A young lieutenant colonel, in a stylish handmade uniform, roars through the damp woods of Georgia in her new silver Porsche – until she meets a very tall soldier with a broken-down car.
What could connect a cold-blooded off-post shooting with Reacher, his elder brother Joe, and a secretive unit of pointy-heads from the Pentagon?
READ
HALL OF FAME
5.0 out of 5 stars A very well done short dose of Reacher while we anticipate the next full installment
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2015
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And so, exactly three weeks ahead of the release of the next Reacher novel, Make Me , we’re given this Jack Reacher short story, set during Reacher’s MP career. Reacher’s brother Joe makes a brief but vital appearance, as does Frances Neagley, the MP Sergeant we’ve met in a couple of the previous Reacher novels, here working with Reacher as he investigates the killing of Army Lt. Col. Caroline Crawford, found shot in her car on a remote and deserted back road outside of Fort Smith, Georgia in the spring of 1989 (interestingly, this is less than a year before the events of the Reacher story The Enemy take place. That story begins on New Years Day 1990 and is set in North Carolina).
It’s a very good story. Reacher is probably nearing his peak as an investigative MP at the time the story is set. The dialogue, as in many of the Reacher novels, follows his thought process as he works his way through the circumstances of the murder and finally comes to a conclusion that is on the one hand not surprising, since the murderer is identified on practically the very first page, but on the other hand was very unexpected. The connection to the Gulf War, which will follow in just over a year (Operation Desert Shield began on August 2, 1990), is a nice touch.
Don’t expect any trademark Reacher head-butts, though. The closest we come to that is one scene where Neagley takes care of a Georgia State Trooper who objects to Reacher’s interference in their investigation of the murder and his skepticism regarding their arrest of a back-woods black man for the murder.
A worthwhile if very brief read. It includes a short preview of Make Me (VERY short, in fact), three weeks away and set in the present day.
For those who may either be new to Jack Reacher, or who may benefit from a guide to the full series, here is a complete list of the Reacher novels as they were written. (Amazon doesn’t allow more than ten links to be included in a review, so I’ll put the remaining links in a comment below):
Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, No. 1)
Die Trying (Jack Reacher, No. 2)
Tripwire (Jack Reacher, No. 3)
Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4)
Echo Burning (Jack Reacher, No. 5)
Without Fail (Jack Reacher, No. 6)
Persuader (Jack Reacher, No. 7)
The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8) (the prequel, this takes place before the events of Killing Floor)
One Shot (Jack Reacher, No. 9)
The Hard Way (Jack Reacher, No. 10)
Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher, No. 11)
Nothing to Lose (Jack Reacher, No. 12)
Gone Tomorrow (Jack Reacher, No. 13)
61 Hours (Jack Reacher, No. 14)
Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher, No. 15)
The Affair (Jack Reacher, No. 16). (also prequel to Killing Floor)
A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher, No. 17)
Never Go Back (Jack Reacher, No. 18)
Personal (Jack Reacher, No. 19)
Make Me (Jack Reacher, No. 20)
Also featuring Reacher are Lee Childs stand-alone short stories available on Kindle (I’m not including short stories included elsewhere in anthologies or magazines – see the Lee Child website for that full listing):
– Second Son (features Reacher at age 13)
– Deep Down (takes place during Reachers Army days)
– High Heat (Reacher as a 17 year old, visiting New York City) (longer than the other three stories here and labeled as a ‘novella’ here on Amazon)
– Not a Drill
– Small Wars (1989, Reacher Army MP)
If you want to read the books in “chronological-order”, then this is the sequence: The Enemy (prequel, set 8 years before Killing Floor); The Affair (prequel, set shortly before Killing Floor); Killing Floor; Die Trying; Tripwire; Running Blind (US title)/The Visitor (UK title); Echo Burning; Without Fail; Persuader; One Shot; The Hard Way; Bad Luck and Trouble; Nothing to Lose; Gone Tomorrow; 61 Hours; Worth Dying For, A Wanted Man, Never Go Back, Personal.
The Lee Child website suggests reading the books in the order they were written, saying “We believe the prequels (The Affair and The Enemy) have more emotional impact after you’ve gotten to know Reacher a bit better.” That’s the order I read them as well, as they were released, and I’ve enjoyed them all, recognizing that some of the books have a great deal more action and suspense than others. For me they are all great entertainment.
Also, the four novels 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, A Wanted Man and Never Go Back, comprise a four-story arc.
Lee Child Author Of Small Wars pdf Book, He is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
You Can get A Copy Of Small Wars pdf Or Paperback By Lee Child from these online store links below.
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