by

Lee Child

 5 out of 10

I didn't start out liking this story. This wasn't the Reacher I knew. I was getting bored and unsure where the plot was going.

Then it dawned on me. Child had done it again!

Misdirection is his forte as he sinks the reader into exasperating heat, violent encounters and increasingly unbelievable outcomes.

He really is a much better writer than his genre of publication would indicate. His evocative capturing of the heat of middle USA and the culture of lawlessness  (or justicelessness) so associated with olden Texas is captured to a remarkable extent. What will be next for this writer, he is quite capable of anything.

Having said he is a great writer, this is not his best work and I found it initially easy to put down and go about my day's work unlike previous Reacher sagas. Hang in there as the story picks up pace and the bits and pieces come together in due course. Essential reading in the Reacher story but don't start with it.  © David K. Evans (2004)

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