Make Me (A Jack Reacher Novel)

By Lee Child

Rating: 4/5 Stairs

Sometimes when I do a book review, I like to tell you where I sit (with the Jack Reacher series) before I tell you where I stand (with this outing). I started to do that here, but it ended up being a post in itself.

In Make Me, we find Reacher arriving by train to a little town called Mother’s Rest, located somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma, just a stop on the train line. Reacher gets off the train in this small town with a simple question: Why is the town called Mother’s Rest?

Reacher figured he might as well find out. He had no place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, so detours cost him nothing.

Of course, the second Reacher gets off that train, the town senses trouble. They’ve got secrets.

Reacher is met at the train station by Michelle Chang, a private investigator who is waiting for her missing partner. Reacher plans on staying in Mother’s Rest for 24 hours – enough time to learn the origin of the town name and catch the train when it comes back through the next morning.

Reacher’s curiousity is piqued when he realizes people in the town are following him. And when Chang is still anxiously awaiting the arrival of her partner the next morning, he decides to stick around for a while. Now he’s got two questions: why is the town called Mother’s Rest, and what are these people hiding?

“I can’t pay you.”
“I already have everything I need.”
“Which is what exactly?”
“A few bucks in my pocket, and four points on the compass.”
“Because I would need to understand your reasons.”
“For what?”
“For helping me.”
“I think people should always help each other.”

As always, there’s plenty of action throughout the book. The further Chang and Reacher get in their investigation, the more trouble the town causes.

Reacher said nothing. We can’t fight thirty people. To which Reacher’s natural response was: Why the hell not? It was in his DNA. Like breathing.

In a typical Reacher book, he stays put where he lands until the mystery is cleared up. Make Me isn’t typical, and finds Reacher traveling with Chang to Chicago and California to find answers.

In my past outings with Reacher, I’ve noticed that sometimes Reacher finds a mantra that pops up several times throughout the book. (Similar to “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” popping up in each Star Wars film.)  This mantra stays with you throughout the book.

Make Me is a fast paced, action filled journey, with a twist at the end that even Reacher wasn’t planning on. While this isn’t my favorite Reacher outing, it is a fun, exciting read to the end. Reacher fans will enjoy it, and those new to the series can jump right into the action.