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Better Off Dead: Jack Reacher, Book 26 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Lee Child (Author), Andrew Child (Author), Jeff Harding (Narrator),

4,208 ratings

in Mystery Action Fiction

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Brought to you by Penguin.

Reacher never backs down from a problem.

And he's about to find a big one, on a deserted road in Arizona, where a car has crashed into the only tree for miles around.

Minutes later, Reacher is heading into town. To introduce himself to the shadowy crew who made it happen.

Their boss has a terrifying reputation, and the stakes are high. Just to get in and meet him, 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.

Listening Length

9 hours and 3 minutes
Author

Lee Child, see all
Narrator

Jeff Harding
Audible release date

26 October 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B08S78JD2W
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	9 hours and 3 minutes
Author	Lee Child, Andrew Child
Narrator	Jeff Harding
Audible.com.au Release Date	26 October 2021
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08S78JD2W
Best Sellers Rank	200 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Mystery Action Fiction 2 in Amateur Sleuth Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) 2 in Action Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Customer reviews

5 star		38%
4 star		30%
3 star		18%
2 star		7%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Sorry Lee. I have everyone of your books, it this one is not in the same league. I don't know if you wrote this one or your brother did, but this is not the REACHER I know and love. Only you know what you have done in this book. I only know I don't like him.

Reviewed in Australia on 28 October 2021

Verified Purchase

This is like reading one of the copy cat versions that came out after you finished your first three or four books about REACHER. They were so good. I could not wait for the following books.
Maybe it is time REACHER retired. And you find a different direction to go in. Please don't leave him to die by himself, of old age. Leave him with some dignity. As we all remember how he was.

14 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

POOR JOB, WASTE OF MONEY, BADLY WRITTEN

Reviewed in Australia on 28 October 2021

Verified Purchase

Badly written in the type and standard of English that an eight year old would use. Poorly constructed story and the Reacher 'voice' that we have come to know is entirely absent.
I will take this as an indicator of things to come and I will not purchase or bother to read any future Reacher books.
This was a waste of my $15.99 and I feel cheated and ripped off.

13 people found this helpful

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Adrian G

Not what I'm used to.

Reviewed in Australia on 29 October 2021

Verified Purchase

Hopefully it's just me.
-
Since watching the Reacher movie I've read all the books and usually have had a hard time putting them down. This one was the opposite.
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I struggled after the first chapter. After perhaps four attempts I got a third of the way through before skipping to the end to see if it was an end worth reading to. For me it wasn't.
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I usually pre-order the books. I guess this time I'll wait for the reviews.

11 people found this helpful

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John

It’s true, he is better off dead, than dead boring

Reviewed in Australia on 1 November 2021

Verified Purchase

Yak yak yak yak yak, bloody yak, he never shuts up! What in gods name happened to the strong silent loner who wanders into town, says nothing, wood a lady, drinks some coffee, trades sarcasm with the local police, beats up some bums, saves the damsel in distress and moves on. This book was a talkfest, interrupted by Reacher fighting the same guy five times over with the same result, boring. A convoluted confusing technical ending, but by then I didn’t care

9 people found this helpful

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Denise

Very disappointed

Reviewed in Australia on 31 October 2021

Verified Purchase

I found this book very tedious to read and to follow. It was written in a very simple stilted voice and with lots of repetition. Yes, I know that there has always been a certain amount of violence, which Jack has been compelled to be involved with, but this was over the top.
I won’t be buying another Jack Reacher, I’ll go back to the Jack I know and have enjoyed in previous books.

8 people found this helpful

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The brotherhood is not working

Reviewed in Australia on 4 November 2021

Verified Purchase

Soooooo boring, OMG so many tedious descriptions of buildings a city planner would feel like committing suicide. Where is Reacher and who is this wanna be put in his place who contemplates weakness and defeat in confrontations? This clearly did not come from Lee's hand... I'm also puzzled by the "they are not identical twins". Do you know how rare it is to have identical twins of different gender? I had high hopes for the book and when the narrative changed to first person I was so happy but... nah. Wasted money, yet AGAIN since the duo started working together. Yep Reacher would be a lot better off dead than in this book. Either pick up your game next time or don't even bother.

5 people found this helpful

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kingi

So bad

Reviewed in Australia on 31 October 2021

Verified Purchase

Wow. This is so incredibly bad. The plot is poor. The writing style is worse. I couldn’t finish it. I tried.
Better off dead? Yes I agree. Jack Reacher as a character would be.

9 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Not up to usual standard

Reviewed in Australia on 28 October 2021

Verified Purchase

I found the endless descriptions of the layout of buildings tedious and the plot needlessly convoluted. Also the fight sequences a little boring. Michael turning up alive felt very predictable. Lee Child where are you?

9 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Oddsocks

Rehash of other Reacher books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2021

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As another reviewer has stated this book has lots of other book story points reused and crammed into this tepid story.

I have read all the other books in the series and loved them all - but this just doesn’t feel like a Lee Child book, it feels wrong. I’m not sure wether his brother is now the lead writer or they are out of ideas but this is (in my opinion) the worst Reacher book by a mile.

I wish they were more books from when Reacher was still in the MP’s.

91 people found this helpful

Richard Clarke

It’s not the Reacher we know

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2021

Verified Purchase

I have been a huge fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and have read all the books at least twice - they never grow old.
Unfortunately, this book and the previous, both by Andrew Child but with Lee’s input have been a disappointment. So much so in this, Better Off Dead, with the incredibly annoying change to first person (why dear god, why!) and Reacher not behaving the same, that at 30% through the book I’m king about giving up.
Mr Child, we the fans did not approve of the great Tom Cruise in the films for all the reasons that I know you understand. The same is happening to your awesome character now - he has lost a foot in height and a 100 lbs. Please bring him back as he should be!

90 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Very disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2021

Verified Purchase

I’ve been a Reacher fan for a decade and have read every book at least twice. This one however I barely finished. The plot is preposterous and everything seemed to be contrived and totally unrealistic.

68 people found this helpful

Mrs f

disappointed ....again

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2021

Verified Purchase

last few books have been poor. whover is now writing it isnt upto the job. only a few pages in and im already annoyed by the first person story telling . who decided to change that ! 26 books in this will be my last (although i said that after the last 2 aswell)

64 people found this helpful

Lagoon

A much needed return to form.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2021

Verified Purchase

The Killing Floor was a game changer. Crime fiction, as a genre, was revolutionised with the arrival of Lee Child and Jack Reacher. Some fantastic books followed. Inevitably, so too did some stinkers.

Better off dead sees Reacher in Arizona. A state well set for crime fiction. Deserts make good hiding places for bodies, and predators abound. Michaela Fenton, ex army and now an FBI agent is looking for her brother. To find him means getting answers from Dendoncker; a man heavily protected and wary of outsiders. Bring it on. Reacher has always been an outsider.

Reacher has his mission. Find Michaela’s brother. Reunite him with his sister. Move on. Simple enough, right? But with Reacher books, there is often a bigger underlying picture, and sure enough, that is the case here. The wider parts of the plot are slipped in throughout the narrative but the action is pretty much on tap. What I particularly enjoyed about Better off dead were the classic Reacher elements. Damage or eliminate the henchmen; the hired help. Front up; bluff your way out of tight spots. Cheat. And then when your enemy is least expecting it, go for the throat. I felt good reading Better off dead. Reacher has his mojo back.

When the Reacher books get it right; they are peerless. The Killing Floor, Die Trying, Echo Burning, Tripwire; they got your heart racing. You didn’t want any interruptions and would tear through them as if your life depended on it. They got you in that zone, they clicked. But so many others left you wondering where the magic had gone. Formulaic, lacking in passion, devoid of the strong storylines and crafted violence that put Reacher books on the top shelf; a hallowed place that so many other writers aspired to but fell short. Night School signalled a new low for Reacher and Child but it wasn’t unique.

The Killing Floor stands alone, and to measure books by the standards it set would be unfair. Still, Reacher fans are a loyal bunch and they rightly expect a book that sees Reacher on the top of his game. Better off Dead may not have it all off pat but it does a lot of things right. It doesn’t do that many things wrong. And, for me, it brings Reacher back as a literary character who can hold his head high.

37 people found this helpful

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Better Off Dead: Jack Reacher, Book 26 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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