The enemy

Child's eighthack 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.nown 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. --Bill Ott Copyright 2004 Booklist

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. (May 11) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Military cop Jack Reacher faces a case that will change his life. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The eighth Jack Reacher tale (Persuader, 2003, etc.) is a fabulously suspenseful prequel that reveals Reacher's character as he uncovers a homicidal cabal of military officers. On New Year's Eve 1990, Military Police Major Jack Reacher gets a call: a general is dead, evidently of a heart attack while having sex in a seedy motel near an isolated North Carolina Army base. The general and three subordinates had just arrived in the US from Germany and were en route to Fort Irwin, California. Why did the general take a 289-mile detour for a sleazy fling? Reacher crosses the road to a strip joint where he searches for the prostitute whose favors brought on the heart attack. After noticing other soldiers in the club, Reacher avenges a battered prostitute by beating up the joint's owner. Back at the base, Reacher gets another call: the general's wife has been bludgeoned to death during an apparent burglary of their Virginia home. Reacher teams up with Lieutenant Summer, an attractive, coolly competent black female MP, but finds few clues at the scene. Soon after, the hideously mutilated body of a Special Forces soldier whom Reacher saw at the strip joint is found. Not only had this soldier signed a complaint against Reacher about the fight at the club, but also his fatal injuries could have been inflicted only by a man of Reacher's strength and height. The Special Forces think Reacher killed him and have marked him for death. Then, suspense at its peak, Child takes Reacher and his brother Joe to Paris to visit their dying mother. Child merely touches on the mother-son relationship that has had so much to do with the rootless, brooding action hero Reacher has become. Then it's back to the action: another corpse, and uneasy undercurrents in Army bureaucracy that tell Reacher the post-USSR peace dividend will be anything but. Child has turned away from formulaic high-jinks to explore his characters instead: The result? His best so far. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

/*Starred Review*/ 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. ((Reviewed March 15, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

Military cop Jack Reacher faces a case that will change his life. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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 Reed Business Information.

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. (May 11) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.