Four people in a car, hoping to make Chicago by morning. One man driving, eyes on the road. Another man next to him, telling stories that don’t add up. A woman in the back, silent and worried. And next to her, a huge man with a broken nose, hitching a ride east to Virginia.
An hour behind them, a man lies stabbed to death in an old pumping station. He was seen going in with two others, but he never came out. He has been executed, the knife work professional, the killers vanished. Within minutes, the police are notified. Within hours, the FBI descends, laying claim to the victim without ever saying who he was or why he was there.
All Reacher wanted was a ride to Virginia. All he did was stick out his thumb. But he soon discovers he has hitched more than a ride. He has tied himself to a massive conspiracy that makes him a threat—to both sides at once.
In Lee Child’s white-hot thriller, nothing is what it seems, and nobody is telling the truth. As the tension rises, the twists come fast and furious, keeping readers guessing and gasping until the explosive finale.
You know how your parents tried to teach you a few things as a kid? Things like, don’t run while crossing the road, don’t talk to strangers and specially, never get into a car with people you do not know… Well, it doesn’t really apply in Jack Reacher’s case. First, because he travels mostly by hitch hiking and secondly, even if he gets into trouble because of it, he can handle the situation very well. How do I know it? I know because I just finished reading ‘A Wanted Man’.
While heading to Virginia, Reacher hitches a ride in a car with two men and a woman. At first they seem like a team traveling together but soon Jack realizes that not everything is as it seems. It is obvious that two of them are on the run from law enforcement and they are using the third person and Reacher as a cover in case of roadblocks. The woman in the car tries to communicate with Reacher showing the brave side of her character. The identity of the victim is not revealed until the very end, but it is apparent that he was an important person as not only the local law enforcement is working on it but also the state Department, CIA and the FBI are involved. I liked the character of Goodman – he was truly a good-man.
This is yet another Lee Child novel where I had no idea right up to the end about how things are going to play out. That did not stop me from playing the guessing game and fail miserably a number of times. Every character has something to hide and every character has lied at some point or the other. There are twists that are completely unexpected to keep uou wondering who has got the final Ace up their sleeves. The plot build up was great and though I had to wait till the end for some actual Jack Reacher action, it was well worth the wait.
There’s a line that described Reacher trying to look friendly… A huge gorilla like man with a broken nose – trying to look friendly… Am still smiling away!
Thoroughly enjoyable!
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