Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Despite having such an great and iconic character, Lee Child has recently struggled to avoid repeating himself with his Reacher stories. But somehow he always delivers a satisfying and entertaining read. But this one is a brave and successful attempt to try something different. A murder in the middle of no-where and the bad guys decide having an additional person in the car may help them get past police roadblocks. Luckily they spot a hitch-hiker, not quite so luckily it's Jack Reacher wanting to head out of Nebraska and towards Virginia. The first half of the book is either placed in the car as Reacher realises there is more to the occupants then he first assumed or back at the crime scene where various agencies arrive with differing levels of knowledge and agenda. Key is a female FBI agent, almost a female image of Reacher who is the lead investigator. The second half of the book has our agent catching up with an abandoned Reacher and another shocking murder puts them firmly on the trail of the bad guys. As the reader we are treated to the usual short sentences, the menace of Reacher and the bleak American landscape. (And by the way, try reading with Springsteen's Nebraska or Darkness at the Edge of Town on in the background, they are almost soundtracks to Reacher's wandering). We also know there is a fair bit of mystery around the original murder and the background is gently released throughout the book, so as Reacher gets nearer to the bad guys, we get to finally understand the full picture. With the exception of some strange blinking Morse code that felt like Lee Child was trying to be too clever, this whole books works very well and the car scenes are very taut and claustrophobic. A welcome addition to the series. (Review from the UK hardback copy)