Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Sentinel by Andrew Child, Lee Child Narrator: Scott Brick
Series: Jack Reacher #25
Published by Penguin Audio on October 27, 2020
Genres: Thriller
Length: 10 hours, 39 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Audiobook, Barnes & Noble, iTunes
It is close to midnight on a Saturday night when Jack Reacher gets off a bus at the Greyhound station in a sleepy no-name town outside Nashville. As always, Reacher is in no hurry. He has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. He has no appointments to keep. No people to see. No scores to settle. Not yet anyway. By morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee. But there’s nothing pleasant about the place.
In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution. The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name.
Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder, all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against. Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.
I love this Jack Reacher series. Jack Reacher is a bit timeless. I mean I am not sure what age he was when he got out of the Army and started wandering but I’ll guess mid-thirties. I have read every book over the years. The books went along and he aged a bit. Then, the books seemed to go back in time and cover times when he was in the military or freshly a civilian.
Now, Lee Child is joined by his brother, Andrew to write these tales. I was curious to see how they would feel. I was NOT disappointed. The Sentinel gave me a Reacher who was timeless again, but probably older, because of all the modern conveniences like cell phones, Russians and Nazis interfering in politics and elections. The details seemed very current event-like.
Reacher doesn’t have a lot of long-term plans but he does dig in to a situation when he finds one. I was a little worried when he left his first situation to go on to another. The second problem gave us plenty of action, strategy, and fights. Reacher did his usual compassionate for the innocent, protecting the country and not being too kind to the bad guys involvement. I love his smart analysis of situations. I always enjoy him.
Narration:
I used to read this series because I didn’t enjoy the narrator. For me, the other narrator sounded too old and was a bit hard to understand. I was thrilled when Scott Brick began narrating the series. I was very comfortable with his male and female voices. He captured Reacher’s personality in his tone and manner of speech very well. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Lee Child
Lee Child was born October 29th, 1954 in Coventry, England, but spent his formative years in the nearby city of Birmingham. By coincidence he won a scholarship to the same high school that JRR Tolkien had attended. He went to law school in Sheffield, England, and after part-time work in the theater he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career as a presentation director during British TV’s “golden age.” During his tenure his company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker. But he was fired in 1995 at the age of 40 as a result of corporate restructuring. Always a voracious reader, he decided to see an opportunity where others might have seen a crisis and bought six dollars’ worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.
Killing Floor was an immediate success and launched the series which has grown in sales and impact with every new installment. The first Jack Reacher movie, based on the novel One Shot and starring Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike, was released in December 2012.
Lee has three homes—an apartment in Manhattan, a country house in the south of France, and whatever airplane cabin he happens to be in while traveling between the two. In the US he drives a supercharged Jaguar, which was built in Jaguar’s Browns Lane plant, thirty yards from the hospital in which he was born.
Lee spends his spare time reading, listening to music, and watching the Yankees, Aston Villa, or Marseilles soccer. He is married with a grown-up daughter. He is tall and slim, despite an appalling diet and a refusal to exercise.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- COYER-20
I’m thrilled you’re still loving Jack Reacher! I didn’t know Child’s brother was now co-writing the books and am glad you didn’t feel a negative change. Are you planning to watch the Amazon Prime Video television series? I like the casting.
I’ve collected all of the audiobooks and think I’ll catch up in this series in 2021. I miss him. Great review, Anne?
I didn’t know there was a Prime Video series. Maybe. I don’t watch much tv. But maybe I will watch a bit more this winter while knitting, quilting rather than all the yard work right now.
I do continue to really enjoy the series and I’m glad to have Scott Brick doing the narration.
I’ve never read a Jack Reacher novel but I really should, I’ve heard such good things about Lee Child’s books.
The early part of the series has some progression where it is important to read them in order but overall they could be read as a standalone. I always think one should start at the beginning and that is my personal choice anyway. They are so much fun and rather uplifting.
Wow, I didn’t know there were 25 books in the series! I watched a Jack Reacher film, but never have picked up the books. Good to know about the narrator. Happy to hear you’re still enjoying the series!
It’s really fun! I would start at the beginning as the early part of the series has some progression but the later books are more standalone. I enjoy them so much!
I did read one or two books in this series but it’s been a while
I binged a whole bunch in a row when I first found them and have kept up mostly over the years as new ones are released.
What a difference a change in narration can make. Great review!
Yes. I just read the ebooks instead of audio for many years.
That is great that adding his brother as co-author didn’t shake up the series and the series has such an agelessness and appeal still. Yep, another series I’ve had waiting for me to start. 🙂
I enjoy Scott Brick’s narration work, too.
HIs brother is 15 years younger so he may be in it for awhile. I hope you enjoy them!
My folks love this series – they listen to the audiobooks. I didn’t know there were so many in the series!!
Yeah it’s action and fun and a fight for the underdog kind of thing. I love how smart and strategic Reacher is though.