Review: Fast paced, witty language, and surprise ending
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2012
I am a fan of Lee Child action novels, both his full length books and short stories, although there was one short story, and only one, that I disliked because it seemed to me that little of any interest was happening. I liked this tale because, although it is short, much happens in it, it is fast paced, suspenseful, filled with witty language both in conversations and in descriptions, and it has a twist that turns into an interesting surprise ending. One of the ways that Child introduces suspense, for example, is by telling readers about a thirty year old female who is jogging and a man who is driving fast. Are the two somehow related? What do these rushings have to do with the Congressional hearing?We are told at the outset of the story that it is 1986. Reacher, the hero of the tale, is young, less than thirty years old. He is a captain at the time in the military police, but is ordered by the army to undertake an undercover job. He is told that four fast-track female officers, three lieutenant colonels and one major, all age 30 or 29, are testifying before a Congressional panel about a sniper's rifle. One of them is faxing the information about the rifle that is revealed at the hearing to what seems to be a foreign government. Reacher's job is to find out which of the four is doing it.