Starred review from March 22, 2004
The latest entry in what is arguably today's finest thriller series (Persuader
, etc.) flashes back to series hero Jack Reacher's days in the military police. It's New Year's Eve 1990, the Soviet Union is about to collapse and the military is on tenterhooks, wondering how a changed globe will affect budgets and unit strengths, when the body of a two-star general is found in a motel near Fort Bird, N.C. Investigating is Reacher, 29, an MP major who's just been transferred from Panama—one of dozens of top MPs swapped into new posts on the same day, he later learns. Missing from the general's effects is a briefcase that, it's also revealed later, contained an agenda for a secret meeting of army honchos connected to an armored division. Then the general's wife is found bludgeoned to death at home and, soon after, a third body surfaces, of a slain gay Delta Force soldier whose murder contains clues pointing to Reacher as culprit. With Summer, a young black female lieutenant MP at his side (and, eventually, in his bed), Reacher digs deep, in his usual brilliant and violent way, butting against villainous superior officers, part of a grand conspiracy, as well as against members of Delta Force who think that Reacher killed their colleague. Unlike recent Reacher tales, the novel is as much mystery as thriller, as Reacher and Summer sift for and put together clues, but the tension is nonstop. There's a strong personal element as well, involving Reacher's relationship with his brother and dying mother, which will make the novel of particular interest to longstanding fans of the series. Textured, swift and told in Reacher's inimitably tough voice, this title will hit lists and will convince those who still need convincing that Child has few peers in thrillerdom. Agent, Darley Anderson.
February 15, 2004
Military cop Jack Reacher faces a case that will change his life.
Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 5, 2004
Child (The Persuader
, etc.) brings back his intrepid hero, Jack Reacher, for another excellent mystery, which steps back in time to the eventful first few weeks of 1990. The Berlin Wall has just come crashing down, marking an end to the Cold War, and as a result, the U.S. Army is facing a massive restructuring of purpose and personnel. During this turbulent time, 29-year-old Reacher, an MP major stationed to a base in North Carolina, is called on to investigate the death of a two-star general found dead in a seedy motel. Veteran reader Wolf, who has given voice to Reacher in seven previous novels, slips easily into this character; his calm, thoughtful delivery fits perfectly with Reacher's contemplative first-person narration. Wolf uses his voice to draw listeners into Reacher's investigation, as the MP ponders each clue and follows a trail of cover-ups and murder to the highest echelons of the military. Although Wolf struggles a bit with his French accents, his narration complements one of the best novels in Child's series. Simultaneous release with the Delacorte hardcover (Forecasts, Mar. 22).
Starred review from March 15, 2004
Child's eighth Jack Reacher novel isn't a classic thriller in the mold of its predecessor, " Persuader" [BKL Mr 15 03], but it's just as compelling. This time Child sticks closer to the police-procedural formula, lavishing on investigatory detail and building suspense gradually rather than propelling the reader ever forward with high-octane thrills. The story, which hinges on the death of a general in a lowlife motel outside Fort Bird, North Carolina, moves back in time to the early nineties, when Reacher was an up-and-coming military policeman. Trying to recover the dead general's briefcase, which contains sensitive information regarding the army's post-cold war plans, takes Reacher and his partner, an African American female, deep into the treacherous heart of military bureaucracy--and into a tragic by-product of the "don't ask-don't tell" policy regarding gays in the armed forces. In a subplot involving Reacher's mother, ill with cancer, Child also incorporates some fascinating backstory regarding Reacher's childhood as an army brat. Known for his hold-your-breath action scenes, Child proves equally adept at portraying how a criminal investigation uses the smallest of building blocks (a yogurt container) to construct a compelling circumstantial case. Combine that with finely textured relationships--always an extra dimension in this series--and you have a novel that takes Child in a new direction (more Michael McGarrity than Stephen Hunter) but does so flawlessly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)
Starred review from March 1, 2004
Child's growing legion of fans-eager to see what ex-military policeman Reacher (Persuader) will do next in the superlative suspense series-may be disappointed to find this eighth entry a prequel. But any letdown should be short-lived; Child is in fine form here, adding dimension to his protagonist that serves the series well. It is late 1989, and Reacher, then a 29-year-old special unit MP major, is suddenly transferred from Panama to a North Carolina base; he soon finds he's one of a score of such transfers. When a general en route to a conference dies in embarrassing circumstances at a nearby seedy motel, his wife is killed hours later, and two other murders follow, Reacher is on the move, seeking suspects and the missing conference agenda, which seems to be the key. Meanwhile, the Berlin Wall has just fallen, intraservice power struggles loom, fear of army force reduction is growing, and Reacher's mother, who hid a valiant background from her two sons, is dying of cancer in Paris. Reacher's family and the geopolitical backdrop add particular interest to the military setting; although it strains credulity to see suffer-no-fools loner Reacher in the army-insubordinate, operating independently, and taking justice into his own hands-Child's trademark smart story lines, crisp prose, and nonstop action with a slam-bang finish make this essential for popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/04.]-Michele Leber, Arlington, VA
Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.