Better Off Dead Audiobook By Lee Child, Andrew Child cover art

Better Off Dead

Jack Reacher, Book 26

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Better Off Dead

By: Lee Child, Andrew Child
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Read by award-winning narrator Jeff Harding.

**NOW A MAJOR PRIME TV SERIES STARRING ALAN RITCHSON**

Reacher never backs down from a problem.

And he's about to find a big one, on a deserted Arizona road, where a Jeep has crashed into the only tree for miles around. Under the merciless desert sun, nothing is as it seems.

Minutes later Reacher is heading into the nearby border town, a backwater that has seen better days. Next to him is Michaela Fenton, an army veteran turned FBI agent, who is trying to find her twin brother. He might have got mixed up with some dangerous people.

And Reacher might just need to pay them a visit.

Their leader has burrowed his influence deep into the town. Just to get in and meet the mysterious Dendoncker, Reacher is going to have to achieve the impossible.

To get answers will be even harder. There are people in this hostile, empty place who would rather die than reveal their secrets.

But then, if Reacher is coming after you, you might be better off dead.

Although the Jack Reacher novels can be listened to in any order, Better Off Dead is the 26th ausiobook in the internationally popular series.

‘Jeff Harding’s [...] narration captures Reacher’s character perfectly [...] you have to savour every minute.’ The Sunday Times

©2021 Lee Child, Andrew Child (P)2021 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Amateur Sleuths Crime Thrillers Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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I have always been a fan of Lee Child and of Jack Reacher of course. Brilliant and as expected.

As Always - great book

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I enjoyed the story and the characters, but I struggled with the narration. The reader had a highly repetitive sing song quality, that was hard to listen to. I found it to be rather distracting.

Fine story but troubling narration.

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Unlike most other Reacher books, this one had very limited action. Early on and in the end, in-between lots of blah blah blah.

limited Action

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This story was in first person, and it seemed to take away the edge. I love Jack Reacher stories and the narrator always makes it good but the story was lack lustre. The essence that makes Reacher who he is is missing. It's like I'm reading about his ghost. The feeling is there but the guts and glory are gone.

Better than the last one

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Nothing gelled in this story.
The characters were thin, the situations implausible and the story line moronic. Even Jeff Harding seemed less than enthusiastic.
Ether Lee is tiring of Reacher as a character, or the co-writing hampered his normal style, but page turner this wasn’t.
Well less than satisfied, well left alone.

Finished more due to loyalty than enjoyment.

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Either I changed or the Reacher books changed, but it’s painful to listen to them now.
For the last three consecutive titles, including this one, I felt like it was more filler than substance. This book is the final nail in the coffin.
It’s 70 percent description or exposition and about 30 story; a story that’s just lame and repetitive of itself and of previous parts in the previous books. Not even interesting anymore.

The descriptions in the previous books, a long time ago, usually had some purpose; either immediately clear or later. Now, it’s just obvious and boring details. Or, items a regular person is familiar with, such as the unlock screen on a phone.
There are descriptions such as, “i saw a car outside; the kind with four wheels. Each wheel had a black rubber tire on it. The tires had some dirt on them as if someone drove it before. I got into it. I drove.”
In another example of redundancy, there’s a scene during which Reacher calls for info during active house search with potential suspects hiding inside. He gets a two minute lecture on the historical architectural nuances in Mexico and the US … while still looking and expecting an ambush. A lecture that has no real effect on anything apart from extending the conversation (and the scene, and the book).
The bad guys are like video game enemies; those that follow a pattern every time you encounter them. Each generic bad guy has the same predictable speech and behavior.
Reacher himself is portrayed as all knowing, omniscient one-man army.

I restarted the Reacher series and went to some older titles I hadn’t listened to yet before and then started listening to the newer ones. The latest four were just disappointing. I’m not sure when the author’s son became part of the writing but ever since I noticed he’s the co-writer I can’t help thinking that’s the point in the series when it changed. Perhaps I am wrong, nonetheless, the books are no longer interesting.

A cookie-cutter caricature

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Just terrible in comparison to previous work. It’s a stuttering mess with boring plot line, Bond villains and completely unrealistic. Loved Lee Child’s Jack Reacher…Andrew not so much! The cashing in on the name is not a worthy pursuit. Also, hate the Reacher in the first person approach. Every second sentence starts with “I”. Took me a couple of weeks to get through (yes, I could put it down) and I was frankly glad that I’d finished.

Ugghhh

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