On my most recent road trip to Dallas, I picked up One Shot by Lee Child on CD. I got hooked on books on tape (uh, CD is more accurate I guess) a few years back. They really help the miles go faster! Now I’ve listened to so many of them now that it’s actually hard to find interesting books that I haven’t read yet. I’m kind of a fan of the spy / mystery genre, the Jason Bourne kind of thing and a few trips ago I saw another book by Lee Child called Bad Luck and Trouble. It was here I met Jack Reacher.
The central character of One Shot (and several other books as well) is Jack Reacher, a retired Army major and Military Police investigator. He’s retired from the Army now and society in general. He keeps no regular home, has no cell phone, and carries no clothes from town to town instead opting to just buy new outfits when the present one has run its course.
In One Shot, we find Jack in a gulf coast hotel examining the cultural differences between himself and a dancer from a Norwegian cruise ship. As he is catching up on the news he spots a report about a terrible mass murder by a sniper in a non-descript Indiana town. Jack is immediately compelled to hit the road.
Through the course of this story we learn the origins of the relationship between Reacher and the accused shooter, James Barr, what compelled Reacher to trek to Indiana, and how even the smallest detail can be the key to unlocking a series of complicated secrets.
As with other Reacher stories, we get a sprinkling of his quirks, intelligent engagement, and blasts from his past. In One Shot Child also explores the interactions of a small town legal community, the comfort of a 20 year police veteran and even former Soviet functionaries…all expertly woven together into an engaging, suspensful six hours. Overall an excellent story! Your should try it!
