Product Description

Lee Child's latest unputdownable thriller featuring the maverick Jack Reacher.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1607 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 501 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Before Lee Child's Jack Reacher became a wanderer, stumbling into desperate situations and sorting them out with his two fists and sharp brain, he used his skill for the US Army's military police. When he is accused of a series of killings--women who left the army after sexual harassment proceedings found with their hearts stopped in baths full of camouflage paint--he has to use his skills to clear his name, and to do the Army and FBI's work for them. The near-impossible perfection of Reacher's physique and brain are met here by a puzzle that almost meets the same standard of perfection--the reason he is suspected is simply that perfect detectives are handy patsies for perfect murders, and Reacher is, besides, a man whom those in authority find making them itch...

"As a rule, the Bureau and the military don't get along too well."
"Well, there's a big surprise. Who the hell do you guys gel along with."
..."You know how it is. Military hates the Bureau, the Bureau hates CIA, everybody hates everybody else...So we need a go-between."
Reacher shrugged.
"I don't know anybody like that. I've been out too long."

Lee Child's remorselessly perverse ingenuity is working overtime in this, his fourth book, though like most great puzzles or tricks, his secrets depend a little heavily on mere misdirection. A book this driven by the central character's laconic aggression ought not to be quite as smart as this is, or quite as likeable--Lee Child's clever formula is to make that paradox work. --Roz Kaveney

From the Publisher
Lee Child’s latest unputdownable thriller starring Jack Reacher features a chilling serial killer.

From the Back Cover
Sergeant Amy Callan and Lieutenant Caroline Cook have a lot in common. High-flying army career women, both are victims of sexual harassment from their superiors; both are forced to resign from the service.

And now they're both dead.

Their unmarked bodies are discovered in their own homes, naked, in baths filled with army-issue camouflage paint. Expert FBI psychological profilers start to hunt for a serial murderer, a smart guy with a score to settle, a loner, an army man, a ruthless vigilante known to them both.

Jack Reacher, a former US military cop, is a smart guy, a loner and a drifter, as tough as they come. He knew both victims. For Agent-in-Charge Nelson Blake and his team he's the perfect match. They're sure only Reacher has the answers to their burning questions: how did these women die? And why?

Customer Reviews

Still good but not the best ***1/2
I heard Lee Child being interviewed by Mark Lawson on Front Row recently and was inspired to try him. I bought The Hard Way, which I found 'unputdownable' and read in one go and then moved on to Bad Luck and Trouble and Persuader and One Shot. They are certainly addictive and I'm now making my way back though the earlier novels and this is my fifth read and probably least favourite. I had just read One Shot and there is a similar construct in both, and like other reviewers here, I had worked it out well before the end. But it's still a good read - Jack Reacher is a modern day drifter - sorting out the problems around him like Clint Eastwood's spaghetti western hero. These Jack Reacher novels are not great literature (nor do they pretend to be) but are great reads and I have six more to look forward to....only problem is finding the time to read them in one sitting as I find them compulsive.

Great page turner.
This is the first Lee Child book I've read, and it won't be the last.

The plot is well-structured and well-paced, and the characters are likeable, believable and well-described. The end twist is quite well-done, and less predictable than other reviewers have made out (it may be more obvious for regular Child readers).

That said, this book is not without its faults. I found it quite difficult to get into at the start, and the female agent love interest is not particularly believable, nor is it neccessary (when are they I ask myself). It ends a little too quickly for me aswell.

That said, these are minor points really, the central story is very well-done. This is a definite page-turner, and keeps you coming back for more.

Love Reacher - too predictable
First of all I would like to say I love the Jack Reacher series. In this book especially I love his pure arrogance, he doesn't care whether he helps the FBI or not (although we all know he does really), we also get an insight into his inner struggle of whether he wants to be a roamer (makes him sound like a zombie!) or to be anchored down. The storyline in this book is actually really intriguing and the dialogue is as fast and snappy as ever, you love knowing that Reacher is always one step ahead. So why the 3 stars? From around the 150 pages mark, I knew then ending - it was just so obvious and couldn't really be anything else. Whilst I usually have a certain satisfaction when I solve the mystery of a book (not very often) - I was praying that I was wrong in this instance. In fact anything that came after that, whilst well written etc etc (and all the other praise I could throw at Lee Child's excellent books) merely confirmed my theory. It was a shame as this was an excellent read just to predictable.