(5) = Best; (4) = Better; (3) = Good; (2) = Fair; (1) = OK
These abstracts serve as reminders to myself; they serve to "jog" my memory on what a book was all about. That's all. This is not a literary critique, not a social commentary, and certainly nothing profound to warrant further discussion.
(5) = means that I really enjoyed this book; (1) = means I finished reading it but wonder if my time could have been better spent elsewhere.
The interesting thing about this book is that the author takes you back in time to Jack Reachers life when he was still with the Military Police. You get to meet his brother and mother. His commanding officer, General Garber, does not occupy a key role and nothing much is said of their relationship, though in earlier works Jack is treated almost as a favorite son who falls in love with the General’s daughter. Nothing like that appears in this book even though it’s supposed to cover Jack’s earlier life in the military. Most all the other books begin with his just having left the military.
Jack was at Ft. Bird no more than two days when he learns of the death of a General in a local seedy motel that sat across the road from a seedy cinder block lounge advertising Exotic Dancers. The place is owned by a six foot 300 pound bouncer who does not want MPs around - it’s bad for business. The tavern is frequented by soldiers from Ft. Bird.
The General had died of a heart attack, he was found lieing naked face down and when they turned him over a condom was found on a flaccid penis. Everyone assumed the General was with a local prostitute but Jack concludes that that was not the case and the adventure begins.
Jack eventually winds up breaking the knee cap and beating up the 6 foot 300 pound owner and disabling a buddy of the bouncer. When he and Lieutenant Summer goes to tell the General’s wife about his death they find the wife murdered. He returns to his office and is told that another body had been found on base. He recognized the body as that of a soldier in the tavern. All this occured within the span of one or two days.
Jack concludes these deaths are all related. An interesting diversion occurs. His brother tells him his mother is dying, so Jack leaves a message with Garber to tell him he needed to rush off to France to see a dying mother. When he returns he is met at the airport by Military Police and is arrested for assaulting the civilian bouncer and his buddy.
He is told that charges will not be filed against him if he would drop the case by a new commanding officer who mysteriously appears. The man is a bastard incompetent. We know there is a sinister plot brewing higher up the chain of command somewhere. Who transferred Lee to Ft. Bird if Garber didn’t do it? And why was Garber transferred out and replaced with an incompetent? Lee Child has a fascinating ability to unveil a plot slowly. (4)
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