Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
No Plan B by Andrew Child, Lee Child Narrator: Scott Brick
Series: Jack Reacher #27
Published by Ballantine, Delacorte Press, Penguin Audio on October 25, 2022
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 336
Length: 11 hours, 3 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
In Gerrardsville, Colorado, two witnesses to the same tragedy give two different accounts. One guy sees a woman throw herself in front of a bus in what authorities will call a suicide. The other witness is Jack Reacher. And he sees what actually happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving like a shadow, pushed the victim to her death—before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away.
Reacher follows the killer on foot, not knowing that he is part of something much bigger and far-reaching . . . a secret conspiracy with many moving parts, with powerful people on the take, all involved in an undertaking that leaves no room for error. If any step is compromised, the threat will have to be quickly and quietly and permanently removed.
I have really enjoyed reading all the Jack Reacher series, including novellas. Jack Reacher started out wandering when he was maybe mid-thirties, and as the books went along he aged. Then, the books seemed to go back in time and cover times when he was in the military or freshly a civilian. I’m uncertain as to his age in No Plan B. I would read the earlier books in order but later books could be read standalone.
Reacher is traveling with no specific plans. He sees a woman who is tripped, so she falls under a bus and dies. He sees someone who steals her purse and chases after them. He gets the purse briefly before goons start fighting him. This event starts his investigation into the woman and why she was killed. The detective on the case is a smart guy but gets pressure to close the case when there is a suicide note and a fake purse turns up. Not the purse Reacher saw.
Reacher is really an amazing strategist with excellent observations skills, highly trained in fighting, physics, and some human nature as well. There were some other threads in the plot here with a young boy leaving his inadequate foster home when his dad is being released from prison, a man who has lost his son, another prison guard who is an old co-worker of the women killed being murdered too. While things may seem unimportant or unrelated everything weaves into a full picture. The bad guys are all after him and he thwarts them every time.
Reacher is in some bad spots but handles himself brilliantly. I’m a bit worried at times when he just disposes of the bad guys, not concerned if they die. Yet Reacher has such compassion for the innocent and abused; he goes out of his way to help them and improve their lives. Reacher has incredible strategies to take down all the villains and it’s exciting!
Narration:
I really enjoy Scott Brick’s narration of this series. I am so comfortable with it, the voices all feel very right for the characters. Reacher, of course, even in dire straits handles things with calm effectiveness. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Scott Brick
Actor, writer and award-winning audiobook narrator Scott Brick certainly knows how to tell a story, in a way that keeps publishers, best-selling and award-winning authors, critics and the public at large begging for more. Hailed by Audible in 2012 as their most prolific narrator, Brick has narrated almost 900 audiobooks including titles such as: Jurassic Park, the Jack Reacher series, Alexander Hamilton, the Hunt For Red October, The Passage trilogy, In Cold Blood, the Bourne trilogy, Atlas Shrugged, Helter Skelter, Fahrenheit 451 and the Dune series.
Born on January 30, 1966 in Santa Barbara, California, Brick studied both acting and writing at UCLA, and joined the ranks of working professionals upon leaving school in 1989. Lauded by critics for his stage work, Brick spent ten years with the LA-based traveling Shakespeare troupe, Will & Company, appearing in productions of Cyrano, Hamlet, Macbeth and many others, and went on to appear in films such as Hit Parade, written and directed by comic book writer and co-Ben 10 creator, Joe Casey.
During this time, Brick continued writing. Having written hundreds of articles in a variety of genre publications such as WIZARD MAGAZINE, TOYFARE, COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE and CREATIVE SCREENWRITING, Brick was then hired by Morgan Freeman and Revelations Entertainment in 2000 to write the screen adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, with David Fincher attached to direct. In 2005, he collaborated with author Orsen Scott Card to adapt a collection of the author’s short stories for the stage in a production titled (and printed in hardcover as) Posing as People.
Having just celebrated his 20th Audioversary, Brick’s venture into audiobooks is now considered legendary. To date he’s won over 60 Earphones Awards for his narrating skills, as well as five Audie Awards, five SOVAS Awards for voiceover, and a Grammy nomination for the multi-cast recording of The Mark of Zorro (2011). After recording 250 titles in his first five years, AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE named Brick “one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy,” and proclaimed him a Golden Voice, but it was the WALL STREET JOURNAL that sealed the moniker with a front-page article in November, 2004. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY then honored Brick as Narrator of the Year in both 2007 and 2011. That honor was followed up with another feature in the WSJ in 2019 and a recent appearance on the CBS Sunday Morning news show. And the ultimate distinction – being inducted into the Audible Narrator’s Hall of Fame in 2018. Having now recorded over 900 audiobooks, Brick has no intention of slowing down. He obviously won’t be happy until he’s recorded every book ever published.
Born to make a killer first impression, Brick’s newly completed debut novel, INSIGHT, is bound to leave people gasping for more from this innovative writer who is finally telling his own story. No news on who will narrate the audiobook.
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.
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
|
| Writing |
 |
| Characters |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
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.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 22-COYER
I watched the Amazon Prime Reacher show when it came out and really enjoyed it. I knew there were a lot of books, but 27?! WOW! I love that he ages as the series does. I’m looking forward to watching season two whenever it comes out.
I haven’t watched the Prime series yet, but I plan to watch it. I have loved the Reacher books for a long time.
I like the sound of Reacher!
I love him but he’s a vigilante. He is great for the underdog and he is in the right but it’s amazing he never gets caught for the things he does sometimes. But the people he fights are 100x worse. It doesn’t make it right but he doesn’t do it for power or control for himself. It certainly is great fun to read.
Jack Reacher is such a great character! I love this series. 😀
I agree. It’s very fun to read. He’s smart and very skilled.
I’ve never read any of the Jack Reacher books, but I have been watching the Amazon series and have watched a couple of the movies. The series is amazing.
I’ve read every one and the novellas. I can’t miss anything.
I read about the first 15-16 books and finally gave up. I got tired of the very formulaic format of every.single.story. I love Reacher and his strong ethics and how he wiggles or fights out of every tight spot. But, so much attention to specifics about every weapon, and he’s never uncertain about anything…..I just quit. I wonder if I’d enjoy one again after not reading any for several years. Didn’t love Cruise as Reacher – he’s the anti-Reacher image – BUT, I did really like the Amazon series and hope it has another season.
I understand your point Terrie. I just really enjoy it. It’s nice to have the certainty that the underdog will survive. Or that the bad guys won’t succeed.
I have never read any of the books in this series but have always thought that I would at some point. I am so glad to see that you enjoyed this one!
I really love all of them. I’d start at the beginning since the earlier ones do have some connections and development. The later ones are more standalone and could be read at any point after the first part of the series.