Andrew Child (born Andrew Grant) is the younger brother of Lee Child and is reportedly being groomed by Lee Child to take over the Jack Reacher franchise. This is the second book (of 3) resulting from this new collaboration and the 27th book in the Reacher series.
I usually avoid collaboration books. They are almost always the product of the lesser author with the more famous one providing his name to boost sales. In this case the “lesser author,” Andrew, is a successful author in his own right. But every author has his own style so the question is: how does collaboration change the series? In this case the style remains more-or-less intact. But not quite the same. And not quite as good. I normally can’t put down a Reacher book. I could put this one down. It seemed disjointed. Perhaps it was due to the collaboration. Or perhaps it was due to the plot.
This book is four separate stories that come together in the end. But only at the very end. The main story line has Reacher in Gerrardsville CO, to visit a museum. But he witnesses a murder – a woman being shoved in front of a bus. No one else saw the shove. He not only saw the shove but saw the shover steal the woman’s purse. He followed the murderer, confronted him in an alley, whipped his ass and was going through the purse when reinforcements arrived. Reacher never loses a battle, even when greatly outnumbered, but in this case a fire escape fell on him and he was knocked unconscious. When he regains consciousness the murderer and his accomplices have disappeared and so has the purse. But Reacher had seen enough in the purse – most importantly a note referencing a meeting to occur on the Friday following – that he resolved to figure out what was going on. And why the woman was murdered.
The second story involves the management of a for-profit prison corporation. It is clear that they are up to no good. And are concerned about Reacher sticking his nose into their business. They are determined to stop Reacher from attending the meeting. But it is unclear what they are up to or why Reacher poses a threat to them.
The third story is a 16-year-old orphan and runaway who is on a journey from L.A. to find his birth father. How does this relate to the Reacher plots? It is revealed with about 50 pages left in the book.
The fourth story is that of two men – an arsonist/assassin and his sidekick – who are on a vendetta to track down the people responsible for his son’s death on a ship off the North Carolina coast. How does this story connect to the others? It becomes clear only in the final two chapters.
The four stories are interwoven like a deck of cards being shuffled. I felt whiplashed, going from a runaway to an assassin to a prison management meeting. Keeping track of the varied characters was a challenge.
The body count in this book is relatively low for a Reacher book – about 10. The usual larger-than-life Reacher heroics (and vigilantism) are present and the plot is deep and twisted, as always. But it all seems a bit disjointed.
7 out of 10.