The Affair
Jack Reacher Series, No 16
Lee Child

Delacorte Press
9/27/2011 / ISBN 9780385344326
Suspense / Thriller
Amazon

Reviewed by Bob Walch

If you are a Jack Reacher fan and have followed the series over the years and through 16 novels, you probably have wondered what made this action hero the way he is. Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore because Lee Child goes back into Reacher’s past when he was still with the Army.

It is 1997 and the military cop is sent on an assignment to Carter Crossing, Mississippi, to investigate a murder. A young woman has been killed, and the suspect is a soldier on a nearby military base who has very strong ties to Washington, D.C.

Going undercover, Reacher is sent in to find out whatever he can and make sure the right person is brought to justice. Local sheriff, Elizabeth Deveraux, also has a desire to see justice done, but she’s not sure she can trust Reacher or the military authorities. Then things get really complicated as the single homicide turns out to be one of a series of unsolved deaths.

As Reacher works to solve this case, he realizes he is pitted against some powerful interests who want it covered up. The conspiracy Reacher encounters not only shatters his faith in his mission and his superiors, but it also changes his life forever. By novel’s end Reacher’s name is on the “involuntary separation” list and his military career is at an end.

He was 36 years old and had barely seen the country that he had been sworn to defend. There were places to go, things to do and sights to see. So Reacher “picked a road at random” and was on his way to discover America!

Reviews of other titles in this series

With Out Fail, No 6
Worth Dying For, No 15