty thousand in the whole war.”
Show More
cooperation as he and representatives from the FBI and CIA were chosen to try to uncover a very secret plot, probably involving the US.The US received word that someone in Hanover, Germany, was making arrangements to receive one hundred million dollars from a foreign government, probably Arab. The range of possible objects is very large: a Y2K virus? Drugs? Hostage? Weapons? Information? Blackmail? The assignment required them to discover the buyer, the seller, and the object before whatever the plan could be executed without letting outsiders know what they were doing. They don’t know whom they could trust.
Reacher received a great deal of leeway on how he did the assignment though he did go beyond the boundaries at times, as usual. A lot of responsibility for an MP.
The story is typical Reacher: Lots of action, fighting off groups of villains almost singlehandedly, and some sex scenes. It’s fast-paced and has some repetition, usually indicating what he was thinking, e.g., whenever a certain woman came near. One possible way to identify a potential murderer was ignored: There was DNA evidence available but it was not examined. There is humor. When he met with his two counterparts, they asked each other about their histories. The usual answer: “I can’t tell you.” At one point, one of the leaders of the group asked “Who here can articulate this administration’s national security policy in simple plain English.” “No one spoke.” “Why aren’t you answering?” The CIA man “shrugged as if to say the immense complexities obviously precluded ordinary language, and anyway weren’t the notions of simplicity and plainness entirely subjective, and therefore clearly in need of a preliminary round of argument in order to agree definitions?”
Food for thought: In 1943, the allies attacked Hamburg, starting fires throughout the city. “Forty thousand dead in one raid. Britain had lost sixty thousand in the whole war.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member damcg63
All in all - this was not a great book.
LibraryThing member brakketh
Another solid outing by Lee Child. One of the most impressive parts of the writing to me is that though it is thoroughly formulaic he manages to retain my interest.
LibraryThing member Romonko
This book was a small island in the Jack Reacher series. We find ourselves back in 1996 and Reacher is still in the army and he's 35 years old and in Germany - No explanation and no lead up from present-day retired Reacher. That was the most confusing thing about this book. Once i got my head
Show More
around that total change of scene, I tried to get into this story. I kind of succeeded, but I found that the plot tension was lacking and the story dragged a bit. I was a bit disappointed, but he is still Jack Reacher, and that redeemed the book a bit. He definitely carried the story because the supporting characters weren't as good as usual. This book can be read as a stand-alone book, and if you're a Jack Reacher fan, your study in Reacher won't be affected if you give this book a miss, but for me, it was good to see Reacher at his peak and still with the military. Mixed emotiions about this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member pigeon_racer
Completely plausible and as usual very entertaining.
LibraryThing member antao
Bubble Gum Fun or On How Davy Crockett Plays a Stupid Part: “Night School” by Lee Child
The way I read the Jack Reacher novels is for their underpants. Because Jack doesn't own clothes he isn't wearing, it means I can know how long he's been wearing the same set of underpants. I’ve been told
If you're into Old Spice Men, read the rest of the review on my blog. If you can't stand the smell, stay well clear of it.
The way I read the Jack Reacher novels is for their underpants. Because Jack doesn't own clothes he isn't wearing, it means I can know how long he's been wearing the same set of underpants. I’ve been told
Show More
he changes every three days, which to my way of thinking is still not often enough, to say the least (I change them daily…lol), but in some of the novels it's a lot, lot longer than that. I don’t know how the other characters don’t notice this, or if they do, they’re afraid he’ll punch them in the face. If underpants are a bit too intimate for you, we can do socks, and Jack does an awful lot of running, jumping, falling. He must change them very often. And he might carry a toothbrush but there's no dental floss or mouthwash, no deodorant stick or spray. I think you'll find that about ten books ago he got a job digging swimming pools. Off the top of my head I can't remember whether he used a spade or just his bare hands. Or maybe his fold up toothbrush. And, yes, in my mind, Jack Reacher's sweat always smells of Old Spice.If you're into Old Spice Men, read the rest of the review on my blog. If you can't stand the smell, stay well clear of it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
It is set in Reacher's past, which makes sense since there isn't a lot of room left in Reacher's present/future as a butt kicking vigilante hero.
It was not as strong as the current day settings, maybe because there was a lot of time spent with other characters and there was not enough Reacher time?
It won't stop me from reading more Reacher novels, however.
It was not as strong as the current day settings, maybe because there was a lot of time spent with other characters and there was not enough Reacher time?
Show More
Or maybe all the characters kinda felt like the same character, but none of them were fully involved in the story enough that we cared about them? And some of the key action occurs "off screen"... which is a bit of a let down.It won't stop me from reading more Reacher novels, however.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jfe16
In this Jack Reacher backstory, it’s 1996. In the morning, Major Reacher receives a medal; in the afternoon, it’s off to school. By nightfall, Reacher is out of sight, out of mind, and not at all certain why he’s at a school with an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. All three men are highly
The answer comes soon enough . . . a CIA undercover operative has overheard a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.”
What American? A hundred million dollars for what? Who is to pay the American?
Non-stop action is the hallmark of the narrative as Reacher navigates a treacherous landscape filled with false identities, double crosses, and a new enemy capable of horrific terrorism.
Readers are sure to find this Jack Reacher backstory intriguing and the twisting plot will keep the pages turning. Readers will be hard-pressed to set this book aside until they’ve reached the final action-packed page.
Highly recommended.
Show More
competent and have no idea why they are there. The answer comes soon enough . . . a CIA undercover operative has overheard a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.”
What American? A hundred million dollars for what? Who is to pay the American?
Non-stop action is the hallmark of the narrative as Reacher navigates a treacherous landscape filled with false identities, double crosses, and a new enemy capable of horrific terrorism.
Readers are sure to find this Jack Reacher backstory intriguing and the twisting plot will keep the pages turning. Readers will be hard-pressed to set this book aside until they’ve reached the final action-packed page.
Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Ronrose1
Major Jack Reacher and his investigative partner, butt kicking Sgt. Frances Neagley, are called up by the National Security Counsel to solve a problem. Someone in Germany is selling something that belongs to the U.S. to some unknown someone for a hundred million dollars. It’s Reacher’s job to
Show More
find out who, what and where. Not much to go on, but Reacher has started with less and still gotten the job done.What could possibly be worth that kind of money to our enemies? Intelligence, maybe? Weapons, maybe? The meager intelligence lead points to a neo-Nazi bar in Hamburg, Germany. Not much of a lead, but you take what you get in this game. Reacher will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat for this one. We know he’s up for it. If anyone can do it he can. With the fate of the world resting on his shoulders, he’d better get it right. All action from cover to cover, this book is sure hit. Book provided for review by Shelf Awareness. Show Less
LibraryThing member nbmars
Night School is Lee Child’s twenty-first thriller featuring almost-superman Jack Reacher. The series is wildly successful; Child is very adept at inducing readers to suspend belief and watch his 6 foot 5 inch, 250 pound hero solve serious crimes or (as in this case) save the U.S.A. from its most
The action takes place in the late 1990’s, after the first attack on the World Trade Center (in 1993), but several years before the tragedy of 9/11. The eponymous Night School of the title is just a ruse so that Reacher and a small group of other over achievers from the F.B.I and the C.I.A. can go “off the radar” and investigate the cause of increased “chatter” among suspected terrorists.
The U.S. government has learned that an unnamed tall, bearded sheik (who bears an unstated, but uncanny, resemblance to someone named bin Laden) may be willing to pay up to $100,000,000 for an unknown something. Whatever that something is, it can’t be good for the United States.
Through a series of rather improbable fortuitous accidents, Reacher’s group stumbles on a clue that leads them to Hamburg, Germany, where some highly suspicious conversations between “an American” and an “Arab” have taken place. It should require no spoiler alert for any fan of Child and Reacher to learn that Jack ultimately finds the bad guys, foils their plot, and administers non-judicial condign punishment. In the process, Jack single-handedly administers a beating to four neo-Nazi thugs, and in a second encounter beats up the same four plus four new thugs. It must be admitted, however, that he is assisted in the second brawl by his female Sergeant and a baseball bat.
Discussion: Reacher is a bit less quirky in this book than in some of its predecessors. He seems to have more than one change of clothes and travels with more impedimenta than just a tooth brush. Child makes one mention of Reacher’s “internal clock,” which in previous books kept time about as well as a Rolex, but here merely alerts him to be on the qui vive. In saving the nation from a fate worse than 9/11, Reacher commits enough civil crimes in Germany to merit several life sentences, but sometimes you just have to stretch the law to preserve the republic.
Evaluation: All in all, Night School is page-turning fun, and its 369 pages can be traversed in a day or two.
Show More
dangerous enemies. The action takes place in the late 1990’s, after the first attack on the World Trade Center (in 1993), but several years before the tragedy of 9/11. The eponymous Night School of the title is just a ruse so that Reacher and a small group of other over achievers from the F.B.I and the C.I.A. can go “off the radar” and investigate the cause of increased “chatter” among suspected terrorists.
The U.S. government has learned that an unnamed tall, bearded sheik (who bears an unstated, but uncanny, resemblance to someone named bin Laden) may be willing to pay up to $100,000,000 for an unknown something. Whatever that something is, it can’t be good for the United States.
Through a series of rather improbable fortuitous accidents, Reacher’s group stumbles on a clue that leads them to Hamburg, Germany, where some highly suspicious conversations between “an American” and an “Arab” have taken place. It should require no spoiler alert for any fan of Child and Reacher to learn that Jack ultimately finds the bad guys, foils their plot, and administers non-judicial condign punishment. In the process, Jack single-handedly administers a beating to four neo-Nazi thugs, and in a second encounter beats up the same four plus four new thugs. It must be admitted, however, that he is assisted in the second brawl by his female Sergeant and a baseball bat.
Discussion: Reacher is a bit less quirky in this book than in some of its predecessors. He seems to have more than one change of clothes and travels with more impedimenta than just a tooth brush. Child makes one mention of Reacher’s “internal clock,” which in previous books kept time about as well as a Rolex, but here merely alerts him to be on the qui vive. In saving the nation from a fate worse than 9/11, Reacher commits enough civil crimes in Germany to merit several life sentences, but sometimes you just have to stretch the law to preserve the republic.
Evaluation: All in all, Night School is page-turning fun, and its 369 pages can be traversed in a day or two.
Show Less
LibraryThing member dickmanikowski
To my knowledge, this is the only Jack Reacher novel set back when Reacher was still an active duty Army MP. Excellent read.
LibraryThing member brangwinn
Military mystery is not my usual genre, but that being said I’m glad I saw it on a list of not-to-be-missed 2016 mysteries. The dialogue was too cut and dried for me, but than what do I know about the military. Orders probably aren’t too wordy.
LibraryThing member norinrad10
Lee Child has been at it for a minute or two and he's got the formula down pretty pack. Fortunately the last two Jack Reacher books have demonstrated an uptick in quality. This one is set in the late 90's with Reacher still in the Army. I enjoy the support characters from his military days and
Show More
would love to read more on them. One criticism I do have, is that the plot line of Reacher bedding the female character probably ought to be retired as it's become overly predictable and therefore distracting. I recommend this one for anyone looking for a good tale to curl up with. Show Less
LibraryThing member gmmartz
Just when I get the feeling the Reacher series is played out, Lee Child cranks out another winner. I thought the writing was a bit weaker in 'Night School' than in previous efforts, though that's more of just a feeling than anything else. As usual, his prose it lean and direct... just like Reacher
Night School is one of my favorite types of novels in this genre. It's a 'needle in the haystack', find the bad guy(s) before something truly awful happens book with the twist that it's set back in 1996, meaning the real-time investigative and surveillance techniques we've become accustomed to via movies and TV shows like '24' haven't yet been implemented. A lot of Night School is therefore done the old-fashioned way, with hard work and, most importantly, intuition.
The plot is one that we've probably all had nightmares about. Jihadists are trying to buy something worth $100m from an American in Hamburg, and the 35 year old Reacher (back in his Army days) is brought in, along with specialists from the CIA and FBI, to figure out what's worth that amount of money, who's doing the selling, and how they'll close them down. There's some Reacher-quality violence, sex, and dialogue involved, which is always a big plus.
The story moves pretty quickly and bounces back and forth from Reacher and the Americans, to the Jihadists, to the 'seller', to various German authorities. I found it interesting having to constantly think back to that 'era' when reading about the various techniques used to track down the individuals. For example, satellite imagery, facial recognition software, ubiquitous video imaging, big data, and all kinds of stuff we're sort of used to just weren't around yet or hadn't been fully developed, but that didn't stop me from often wondering why one of the other technologies hadn't been used.
I thoroughly enjoyed Night School and have no problem with the author bouncing around on Reacher's timeline. He's aged throughout the series, but Night School shows that going back and filling in some of the gaps can be a winning approach by Lee Child.
Show More
himself.Night School is one of my favorite types of novels in this genre. It's a 'needle in the haystack', find the bad guy(s) before something truly awful happens book with the twist that it's set back in 1996, meaning the real-time investigative and surveillance techniques we've become accustomed to via movies and TV shows like '24' haven't yet been implemented. A lot of Night School is therefore done the old-fashioned way, with hard work and, most importantly, intuition.
The plot is one that we've probably all had nightmares about. Jihadists are trying to buy something worth $100m from an American in Hamburg, and the 35 year old Reacher (back in his Army days) is brought in, along with specialists from the CIA and FBI, to figure out what's worth that amount of money, who's doing the selling, and how they'll close them down. There's some Reacher-quality violence, sex, and dialogue involved, which is always a big plus.
The story moves pretty quickly and bounces back and forth from Reacher and the Americans, to the Jihadists, to the 'seller', to various German authorities. I found it interesting having to constantly think back to that 'era' when reading about the various techniques used to track down the individuals. For example, satellite imagery, facial recognition software, ubiquitous video imaging, big data, and all kinds of stuff we're sort of used to just weren't around yet or hadn't been fully developed, but that didn't stop me from often wondering why one of the other technologies hadn't been used.
I thoroughly enjoyed Night School and have no problem with the author bouncing around on Reacher's timeline. He's aged throughout the series, but Night School shows that going back and filling in some of the gaps can be a winning approach by Lee Child.
Show Less
LibraryThing member edwardsgt
This story goes back to 1996 and Jack's time as Major in the MPs and set in Hamburg where a spy has heard an American is selling something for $100m to Jihadists. Reacher's task is simple, who and what. Whilst the usual mix of witty dialogue and clever deduction, didn't quite have the plot quality
Show More
of previous stories and was a bit hackneyed. You still want to turn the page to see how it finishes though! Show Less
LibraryThing member jamespurcell
An Early Days, and still an MP, Jack Reacher story start s with a clandestine medal ceremony. Which is followed by a directive to drop below the radar and team up with agents of the FBI and CIA. A covert Middle East agent receives a clangorous message: the American wants a hundred million dollars.
Show More
A sexy and very competent Senior NSA Director makes Reacher's life exciting in several ways. The best non com in the Army demonstrates her skills for keeping her commander from harm as they sort through some bad German attitudes. The team requires lots of high level help as they pursue the malevolence that 199 million dollars can buy. Great characters and a fast moving plot make this one of the best books in this excellent series. Show Less
Awards
The British Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — 2017)
Theakstons Old Peculier Prize (Longlist — 2017)