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THE HARD WAY
by Lee Child
Bantam, July 2006
400 pages
14.99GBP
ISBN: 059305184X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

That quintessentially American writer, Briton Lee Child, is back with another adventure for his former US Army MP, drifter Jack Reacher. As ever, Reacher inadvertently falls into a problem while minding his own business but is soon caught up in other people's troubles.

Reacher is enjoying an espresso in a cafe in New York City. Out of keeping with his usual habits, it is the second time he has patronised this cafe in two nights but he feels the quality of the coffee mandates a second visit. Despite the fact that something about Reacher's appearance discourages casual approaches, a former British soldier accosts him and enquires about something Reacher witnessed the night before, a man driving off in a car parked at a fire plug. Reacher describes the man in as much detail as he is able and is told he had observed ransom money being picked up by a kidnapper.

Naturally, Reacher becomes caught up in the proceedings and is soon committed to aiding Edward Lane, head of a security firm and another ex-Army officer, solve the mystery of who kidnapped his wife and stepdaughter and recover the missing people safely.

Of course, things are never simple when Reacher is involved. He discovers that the kidnapping is not the first that has been inflicted on a wife of Edward Lane. Five years previously, Lane's then wife was kidnapped and was not recovered alive despite the police being involved in the case.

Before long, Reacher finds himself mixed up with very bad company indeed, as well as with a woman who is the double of Lane's first wife, an ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, and people who would not turn a hair at inflicting torture on innocent bystanders.

Child sends his hero to England and expounds what are doubtless his own opinions on various matters English. Mind, having Reacher display ignorance and innocence of conditions British is perhaps a trifle disingenuous but on the whole, the English portion of the tale works well.

The author relates the story in his typically clear, concise and laconic manner using characteristically short sentences. The action-driven plot bounces around violently with perhaps a bit too much detail of hardship and torture incorporated . I found (as, obviously, readers are meant to) the threatened torment of a little girl to be extremely nauseating.

The twists and turns of the plot are, as always, intriguing and the pace hectic. Readers will once more await Reacher's emergence from the sunset into which he disappears, with anxious anticipation.

Reviewed by Denise Pickles, March 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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