Nothing to Lose (novel)

Last updated

Nothing To Lose
Nothingtolose leechild.jpg
2008 Hardcover edition
Author Lee Child
LanguageEnglish
Series Jack Reacher
Release number
12
Genre Thriller novel
Publisher Bantam Press (UK)
Delacorte Press (US)
Publication date
24 March 2008
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages426
ISBN 0-593-05702-3
OCLC 176649008
Preceded by Bad Luck and Trouble  
Followed by Gone Tomorrow  

Nothing to Lose is the twelfth book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. It was published in the UK by Bantam Press on 24 March 2008 and in the US by Delacorte in 3 June 2008. It is written in the third person.

Contents

Plot summary

Reacher, walking across the country, reaches the town of Despair, Colorado. He is immediately met with hostility and is forced to leave town by the local police. Reacher ends up at the neighboring town of Hope, where he meets Officer Vaughan, who is initially suspicious of Reacher but soon becomes an ally. Reacher and Vaughan discuss Despair, learning that the town is controlled by a crazed evangelist named Jerry Thurman. Everything, including the metal recycling plant, is owned by Thurman. They also hear rumors of a secret military base located near the town. Reacher, curious and intrigued, decides to investigate further.

The missing husband and his wife, Reacher encounters Lucy Anderson, a young woman searching for her missing husband, David Robert Vaughn, who was a soldier stationed at the secret military base. Lucy suspects that something sinister happened to her husband, and Reacher offers his help in finding out the truth. Reacher investigates the metal recycling plant, encountering the intimidating plant foreman. Reacher becomes suspicious of the plant's activities, realizing it is more than just a scrap metal processing facility. He suspects it is involved in the secret military operation.

One man's landing, Reacher meets Judge Gardner, who is corrupt and works with Thurman to maintain control over Despair. Reacher learns that Gardner has been manipulating the town's legal system to benefit Thurman and suppress any opposition. Reacher realizes that the Judge is a key part of the puzzle.

When the missing soldier, Reacher uncovers the truth about Specialist Morgan, a soldier from the U.S. Army who is being hunted by a secret military unit. Morgan had been involved in a mission at the secret base that went wrong, and he is now a liability. Reacher realizes that Morgan is connected to the missing husband, David Robert Vaughn.

The truth is secret, Reacher confronts Judge Gardner, forcing him to reveal the town's secret: the metal recycling plant is actually a front for a clandestine operation involving illegal weapons manufacturing and military experimentation. Reacher also learns that Thurman is involved in a conspiracy to cover up the operation.

What goes around, Reacher engages in a scandalous and honor with Thurman and his men, using his combat skills to fight back against the superior force. Reacher's fighting prowess and tactical intelligence enable him to overcome the odds and eventually disable the illegal weapons manufacturing operation.

Reacher, with Lucy and Vaughan, manage to escape the town of Despair with the help of some sympathetic residents. The town's secrets are finally exposed, and the corrupt officials are held accountable for their crimes. The town's residents are freed from Thurman's control, and the illegal weapons manufacturing operation is shut down.

The novel continues, Reacher, having achieved justice and restored hope to Despair, continues his journey across the country, leaving behind a town that is no longer shrouded in darkness. The people of Despair are finally free to rebuild their lives without the oppressive control of Thurman and his corrupt allies.

Characters

Similarities to First Blood

Nothing to Lose features several similarities to David Morrell's 1972 novel, First Blood , including the fact that the lead character (a former soldier) is mistaken for a loiterer and harassed by local law enforcement. The name of the town in both novels is "Hope" and the theme of corrupt and bullying authority is also shared.

Morrell's novel was popular in its time and was the inspiration for the hugely successful 1982 film First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone, released to international acclaim.

Style

Andy Martin of The Independent described the writing of the main character to be like "the great Philip Marlowe pulp tradition, nuanced with a dash of Rambo and Bruce Willis." [1]

Critical reception

Peter Millar of The Sunday Times found the novel to be "as gripping and readable as any in the Reacher series", though he considered the main character to be a "socially dysfunctional, second-rate Superman". [2] Henry Sutton in The Daily Mirror wrote that the novel is another example of Child's "brilliantly paced plots". [3]

Related Research Articles

Rambo is an American media franchise centered on a series of action films featuring John J. Rambo. The five films are First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), Rambo (2008), and Rambo: Last Blood (2019). Rambo is a United States Army Special Forces veteran played by Sylvester Stallone, whose Vietnam War experience traumatized him but also gave him superior military skills, which he has used to fight corrupt police officers, enemy troops and drug cartels. First Blood is an adaptation of the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamashita's gold</span> Purported treasure hidden in the Philippines

Yamashita's gold, also referred to as the Yamashita treasure, is the name given to the alleged war loot stolen in Southeast Asia by Imperial Japanese forces during World War II and supposedly hidden in caves, tunnels, or underground complexes in different cities in the Philippines. It was named after the Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita, dubbed as "The Tiger of Malaya", who conquered Malaya within 70 days from the British. Though there are accounts that claim the treasure remains hidden in the Philippines and have lured treasure hunters from around the world for over 50 years, its existence has been dismissed by most experts. The rumored treasure was the subject of a complex lawsuit that was filed in a Hawaiian state court in 1988 involving a Filipino treasure hunter, Rogelio Roxas, and the former Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos.

<i>Eye of the Needle</i> (novel) WW2 spy thriller novel by Ken Follett

Eye of the Needle is a spy thriller novel written by Welsh author Ken Follett. It was originally published in 1978 by the Penguin Group under the title Storm Island. This novel was Follett's first successful, best-selling effort as a novelist, and it earned him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. The revised title is an allusion to the "eye of a needle" aphorism.

<i>The Talisman</i> (King and Straub novel) 1984 novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub

The Talisman is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Stephen King and Peter Straub. The plot is not related to that of Walter Scott's 1825 novel of the same name, although there is one oblique reference to "a Sir Walter Scott novel." The Talisman was nominated for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards in 1985. King and Straub followed up with a sequel, Black House (2001), that picks up with a now-adult Jack as a retired Los Angeles homicide detective trying to solve a series of murders in the small town of French Landing, Wisconsin.

<i>Rifles for Watie</i> 1957 childrens novel by Harold Keith

Rifles for Watie is a children's novel by American writer Harold Keith. It was first published in 1957, and received the Newbery Medal the following year.

<i>The Night Manager</i> 1993 novel by John le Carré

The Night Manager is an espionage novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1993. It is his first post-Cold War novel, detailing an undercover operation to bring down a major international arms dealer.

<i>Reunion</i> (Foster novel) 2001 novel by Alan Dean Foster

Reunion (2001) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. The book is the seventh chronologically in the Pip and Flinx series.

<i>Brass Target</i> 1978 American war film by John Hough

Brass Target is a 1978 American suspense war film based on the 1974 novel The Algonquin Project by Frederick Nolan. The film was produced by Berle Adams and Arthur Lewis and directed by John Hough. It stars Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, Robert Vaughn, George Kennedy, Patrick McGoohan and Max von Sydow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Hubbard</span> Soap opera character

Frankie Hubbard is a fictional character from the original ABC Daytime soap opera, All My Children. The character was born off-screen on October 27, 1983 and making his first on-screen appearance in early 1984; the character also appears on two other ABC soaps including, Loving and The City. Frankie is the only living child of the Daytime's first and only, African American Supercouple, Jesse and Angie. Along with his mother and former heiress Skye Chandler, he is one of only three individuals who have been regular characters on three ABC soap operas.

<i>Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01</i> 1987 original video animation directed by Shinji Aramaki

Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 is a 1987 original video animation produced by AIC, Soeishinsha and Pony Canyon and directed and conceptualized by Shinji Aramaki. It has been licensed in the United States by AnimEigo. The plot centers on a mechanic who comes across the MADOX-01, a heavy powered armor suit designed to fight enemy tanks. After getting trapped in the suit before reading the user's manual, the military attempts to reclaim it, leaving him with no choice but to defend himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rambo</span> Character in Rambo film franchise

John James Rambo is a fictional character in the Rambo franchise. He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was played by Sylvester Stallone. The portrayal of the character earned Stallone widespread acclaim and recognition. The character was nominated for American Film Institute's list 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains. Following the success of the first movie, the term "Rambo" was occasionally used in media circles to describe a lone wolf who is reckless, uses violence to solve all problems, enters dangerous situations alone, and is exceptionally tough, callous, raw and aggressive.

<i>A Wanted Man</i> 2012 book by Lee Child

A Wanted Man is the seventeenth book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. It was published on 30 August 2012 in the United Kingdom, Australia, & New Zealand and on 11 September 2012 in the USA & Canada. A Wanted Man won the "Thriller & Crime Novel of the Year" award by the National Book Awards.

<i>Silo</i> (series) SciFi books and stories by Hugh Howey (2011–2015)

Silo is a dystopian series of post-apocalyptic science fiction books by American writer Hugh Howey. The series started in 2011 with the short story "Wool", which was later published together with four sequel novellas as a novel with the same name. Along with Wool, the series consists of Shift, Dust, three short stories, and Wool: The Graphic Novel. The series has also been adapted as a comic book and an Apple TV+ television series.

<i>Lord John</i> series Mystery novels by Diana Gabaldon

The Lord John series is a sequence of historical mystery novels and shorter works written by Diana Gabaldon that center on Lord John Grey, a recurring secondary character in the author's Outlander series. Secretly homosexual "in a time when that particular predilection could get one hanged," the character has been called "one of the most complex and interesting" of the hundreds of characters in Gabaldon's Outlander novels. Starting with the 1998 novella Lord John and the Hellfire Club, the Lord John spin-off series currently consists of six novellas and three novels.

The siege of Saqlawiyah was a siege of the town of Saqlawiyah by the Islamic State (IS) during the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017.

<i>The Midnight Line</i> 2017 novel by Lee Child

The Midnight Line is the twenty-first book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. The book was released on 7 November 2017 in the United States by Delacorte Press and on 15 November 2017 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland by Bantam Press. It is written in the third person.

<i>The Anti-Death League</i> 1966 novel by Kingsley Amis

The Anti-Death League is a 1966 novel by English author Kingsley Amis (1922–1995). Set in England, it follows the lives of characters working in and around a fictional British Army camp where a secret weapon is being tested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election</span>

The 1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 15. American Party candidate Henry J. Gardner was elected to his first term as governor, defeating incumbent Whig governor Emory Washburn.

<i>Reacher</i> (TV series) American TV series

Reacher is an American action crime television series developed by Nick Santora for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child, it stars Alan Ritchson as the title character, a self-proclaimed hobo and former U.S. Army military policeman with formidable strength, intellect, and abilities. During his travels, Reacher crosses paths with dangerous criminals and battles them.

References

  1. Martin, Andy (2 April 2008). "Nothing To Lose, by Lee Child". The Independent . Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  2. Millar, Peter (11 April 2008). "Nothing to Lose by Lee Child and Steel Witches by Patrick Lennon". The Sunday Times . Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. Sutton, Henry (20 March 2008). "Review: Nothing To Lose". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 20 October 2010.