Product Description

Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Son. New Year's Day, 1990. The Berlin Wall is coming down. The Cold War is ending. Soon, America won't have any enemies left. A soldier is found dead in a sleazy motel bed. Jack Reacher is the officer on duty. The soldier turns out to be a two-star general. Then Reacher finds another corpse: the general's wife. Lee Child's stomach-churning thriller turns back the clock. We meet a younger Reacher, in dogtags, far from the no-ties, no-last-known-address drifter of the other novels. A Reacher who imposes army discipline. Even if only in his own pragmatic way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1415 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 389 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Lee Child is a quiet, undemonstrative man who is phlegmatic about his success in the thriller field. The Enemy will no doubt attract the usual enthusiastic acclaim, and it deserves to. One thing that is guaranteed to please Child is the open-mouthed astonishment of American readers who learn that this writer of the most idiomatic American thrillers (with brilliantly realised US locales) is actually English. But there's never a sense of striving for effects in such taut Child novels as Killing Floor and Die Trying. Child simply delivers the goods, US-style--and The Enemy is no exception.

Child's usual protagonist, the tough and resourceful Jack Reacher, is in North Carolina on New Year's Day, 1990. Elsewhere, world-shaking events are underway, such as the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. But Jack's job as a Military Police Duty Officer has him concerned with what initially seem to be less significant happenings: a soldier has been found dead in a sleazy motel and when Jack goes to the house of the soldier (a two-star general) to inform his wife, he finds her also dead. Needless to say, events in another part of the globe are having fatal repercussions in the US, and Reacher is soon up to his neck, with the body count rising.

As a glimpse into the early life of Jack Reacher (now securely one of the most admired heroes in contemporary thriller writing), this is meat and drink to the Child aficionado. Child foregrounds characterisation in his pacy narratives, and this eighth outing for Jack has all the adrenalin-producing qualities of its predecessors. --Barry Forshaw

Kate Atkinson, DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the Year)
'Another great book for him, gives us hero Jack Reacher's back-story. Hurrah.'

Ink
'Exciting stuff, with a narrative that rarely lets up ... A distinct cut above your average airport thriller.'

Customer Reviews

Exciting police procedural with a blockbuster ending.
In the taut, staccato style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler or John D. MacDonald, Lee Child presents his eighth Jack Reacher novel, a police procedural with a difference: Reacher is an MP, an army Major at Fort Bird, North Carolina, obedient to a different set of rules and objectives. Recently transferred from Panama to be MP Executive Officer, Reacher must immediately investigate the death of a two-star general who has died in a seedy, nearby motel, presumably with a prostitute. His briefcase, containing the agenda for a top-secret conference in California, has disappeared, and when Reacher and his aide, Lt. Summer, go to break the news to the general's wife, they find her dead, too, bludgeoned to death with a crowbar within hours of the general's death.

With almost military precision, dramatic complications unfold, and Reacher soon finds himself facing two new deaths, one of which is a gruesome butchering which takes place on the base. Ordered by superiors to cover up the murder by calling it a "training accident," Reacher and his aide investigate surreptitiously, soon discovering that his MP XO counterparts at twenty more bases throughout the world have also been newly appointed to their positions, all of them on or around December 29. Obvious questions arise about who is pulling the strings, who has the power to transfer so many MPs to new posts, and why someone would want to do so.

Child is a meticulous writer whose plot follows a strict chronological order and moves at a breath-taking pace, with one dramatic scene following hard on the heels of another. Reacher and his aide Summer are not fully developed characters, but they do not need to be as they struggle to learn who is controlling the grisly chess game which has resulted in four deaths. The action is resolved in an extravagant grand finale, with twists and turns and spectacular surprises. Though the ending resolves the disparate threads, it may also be a disappointment to some readers, since the premise behind the plot and the motivation which led to the murders, when finally revealed, seems too unrealistic to justify the murderous extremes to which "the enemy" has gone. Though Child is brilliant in creating an exciting story packed with action, the final pages feel cynical and reveal a view of humanity that is grim. Mary Whipple

Full bloodied, action thriller.
THE ENEMY by Lee Child.

Two minutes into the New Year, Military Intelligence Officer, Jack Reacher receives a phone call. He is told that a two star General, General Kramer, has been found dead in a squalid lay-by Motel in North Carolina. The cause of death is established as a heart attack. No reason for foul play is suspected until the body of his wife is discovered as a murder victim. The briefcase containing the Agenda for an important forthcoming Military Meeting is missing. This briefcase was last seen in the possession of General Kramer.

THE ENEMY- a prequel to the previous seven Jack Reacher novels, is set against the year of 1990. The year in which the Berlin wall is taken apart and the cold war ends. The whole recognised order of all U.S. Military Units is in the balance. Politics are rife. Against this background, in which supremacy between U.S. Military and Infantary Units and the establishments of Rock Creek and Fort Bird form, a contributary factor, Colonel Willard becomes Jack's new Commanding Officer. He has his own vested interest in the proceedings. He warns Jack from continuing the investigation, sets him up as being a suspect in the murder of Delta Unit member, Christopher Carbone. This enrages Delta Unit. They give Jack five days to clear his name. If not, he is a dead man.

Jack forms an alliance with shapley, attractive Lt., Summer. Together they endeavour to seek out the truth. Knowing that for the both of them, not just their careers but their very lives are at stake.

As in the previous Jack Reacher novels author, Lee Child writes with sure-fire accuracy. The details concerning the political unrest and information of the re-structuring of Military Units only strengthens the story, from which sub plots emerge as more bodies are disovered.

There are some poignant moments as well. A further insight into the personal life of Jack, as with his brother Joe, they travel to Paris, to meet for the last time their critically ill Mother.

Ultimately though, Jack never loses his appeal as being an action hero. And he proves this - big time - with the story culminating in a desert battle. Which, in the truest sense of the word, is exactly that. A battle!

THE ENEMY - is an excellent, investigative, full bloodied action thriller.

A Winner!
This latest novel by Lee Child is sure to please long time fans of all-American hero Jack Reacher, as well as newcomers. The story grabs you from the first few pages and keeps it's grip right through to the end.
It's January 1st, 1990, just past midnight and Reacher receives a phone call concerning the death of a General in a rather seedy motel room. Although a heart attack is established as the cause of death, the forthcoming investigation uncovers a lot more, starting with the murder of the General's wife and a missing briefcase belonging to the General, the contents of which gives others reason to kill. The body count begins to mount and Reacher is warned by his new commanding officer to stop investigating. Although in this prequel, Jack Reacher is under the restraints of military protocol, Reacher fans will not be disappointed. Child finds a way to allow Reacher to be the "One man army" that fans have come to love. We see that, even wearing a soldier's uniform, doesn't stop Jack Reacher from seeking the truth, no matter where it leads, facing the inevitable charges of misconduct and insubordination. Even the threats to his own life don't deter him, but instead lead him deeper into the dark and secretive world of military politics and cover-ups. For true thriller fans, there are enough bone-chilling scenes and suspense to satisfy even the toughest critic. Through Lee Child's superb writing, we see that you what makes someone a true soldier, is not the uniform, but the man.