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| Plot Summary of Without Fail |
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"
Putnam, May 2002, 24.95, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0399148612
In charge of providing secret service protection to Vice President elect Brook Armstrong, M.E. Froelich worries about keeping the former North Dakota senator safe. She remembers a discussion with her deceased mentor and lover Joe Reacher that the best way to do a security audit is to use an outsider. She traces Joe's brother Jack, who has no paper trail, through a bank transaction in Atlantic City. M.E. hires Jack to “assassinate” the vice president.
When several days pass with no attempts by Jack, M.E. figures he did not try until he suddenly contacts her. Jack and his cohort Frances Neagley prove to M.E. that they had three definite hits on the VP if they chose to really kill him. M.E. invites Jack and Frances to meet her boss, Stuyvesant as the mock security audit was more than a test as the newly elected Veep has received threats. The Secret Service hires them to uncover if the threats are genuine and to help prevent the killing of the vice president.
Jack Reacher is already a great protagonist, but his latest appearance, WITHOUT FAIL, is his strongest adventure yet because he stays in character yet works inside a great political thriller that reaches into the highest levels of DC. Though the story line is loaded with action, the key cast members are fully developed so that new readers know Jack and long term fans appreciate Frances and M.E. Readers will demand more tales of Jack and Frances perhaps in her own series while placing Lee Child's novel at the top of the year's political thrillers.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"When the US Secret Service suspects that one of their own agents may be behind a series of death threats against Vice-President Brook Armstrong, they need an outsider to investigate. So they hire tough former Military Policeman Jack Reacher to do the job. Reacher figures he needs someone to watch his back, so he calls up old army buddy Frances Neagley, now running a security outfit out of Chicago. Neagley is as tough as Reacher and twice as sexy."
Stephen Coombs, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Without Fail |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 55%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 15%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- very upbeat
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- preventing/finding assassin
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here?
- evil subgroup in own govt
- law enforcement gone bad
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- champion of justice
Age:
- 40's-50's
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- super strength
- is very quick
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
- a significant amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- bulging muscles
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
- an organization
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- mastermind
- police
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- deluded
- wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- almost none
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
- power
The antagonists are:
- rednecks
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- Southeast
- Midwest
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
- 5-7
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
- touching of anatomy
- actual description of sex
- descript. of breasts
- descript. of other female areas
A lot of techno jargon?
Yes
Kind of jargon?
- military technology
Unusual forms of death
- perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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