Better off Dead

When Lee Child starting writing the Reacher books with his brother Andrew, it seemed clear he was looking to retire with his millions and let his brother take over the family business. It's not going so well. The last book, The Sentinel, was mediocre, but in this one Lee has ceded more control to Andrew, and the results are distinctly inferior. More a sterile techno-thriller than a Reacher novel, this one has him using mobile phones, working with the government and generally doing Bond-like things. The plot is very convoluted and the detail serves to slow and dull the suspense and tension rather than ratchet it up. The surrounding characters are cardboard cutouts; the novel is empty of personality and I was barely able to finish it. Sad to say, but this series appears to have run out of gas, and the driver doesn't seem to know where the service station is.