Never Go Back- A Jack Reacher Novel (2013)

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Never go back—but Jack Reacher does, and the past finally catches up with him. . . . Never Go Back is #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child’s new novel of action-charged suspense starring “one of the best thriller characters at work today” ( Newsweek ). Former military cop Jack Reacher makes it all the way from snowbound South Dakota to his destination in northeastern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. The old stone building is the closest thing to a home he ever had. Reacher is there to meet—in person—the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, so far just a warm, intriguing voice on the phone. But it isn’t Turner behind the CO’s desk. And Reacher is hit with two pieces of shocking news, one with serious criminal consequences, and one too personal to even think about. When threatened, you can run or fight. Reacher fights, aiming to find Turner and clear his name, barely a step ahead of the army, and the FBI, and the D.C. Metro police, and four unidentified thugs. Combining an intricate puzzle of a plot and an exciting chase for truth and justice, Lee Child puts Reacher through his paces—and makes him question who he is, what he’s done, and the very future of his untethered life on the open road. Praise for #1 bestselling author Lee Child and his Jack Reacher series “Child is a superb craftsman of suspense.” —*Entertainment Weekly “The truth about Reacher gets better and better.” —Janet Maslin,* The New York Times From the Hardcover edition. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Since talking to Maj. Susan Turner on the telephone from South Dakota in 2010's 61 Hours (bestseller Childs's 14th Jack Reacher novel), the former military cop has been heading to the Virginia headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP, in hopes of meeting her. In this 18th outing, Reacher finally arrives in Virginia, where his plan to meet Turner is initially thwarted by thugs who want to keep them apart. An arrest for a crime Reacher doesn't remember committing 16 years earlier and the dangled bait that he might be a father provoke him to run, kicking off a cross-country odyssey. As usual, head-busting physicality and analytical problem solving play key roles in Reacher's fight to prove his innocence and expose his enemies. Manhunts on both coasts, a link to corruption in Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. military drawdown, and the possibility for romance between Reacher and Turner make this entry one of the best in the series. Agent: Darley Anderson, Darley Anderson Literary. (Sept.) From Booklist Starred Review Jack Reacher, the loner thumbing his way through life, despises entanglements. So what could he possibly be doing going back to his old barracks in Washington, D.C., to take a woman to dinner? Yes, the woman, Major Susan Turner, is now the C.O. of Reacher’s former unit, and, yes, he liked her voice when he talked to her on the phone in 61 Hours (2010), but, really, Reacher, what were you thinking? Naturally, when Reacher arrives on the base to ask Turner out, he discovers a whopping mess—and lands in the middle of it. Turner is in the brig, and the army promptly arrests Reacher on what seems to be a trumped-up charge involving a case from decades ago. And what’s this about Reacher having a daughter, of all things, whose mother is suing for child support? None of it makes sense, except that somehow it must all tie together. Nothing to do but break out of the brig, with Turner in tow, and set things right, which requires a cross-country road trip, more than a little rough stuff, and a whole lot of fretting about entanglements. Child never, ever slips. He keeps the action cranking better than anyone, but, best of all, he keeps us guessing about Reacher. Will he, of all people (“Ninety-nine of us grow up to fear the howling wolf, and one grows up to envy it. I’m that guy.”), really hang up his toothbrush (his only traveling accoutrement) this time? Child has spent 17 novels committing