Author | Lee Child |
---|---|
Language | English |
Series | Jack Reacher |
Release number | 12 |
Genre | Thriller novel |
Publisher | Bantam Press (UK) Delacorte Press (US) |
Publication date | 24 March 2008 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Pages | 426 |
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.
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.
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.
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]
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]
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.