Review: The Enemy

On New Year's Day 1990, Major Jack Reacher is on a US Army base in North Carolina. He receives a telephone call, telling him of a dead soldier in a motel near the base. Dead soldiers are nothing new, but when this one turns out to be a general, Reacher knows that there could be problems. However, when going to the generals house to inform his wife of her husbands death, he finds her beaten to death. Reacher soon finds his world changing and his life endangered.

For the first time, Lee Child has given the reader more information about the character of Jack Reacher. When the series started with 'Killing Floor', we were thrown into Reacher's post-Army life. Now, we have gone into the past to see what Reacher's life used to be like, in a world where he is in charge. Child gives more information on Reacher's brother and we also get to meet his mother during a trip to Paris. For an established reader, accustomed to reading about Reacher as a wandering loner, this makes for different, refreshing reading.

Child has also taken the opportunity to create an interesting plot, writing about a conspiracy that goes into the very heart of the Army. The deeper you get into the book, the more compelling it becomes. However, at the end, I had the feeling that Child may have made it just too contrived. There were a number of twists and it felt as though the author was trying that little bit too hard to surprise the reader. Nevertheless, it is pleasant to see that Reacher really is a nice guy. When given two options at the end of the novel, he knows immediately which one to take - a decision that the majority of readers might not make themselves.

Yet again, Lee Child has succeeded in writing an excellent thriller and writing a prequel has breathed new life into the Jack Reacher story. One could wonder how long the series could legitimately continue for, but going into the past creates plenty more material for Reacher. The character may still be the same hard, solid man, but now we know more of him, and it makes for a very pleasant picture. Undoubtedly, another success for Lee Child.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Book Review: The Enemy