Worth Dying For (2010)

Lee Child, whose ex–Army cop Jack Reacher is one of today's more memorable heroes, delivers an uncharacteristic dud in Worth Dying For, which comes just five months after the fast-paced winner 61 Hours. It's the first time Child has published two books in a single year, and the strain shows. Reacher arrives in a wintry Nebraska farming community being squeezed by a violent clan of local bullies shipping illegal goods. But the book is curiously bereft of suspense. Since the bad guys are ID'd early on, the only mystery is the nature of the contraband (and even that is pretty easily guessed). C

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