About the Author

Lee Child is the author of more than two dozen New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, with most having reached the #1 position, and the #1 bestselling complete Jack Reacher story collection, No Middle Name. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in one hundred territories. A native of England and a former television director, Lee Child lives in New York City and Wyoming.

Reviews

“A veritable tour de force . . . brilliantly constructed, flawlessly executed and deliciously plotted.”—The Washington Times

“The [Reacher] novel fans have been waiting for.”—USA Today

“One of the best Reacher books yet . . . The tension builds early and continues nonstop.”—The Miami Herald
 
“Big, exciting . . . The Affair shakes up the status quo.”—The New York Times

“A series that stands in the front rank of modern thrillers.”—The Washington Post
 
“Jack Reacher is the coolest continuing series character now on offer.”—Stephen King
 
“Child makes what he does seem simple. If it is, though, it’s strange that nobody has managed it so well.”—Evening Standard

What turned career army cop Jack Reacher into the wandering and deadly version of a knight in rusted armor? In this 16th novel in the highly successful Reacher franchise, Child goes back to small-town Mississippi in 1997. Women have been murdered near a secret Ranger base. The Rangers are suspected, and the official investigation is a mess. Reacher is sent to town disguised as a bum to keep one eye on what might be a flawed army investigation, the other on a series of similar killings in the town, and if he had a third eye, he would use it to cover his back. VERDICT Exciting and suspenseful, with deceit and cover-ups, violence, and sex, this is another great entry in Child's compelling series. Reacher's many fans can only hope there will be many more. Highly recommended for anyone who likes intelligent, well-written, tense thrillers. [Library marketing; see Prepub Alert, 4/4/11; to the dismay of series fans, the diminutive Tom Cruise is slated to play the six-foot-tall Reacher in a film adaptation of Child's One Shot.-Ed.]-Robert Conroy, Warren, MI (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

As usual, veteran narrator Dick Hill does a masterful job of evoking world-weary investigator Jack Reacher, this time in the prequel to Child's bestselling series. In this installment, the author finally spells out the circumstances surrounding Reacher's departure from his job as a military cop: the investigation into the murder of a young woman in a small Mississippi community. As the truth slowly unfolds, Hill delivers a nuanced performance of a character he's voiced for some 14 years. While the introduction of a potential love interest spices up the homicide inquiry, Hill's rendition of her dialogue may remind some listeners of Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie-and that takes some getting used to. Nonetheless, Hill's gifts as an actor are evident throughout, and he shines during the book's final confrontation in which Reacher explains how he put all the pieces together. A Delacorte hardcover. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.