98. Blue Moon by Lee Child

#24 Jack Reacher
listened to audio borrowed from Bosler Library
narrated by Scott Brick
Unabridged audio (11:21)
2019
359 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 6/25/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.97 - 40,462 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting: Contemporary unknown city

First line/s:  "The city looked small on a map of America."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Most Reacher books are unbelievable and implausible, but this one takes the cake!

My comments:  Not sure why Blue Moon was the title of this book, I may be missing something!  There was a lot of bloodshed in this story, bloodshed in which Reacher never batted an eye.  Yes, he was cleaning up some really bad guys, cleaning up in a city who really needed the help (two warring mafia gangs from two different countries) but it was pretty overwhelming.  Gaining the friendship of four different people who helped immensely also seemed pretty implausible.  This man has more than luck on his side, and as much as I celebrate his genius, this story just seemed to be over the top over and over again.  I must admit, it's nice to not be nervous at all as I anticipate what will happen next because I know Reacher will prevail.

Goodreads synopsis:  “This is a random universe,” Reacher says. “Once in a blue moon things turn out just right.”
          This isn’t one of those times.
          Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business, with no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. Then he steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right.
          An elderly couple have made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.
          Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs, and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay. It’s a long shot. The odds are against him. But Reacher believes in a certain kind of justice . . . the kind that comes along once in a blue moon.