The Affair - Lee Child

I'm a little behind on the Vintage Crime Blog, so I'm going to write a few short reviews at a rapid pace. I think I've read The Affair by Lee Child, The Damage Done by Hilary Davidson, and The Fiend in Human by John MacLachlan Gray in the last month or so, and neglected to write them up. The baby has been waking up three times every night, and just zapping everyone's energy here at home.

The Affair is the 16th Jack Reacher book. Yes, I've read them all (the first 12 or 13 in a few months... I was obsessed!) This is a classic Reacher novel, in terms of how he acts, and the events that take place. This novel actually involves Reacher's last case before he leaves the military and makes several vague references to the events that take place in Killing Floor. The thing I like about the Reacher flashback novels is how Reacher knows how to play the Army system for everything it is worth. He can use his position as a Military Policeman to give orders to superiors, etc.

The novel revolves around a murder that takes place outside a rural base in the south. Reacher gets sent down there to observe the situation undercover and make sure that his uniformed counterpart doesn't miss anything. He gets made right away, but continues to work the case on the down low. Eventually, everything turns south, and Reacher does what he does best... take care of business.

The novel is interesting in that it is told as a flashback, knowing the events of September 11th, 2001, and all of the security changes that happen afterwards, even though the story takes place before those events. The end of the novel also takes place first, and the whole thing has a circular feel that is really cool.

Overall, this is a Reacher INSTANT CLASSIC, right up there with Killing Floor, Persuader, and The Enemy.

Go read it!