17. Blue Moon by Lee Child

I am not supposed to be picking up any new books and have a general block on Reacher books.  I quite like Reacher but there are so many and so ubiquitous, I want to save them for emergency situations.  I wouldn't quite say I was in a reading emergency; I was just needing something that made me want to read it.  I am also almost done season 3 of the Alan Richter Reacher series and I wanted to remind myself of what the books were like.  Furthermore, Blue Moon is from 2019, so relatively recently and I wanted to see how the quality is of the newer books.  What pushed me over the edge, though, was the blurb on the back about Reacher seeing some old guy on a bus he knew was going to get mugged.  That was enough for me.

I am pleased to say that as of 2019 the quality of Reacher is strong as ever.  Blue Moon did not disappoint.  The entry into the situation was classic Reacher, totally compelling.  He follows the old guy off the bus, foils the mugger, but then quite quickly figures out the man is being extorted.  In trying to help him and his wife out, he gets involved in (well actually creates) a gang war between the Albanians and the Ukrainians, each of whom control one half of a medium-size midwestern city.

What the TV series only hints at is what makes the books so great.  In Reacher's America, the collapse has already come.  America is no longer civilized, the social and economic structures have collapsed.  Civilians are fodder for criminals (organized and unorganized) and the forces of law are weakened or absent.  He's always walking around the fringe areas, the post-industrial wasteland of mini-malls and car dealerships.  There are good people here and there who aren't victims but they aren't strong enough to resist the evil around them.  Until Reacher shows up.

In Blue Moon, other than the two gangs, the major baddies are a techbro and the US health industry (which is portrayed as more efficient and ruthless extorter than even the Ukrainians and Albanians).  I mean talk about relevant.  Reacher and his new allies must get through these gangs first and it is a hoot.  This book had some funny moments, because Child juxtaposes Reacher investigating with the two gangs trying to figure out what is going on and constantly getting it wrong.  It has two shootouts that are almost like a slapstick comedy.  The ending gets quite preposterous and perhaps a bit too easy and long, but it's all so much fun getting there that I accepted it all.  And there are just several great fight scenes.  Lee Child is really good at his job.