This review is based on an uncorrected advance review copy, not the final copy for publication. So, perhaps the editors will make a few changes before the book’s release. But one thing I noticed worth criticizing is the copy I read contains more than a few blatantly British colloquialisms and manners of speaking that feel a little jarring because they don’t fit with a story set in America with only American characters. Even given Reacher’s history growing up on Marine Corps bases all over the world as a military brat, it’s unlikely he would have adopted specifically British ways of speaking into his speech. There’s nothing wrong with two British authors writing a book set in America and filled only with American characters, but they should avoid the use of terms and colloquialisms almost only ever spoken and written in British English. As only one example, “fishmonger” is a mainly British term for a storekeeper who sells fish which in my entire life I’ve never heard uttered in the United States, though Americans may have used the term in the colonial days. The evil corporate conspiracy trope has become cliche--variations of it have become too common in the series.

Right,” the guy with the broken nose said. “And the bag was ripped, remember. How did that happen? And why? We didn’t do it.” Reacher and Hannah formed an alliance to find out the truth. A father in Chicago loses his son. A fifteen-year-old foster boy from Los Angeles searching for his dad. Everyone heads to Winson, Mississippi.

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The boy who left Los Angeles bound for Winson - Jed Sturmer. Jed seems a bit of a random piece to the puzzle (but not the most random!) and his journey cross country is an eventful one, fraught with all of the dangers you might expect a young, naive boy on the run might fall into. Clearly his path is going to cross with Reacher's; it's just a matter of where, when and how it will influence the outcome of Reacher’s quest. It’s an action/adventure mystery consisting of three to four plots, each plot seemingly having no relationship to any other--which means we keep skipping from plot to plot, all the while wondering what and where the “big reveal” will be. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come until the very end, by which time Reacher has engaged in more than his share of brutal violence--including a killing that is exceedingly grotesque. And when the reveal does come, it’s not very credible

Normally, I can get through a Reacher audiobook in a day and a half . . . listening to No Plan B is so painful that it may take me a month of small sips to finish. Andrew's Reacher, is a hamfisted thug . . . not Lee's musclebound, Holmesian, deductive genius that we all fell in love with from day one of The Killing Floor . . . Painted as a target who might know too much, Reacher could find himself in a great deal of danger, but he refuses to stand down from trying to get to the root of the murder. Little does he know, but the killing is part of a larger conspiracy by a group who have even more nefarious plans that span across the country. No.” Riverdale shook his head. “If there might be a problem that means there is a problem, the way I see things. Safety first. We should—” Then, just as we are beginning to link up these three threads, another is introduced: crooked Chicago businessman, Lev Emerson, who seems to specialise in arson is determined to exact revenge on those who killed his son. Exactly how he fits into the total picture we have yet to find out. Reacher knew what he saw. So he quite naturally chased the person who had pushed Angela and who had also stolen her purse. And then the local police disregarded Reacher's witness statement in favor of another "highly respected" person who saw Angela's "suicide." As Reacher followed the clues, he became enmeshed in something much more complex than a single murder.This story is as always very entertaining escapism, with lots of action and violence. This plot would definitely make a great Prime Video movie with a crew of unscrupulous bad guys carrying out their sneaky plans and eliminating anyone who stands in their way. Hix tapped his fingertips on the tabletop. “Media exposure is good for the brand. We always publicize. We always have. If we change now we would only attract more attention. Make people think something is wrong. But I do think we need to know. Did he look?” Hix turned to the guys in the T-­shirts. “Best guess. No wrong answer. The chips fell where they fell. We understand that. Just tell us what you believe.” The whole thing begins as Reacher sees a man throw a woman under the bus - quite literally - after which he steals her purse and runs. Something Reacher saw seems to have triggered feelings of ill will, so to speak, from some folks who would rather it not be seen - what was there threatens the good thing they want to keep going. Reacher, doing his Reacher thing, smells a rat (and we all know he doesn't react well to threats), so he vows to get to the bottom of it even if it takes him halfway across the country. While this is going on, those other folks begin to converge at the same place - the Minerva Correctional Facility in Winson, Mississippi.

Plus he had a wife at home. And a son. The kid was in his twenties now but he was still a liability. Financially speaking. [He] had all kinds of expenses to take care of. Cars. Food. Clothes. Medical bills. Beyond the main plot and bone-crunching action, Lee and Andrew Child also mix in a couple of side plots too. One involves a young boy who runs away from his foster home in California in search of his biological father in the wake of his mother’s death, whereas the other follows a man’s father who seeks revenge for the death of his son. Eventually, all those storylines seem to merge, leading to a blistering final act that will leave readers breathless and begging for more.Lee has three homes—an apartment in Manhattan, a country house in the south of France, and whatever airplane cabin he happens to be in while traveling between the two. In the US he drives a supercharged Jaguar, which was built in Jaguar's Browns Lane plant, thirty yards from the hospital in which he was born. Having been dissatisfied after listening to the first 'official' collaboration between Lee (Grant) Child and his brother, Andrew (Grant) Child, "#25, The Sentinel" (3-Stars, but on re-reading my review, I think I was being generous), I decided to skip "#26, Better Off Dead" and see what delights awaited me in "#27, No Plan B". But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid ontherun,a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows.” But Reacher isn’t a shadow.He is flesh and blood.And relentless when it comes to making things right.

The Jed Starmer plot line is superfluous. Take him out of the story and nothing is lost but maybe 5,000 words. I wouldn’t call it ironic.” Riverdale scowled. “And there weren’t nine. There were only five. The others had family. That ruled them out.” This just isn't a Reacher book. It's an Andrew Grant book with Reacher in it--or maybe the shadow of Reacher.I do want the sibling-authors arrangement to work, but I don't think it is. It's a lot to ask of Andrew to keep the print franchise going at the expense of his own career. There is No Plan B when the threat is Reacher. He is 6'5", 250 lbs. and scruffy. You can't miss him. So why must the bad guys constantly try him? Underestimate him? Square up against him? Maybe the better question is why the author(s) continue putting Reacher in unnecessary situations where he has to fight his way out and drop countless bodies. For why?! And the guy didn’t mention anything about it to the police,” Moseley said. “I’ve talked to the lieutenant over there a couple times. That has to mean something.” If it isn't careful, PRH is going to milk this cash cow dry with an annual publishing schedule that takes the loyal reader for granted (Now there's a corporate conspiracy plot line Reacher should investigate). I'd rather wait 18 months for a well-conceived story line than get another "No Plan B" threadbare "Reacher" story in a year. In subplots, two other people are heading to that prison as well for their own purposes--one, a young boy running away from foster care, wanting to find his birth father; and the other, a man looking for revenge.