Make Me: A Riveting Thriller by Lee Child

“Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.

Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine.

Walking away would have been easier. But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you will have to make me.

~ Synopsis from goodreads

This is the 20th book in the Jack Reacher series, and Lee Child only gets better with each book he writes, I think. I also like that he tries something new in each book he writes while still retaining the essence of Jack Reacher.

In Personal, he took Reacher out of his comfort zone and brought him to London, and that was interesting to read about (although it is one of the weaker books in the series in my opinion).

So What did I Like?

In Make Me, he introduces Reacher to a little comfort and luxury and a new interest that seems like it might be a more long-term relationship. I also liked that the suspense is strong in this book. It took a little more than half the book for me to even guess what the bad boys were up to. My guess proved correct, but there was an added twist tacked on later in the book that I didn’t see coming.

Also, there is a lot of detective work in this book, much more so than usual, and I enjoyed this direction. Don’t get me wrong, there is the usual Jack Reacher action as well, but unlike his earlier books, Reacher isn’t as invulnerable. He also gets his fair share of being beaten up, and through parts of the book, relies on his colleague and (romantic partner) Chang to help him out.

Which brings me to the romance. In most books, the romance feels tacked on and very formulaic (kind of like James Bond), but in this book, it feels a bit different. Almost like Reacher might be falling in love. I don’t know, there is no clear sign that his lady-love Chang will feature in later books, but she plays a prominent role in this one.

So What Didn’t I Like?

This brings me to Chang. It’s nice that there is a romance and that Reacher’s softer side comes into play here. But it would have been nice if Chang had more character development. She’s pretty much written like every other girlfriend of Reacher’s, and it was hard to make out what was so special about her (apart from her abilities in bed, which seem to have been impressive).

I also didn’t like the terrible dialogue. Dialogue has never been Child’s strong point, but in earlier books he uses minimal dialogue anyway. Here, there were many pretty awful conversations (in my opinion). Everyone sounded the same, and at certain points, I couldn’t even make out who was speaking to whom. Reacher and Chang sounded exactly alike. So did the villain and his henchmen. Not cool!

But that was pretty much my only peeve with the book. That and the saggy middle – always a problem with Lee Child books.

Still, I had a good time reading it, and if you are a fan of Jack Reacher, this is a must-read.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for sending me this book for review consideration.