Jonathan Dean

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I had read rave reviews of this when it came out so looked forward to seeing it, albeit over a year later on Prime. However I was really rather disappointed. I don't necessarily mind slow-burn pacing (especially when there are beautiful visuals), but I need to feel that the scenes, events, dialogues are adding up to something - I need to have a sense of a narrative unfolding - and this was sorely missing, with the result that in the end I was sadly rather bored and just waited for it to end.

This film is a visual treat from the recreated grainy 50s-style shots of the opening, through the multiple aerial views of London, to the final empty swing in a snowy playground - and as the latter suggests, there are many memorable and potent images. Alas the script is a real let-down - talk about laying it on with a trowel: the 'message' is rammed home repeatedly, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer! Bill Night is undoubtedly affecting at times, but at others seems slightly hammy - as do the rest of the cast. I was disappointed and frequently bored.

Couldn't get beyond the first 20 or so pages, this book was soooo bad - as if a computer had been programmed to write a Reacher... EXCEPT: all the absorbing details that Lee Child would include to lend credibility and motivation to the characters are entirely lacking - so this new book by his sadly untalented brother reads like a permanent summary of a plot FULL STOP. Come back Lee - we miss you!!!

I'd read all but two of the Reacher novels before this one, but if I had started with this I would never have read any more. The plot lacks the complexity and twists I've come to expect, and the characters lack the kind of emotional interest (albeit rendered through Child's stripped back prose) that usually keep me engaged. This is also true of Reacher hmself, who seems like a kind of invulnerable Marvel superhero killing machine. Bizarre, when what has repeatedly struck me in this series is how the violence is actually not that frequent, but timed for maximum impact. Here, on the other hand, violence is rife, cartoonish, way over the top. I just kept thinking 'What a silly book!'. Maybe this is why Lee Child is giving up on writing any more and handing it over to his brother Andrew... Boredom? Burnout? Shame - a sad way to sign off.