The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8)
by Lee Child
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Book Reviews of The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8)
Book Review: So Well Constructed
Summary: 4 Stars
The bottom line is there is a payoff to everything. I'm reading the Child stuff in no particular order so at first I thought maybe this early stuff was a lesson in how Child changed over the years. Perhaps how he learned to cut out the unnecessary parts. I thought the long first visit with his mother (and brother) in France was pointless, but of course not. It comes back and it roars back with emotion and a direct impact on the character of Reacher. At first I thought some extraneous characters early on were bumps in the road, but of course not. They come back. In fact, pretty much everybody is in play. The beginning here shows how to start with a brilliant thread and watch how it can unravel a whole spool. That thread even includes the time and date of the year. I feel compelled to make a point about Child side by side with Michael Connelly. The fun is in watching Reacher and Bosch piece things together, seeing them press their own thinking, seeing them process tiny tidbits, storing them away like nuts for the winter until they are needed. Both Child and Connelly know how to slow the action down and dwell on the thought process itself, which is the fun of following a mystery-crime novel. And, finally, both authors ground their characters in real government agencies (at least in this book for Child) that feels real and adds a source of pressure to their main characters' challenges.
Reacher's relationship here with Summer is interesting and strong and Reacher isn't afraid to use her as a sounding board, even as a resource. I would still say the search for the crowbar scene was much too long. So are some of the time-killing scenes in Paris, but only by comparison to the other fast-track action. Some of the driving around and flying around gets a bit tedious, but there are even insights there which are enjoyable. The finish is right up there, even across multiple time zones and with action that is over the top. I really have no idea why this wouldn't make a great movie; you'd just need to clip a few of the scenes with, well, padding. For completists, of course, you'll read this. For those who are only going to read a few, this might be a good choice, particularly if you want to see Reacher working within the Army bureaucracy and before he became the near mythical drifter-stranger-problem solver that he is in 2008.
Book Review: CSI-Style Crime Procedural set against a Military Backdrop
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Enemy" is the eighth book in the Jack Reacher series, but being a prequel, it's a fine place to begin to cut your teeth on this compelling (and also terminally unlucky) protagonist. It happened to be the first Reacher book that I read and it's been a great primer for the older books in the series.
The book will be of obvious interest to anyone who's into the whole CSI-wherever mania. The backdrop of the U.S. military at the functional crossroads of the fall of the Berlin Wall is an interesting one that I haven't seen explored before in this sort of thriller.
Reacher's experiences in this book also go a long way toward explaining and justifying his cynical worldview and tenacious pursuit of right over wrong that otherwise might seem to be a bit of overkill when considering only the other books in the series. The author made a great choice in providing this prequel as a framework for the rest of his protagonist's life.
Best of all, the book is just plain well-written. The subtle mark of good writing is that its flow makes it virtually transparent to the reader. I find that I have to force my way through so many other lesser authors' stilted verbiage and clumsy narrative; this is not the case with "The Enemy". I've read many other people complain about the rat-a-tat-tat style of brief stream-of-conscious phrases that Child employs. While there probably is too much of this convention in earlier Reacher books, it's not so here. The incomplete thoughts and unfinished observations here only serve to give credibility to the first-person voice he employs.
The story is a true page-turner a la Harlan Coben when he's on his game. While it does lag a bit past the halfway point, the story wraps with a conclusion that is exciting without being over-the-top, interesting without being implausible. It's more than you get from the vast majority of thrillers out there right now.
"The Enemy" is a highly-recommendable piece of suspense/detective fiction and an excellent starting point in the series of Jack Reacher novels.
Book Review: I'M HOOKED!
Summary: 5 Stars
Readers of Lee Child already know this, but to those just discovering him let me start with a warning: don't pick up a Lee Child novel if you have other things to do. He'll blow you away, you'll spend hours turning pages wondering where your daily dose of sleep went.
Such a sheer delight to discover a writer one just can't get enough of. After John Grisham, Harlan Coben, Janet Evanovich, he is the first I've come across who smooshes all the punch you can expect from riveting thrillers -- tight plots, punchy dialogue, wry intelligent humor, solid pace devoid of irrelevant digressions, and above all, endearing characters.
I'm not much into military yarns (Tom Clancy's tomes are hardly my bag) but The Enemy does a superlative job of keeping it accessible. It fires off with a two-star army general found dead on New Year's eve. Simple misfortune it seems, cardiac arrest in a compromising position, but police procedure reveals his wife clobbered to death and a couple of grotesque murders that seem loosely connected. To fan the flame, the army's upper echelons want it all hushed up.
The political/forensic drama that follows is impeccably timed. Had me awake for nights. The twists are unpredictable. Child does an outstanding job of getting into the mind of our detective protagonist - Jack Reacher, to the extent that we solve the crime along with him.
More than the plot and its twists, I'm impressed with Child's economy of language, yet the ease with which he paints his vivid setups. If this were to inspire a movie the screenplay would pretty much write itself.
Looking for a mystery fix? Get The Enemy, or among others by the same author, One Shot or Persuader. Truly satisfying reads all and highly, highly recommended. I bet you'll be buying the next Lee Child novel before you're done with your first.
Book Review: An Early Look at Reacher as MP
Summary: 4 Stars
The Enemy moves out of chronological order to provide a Jack Reacher adventure while he was still an MP. That's easier to do with an action hero.
If you haven't read any other books in the series, you may actually like the series better if you start with this book rather than Killing Floor which was the first Jack Reacher novel written. If you decide to do that, then go back and read Killing Floor next and follow the chronological order of publication thereafter.
The most unusual characteristic about Jack Reacher is that he is so unconnected to people and places. The Enemy does a fine job of translating that quality into a military setting.
Mr. Child has decided to focus on an unusual period in recent military history: The moment when the Berlin Wall was falling. The story does a good job of developing how a military organization adjusts to its victories.
For those who want to know more about Jack Reacher, the book is also interesting for what it reveals about his family life.
The action in the story builds around the circumstances that follow the unexpected death of a general in a place where he wasn't expected to be found. Reacher is brought in to cover up the details to protect the Army and the family. But he's soon on the trail of crimes . . . and an officialdom that seems committed to covering up those crimes as well.
As usual, Reacher takes it on himself to find out the answers . . . regardless of orders and the personal consequences.
Anyone who has been in the military will delight in his many carefree challenges to authority.
The story itself is more than a little far-fetched, sort of along Tom Clancy lines. But the action redeems the lack of credibility in the story.
Have fun with this one.
Book Review: A good prequel for Reacher fans-- but much more of a mystery than previous action thrillers
Summary: 3 Stars
For any fan of the Reacher series, this prequel will be met with jubilation. The year is 1990 and Major Reacher finds himself in charge of the Military Police at Fort Bird in North Carolina. The book starts when he is notified that a two-star general has succumbed to a heart attack in a seedy motel a few miles from the base. In Reacher's words: "He was where he shouldn't have been, with someone he shouldn't have been with, carrying something he should have kept in a safer place." Reacher investigates and discovers his briefcase is missing. Thus begins the mystery, which occurs at a pivotal time for the military. The Berlin Wall has come down. The Soviets are no longer a threat. And that scares those in the military who have a stake in the future. This prequel is much more of a mystery than previous action thrillers. (Unfortunately, Reacher doesn't get into many fights in this outing.) Instead he and his lovely female partner spend their time hunting down clues and going on wild goose chases. At times, the plot gets a bit convoluted, especially when two murder victims are found. While still smart, Child gives readers a more fallible, and sometimes insubordinate, version of the Reacher we have come to know. Even though the conclusion is quite predictable, it is a real treat to meet Reacher's brother Joe (who figures in the first book in the series) and learn about his mother who lives in Paris. (Please read the series in order: start with "The Killing Floor" first.)