Krishna
We have reviewed many Jack Reacher books earlier by this author. And I realize, more or less in chronological order. See Worth Dying For and 61 Hours for two examples of earlier book reviews.
This is probably the smallest book written in the series so far and refers back to Jack Reacher in his teenage years. Actually, it is interesting that Lee Child (the pen name of the author James Dover Grant) was himself the Second Son to his parents. (That part may have been coincidental as he had three siblings, and not one like Reacher). Curious. Let us look into the story.
Laurent Moutier was an old furniture repairman. He was ninety years old and one day he found that his body was failing him. His only family was his daughter Josephine. She is married to Stan Reacher of the US Marine corps. However, they just moved out of there because Stan was just posted elsewhere.
Meanwhile Stan, Joe the elder brother and Reacher are in Okinawa. Finally the mother gets the news and runs back to the United States. Reacher and Joe are bullied by a crowd and one day, when Reacher faces a bully kid – single one – with a boil, he fells him with a well judged boxing cut. Yes, a tiny story. Not much of a plot except to tell the die hard fans about Reacher’s childhood.
Meanwhile Stan has lost his codebook and is in trouble and Joe is in a different trouble, suspected of stealing something from the headmaster’s office.
Reacher is confronted by a group consisting of the kid with the boil and his assistant and a lot of other kids. He has gone prepared and knocks down the first kid and breaks the ribs and arm of the kid with the boil. When the kid has gone to the hospital, Reacher asks the dad to call the officers and search the house of the boil kid’s dad at home. They do.
He solves, using his brains, as in the later life (in his regular full length books) both mysteries – where were the answers that Joe was accused of stealing and where the code book lost by his dad Stan went.
Cute little book. Has the trademark action of later Reacher books and the cerebral work of his later books.
Small, easy to finish
7/10
— Krishna