Krishna
We have reviewed many Jack Reacher featured books by this author earlier. Two examples are Worth Dying For and The Affair, just as samples.
Two men in black suits followed a man in a green winter coat going into a bunker. A little while later the two men in black suits came out but the one who went first never did.
When Jack Reacher is waiting for a lift, and about to give up hope, he is picked up by two men and a girl.
He learns while driving that the name of the people are King and McQueen. The girl, he realizes is a person they kidnapped and the car they were going in was her car. They get past all the roadblocks as the police were not expecting four people in the car. Finally, in a motel, McQueen tries to kill Reacher but Reacher ducks and survives. Before that, he also tries to contact the FBI as he realizes that the guys have kidnapped the girl and have changed their clothes.
Meanwhile the inspector in charge – a pretty lady (what else?) called the police chief – realizes that the victim was a foreign attache and both FBI and CIA are interested in the case.
When she gets the info that the driver of the car was shot at, she decides to go see and meets Reacher. They go investigating and find the car burning. Reacher realizes that they have burned the lady with the car and that another car came over to pick them up.
Now Defuenso follows instructions and arrests Reacher. And Reacher convinces her that ‘since the CIA and FBI have withdrawn the case, the charred remains of the mother will not get justice.
Meanwhile the police chief dies of a heart attack, possibly caused by exhaustion. So it is now up to Reacher to move the case forward and Defuenso seems to believe in him.
He evades repeated FBI traps – exciting to read for the thrill factor but not much to describe. Finally, in a bar, McQueen shoots at him but misses. Then they run in a car.
There are some nice plot twists. One of the ‘two’ bad men McQueen was an undercover FBI operator. He missed Reacher on purpose, but hiding the view with his body so that the other two will think he is dead. Also, what turns out to be another surprise is that the car they travelled in was burnt and a corpse was in the seat. They guess it is Karen but it is not. It was King.
Then comes a master whopper where Karen Difuenso’s real identity is revealed. Not an innocent waitress and a single mother of a girl. She is more.
Finally, when McQueen drops off the radar, the three – Reacher, Karen and Sorensen decide to do a quick recovery operation.
The story takes off from the middle in true Lee Child fashion. When they are trying to find another hideout, using their brains and going rogue, they succeed. Then one of them gets shot in the dark – dies. (No point in telling which one). Reacher sends the other one back for a message, winning a low pitched argument, and decides to go on alone. In the dark. With his skills alone to guide him.
Pure Reacher logic! From there on, it takes on the usual Reacher tension and action. Till the very end.
7/10
— Krishna