Jack Reacher novels are always pretty good. Child's got a knack for keeping what are essentially quite similar stories fresh and interesting.
Here, however, he turns it up a notch and delivers probably the finest Reacher novel I've read.
While the novel is not going to win any awards for great literature, the so called heavyweights like Dan Brown and Michael Reilly could take a leaf out of Lee Child's book when it comes to penning a good thriller.
The story begins when a man sent to find Reacher by a woman Jack's never heard of turns up dead behind a motel in Florida with his fingers cut off. Reacher's curiosity is piqued and he journey's to New York to find out why the man had to die, and what it has to do with him.
His search brings him face to face with his own past, and with Victor `Hook' Hobie.
Hobie is far and away the best villain to feature in any Jack Reacher novel I have read so far. A man with a secret that he will go to any lengths, no matter how brutal or sadistic, to protect. For the first time, you feel that Reacher has met an adversary worthy of the name, and as the book winds towards its climax, it grabs hold of you and won't let you go.
An essential read for Child fans and a great book in its own right to keep the Reacher virgin entertained, I honestly can't recommend this book enough.