Finished Nothing to Lose by Lee Child. This is one of the many books in Child’s series about ex-military policeman Jack Reacher.

In this one, Reacher is traveling through Colorado when he stops in the town of Despair to get something to eat. But before he can get a cup of coffee, some locals come along and tell Reacher to get out of town — now. Of course, Reacher doesn’t take too kindly to this, and he decides to find out what the good citizens of Despair are hiding — and it’s something more dangerous than he first imagined …

I’ve read and enjoyed many of the books in this series, but I did not like this book – not at all. For one, the plot is kind of boring. Reacher spends most of the book sneaking into the town of Despair and causing trouble, when he’s not hanging out with a pretty female cop in the next town over, which is named Hope. I just didn’t feel like there was as much action in this book as in the others in the series.

Plus, Reacher dispatches all the bad guys way too easily. Even when the odds are like 6-to-1, Reacher comes through with only a few cuts and bruises. And the main villain just isn’t that scary or effective. I don’t mind reading about larger-than-life heroes, but you have to have a villain that really gives your hero a run for his money — and this book just didn’t have that. When your hero  steamrolls over everyone the way that Reacher does, well, it’s just not as fun to read.

But my biggest problem was the ending, which I thought was completely ridiculous. Reacher spends so much time trying to figure out what’s going on in Despair, but the revelation just didn’t live up to the expectation for me. Plus, the leaps of logic that Reacher makes are just staggering. I love smart heroes, but again, Reacher is so much smarter than everyone else, that it doesn’t make for a fun read. In fact, Reacher kind of comes off like a pompous know-it-all in this one.

Overall, I think this is the worst book in the series that I’ve read. I’d skip this one, unless you’re a die-hard Reacher fan. Even then, read Bad Luck and Trouble or one of the other books instead.

My grade: F.

Would I read this author again: Yes. Despite the fact that I didn’t enjoy this one, I still like the Reacher series a lot and will read the books as long as Child writes them.

Up next: Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole.

Books in my TBR pile: About 20.