Book Addict Shaun's Reviews > Nothing to Lose

Nothing to Lose had quite a lot of negative reviews which almost ruined the book for me before I even went into it. I need to start reading books without reading reviews first because I actually really enjoyed this one. That said, I can see why some people either dislike Reacher or this book but, I still love him.

My main issue with Nothing to Lose wasn’t the story itself, but how long it took to get going. I never want these books to end and so I like the way Lee Child sometimes drags the story out and adds in detail that some readers don’t want, but here it was frustrating because it was just Reacher going back and forth between the towns of Hope and Despair with not much happening in between. The plot itself is highly sensitive and political and seems to have triggered some readers, however for the sake of a fictional novel written for entertainment, I was entertained. Especially as I have just spent the past two hours devouring the last few hundred pages of the book. Two hours after I had said one more chapter before bed. That’s the thing with Reacher, he’s an addictive character to read about.

Another thing about this series I don’t like is how they can all be read as standalones. It’s oftentimes like the previous books haven’t even happened. With continuing series one of my favourite things is that continuance of the characters and their lives but here we don’t always get that with Reacher. Also the cast here wasn’t as strong as in previous books and the obligatory sex between Reacher and the female character just felt forced, the storyline and the relationship between Reacher and Vaughn would have worked without the sex. In actual fact it would have said more about Reacher’s character had he just kept it in his pants for once. We don’t see him for the best part of a year (or an undisclosed period of time) in between stories (aside from those set in the past) so why can’t he sleep around then and just focus on the storyline in these novels? Ah, because the cliche of this genre means that thriller readers are macho straight men who need that sex in the story. Plenty of women, gay men (hi!) and straight men who aren’t living their fantasies through Reacher enjoy these stories too.

I enjoyed the ending even though it was kind of questionable. However as always I finished the story and immediately wanted to read the next one.