Review: "They could have kept on walking"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 6, 2013
HIGH HEAT is a very satisfying short story for Reacher fans. It's far better than the earlier Reacher eBooks SECOND SON and DEEP DOWN. The writing is typical Lee Child (superb) and the plot is typical Reacher - he wanders into town, finds a lady or two, and a lot of trouble. And it's pretty awesome.Reacher is on his way to visit his brother at West Point when he stops off in NYC to check out the music scene and the college girls at NYU, but what he finds is a city gripped in fear of the Son of Sam and suffering from a relentless heat wave.Immediately Reacher witnesses what appears to be a female in distress. And Reacher being who he is - "I'm not a Marine. I'm the son of a Marine." - he's compelled to intervene. He's only sixteen, but he's already a fully developed machine that's been fine tuned by street brawls on and off-post at military installations the world over.But it turns out he's really stepped into it, because he's crossed paths with the Croselli crime family and the boss isn't about to be shown up by some punk kid who's just rolled into town. Warned off by an out-of-favor female FBI agent, Reacher hooks up with a college girl just as the city is plunged into darkness from a power outage.As Reacher and his companion explore the surreal scene that is NYC without power, they cross paths with someone who Reacher believes is the Son of Sam. Using his unusually keen ability to observe and record information that's such a prominent part of this series, Reacher believes he's deducted a useful piece of information that might help the police catch a killer.With that in mind, Reacher doesn't even flinch to head back into the crime family's controlled area, looking for a disgraced FBI agent, trying to find a way to give her information that can get her career back on track and end the Son of Sam's killing spree.If you're a fan of the series, then you're going to love Reacher in this eBook - from "the clock in Reacher's head" ticking to midnight to his pretty simple logic in dealing with bad guys: "They could have kept on walking."This is a teenage Reacher at his absolute best, on the verge of becoming the soldier cop and with all the wit and skills and attitude that readers have come to love about him.Highly recommend, especially if you're already a fan - but it's also a great place to start if you're new to the series.