The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Lee Child (Author) "As serious as a heart attack..." (more)
Key Phrases: gate log, suit carrier, suspect pool, Fort Bird, Green Valley, New Year's Eve (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The latest entry in what is arguably today's finest thriller series (Persuader, etc.) flashes back to series hero Jack Reacher's days in the military police. It's New Year's Eve 1990, the Soviet Union is about to collapse and the military is on tenterhooks, wondering how a changed globe will affect budgets and unit strengths, when the body of a two-star general is found in a motel near Fort Bird, N.C. Investigating is Reacher, 29, an MP major who's just been transferred from Panamaâ€"one of dozens of top MPs swapped into new posts on the same day, he later learns. Missing from the general's effects is a briefcase that, it's also revealed later, contained an agenda for a secret meeting of army honchos connected to an armored division. Then the general's wife is found bludgeoned to death at home and, soon after, a third body surfaces, of a slain gay Delta Force soldier whose murder contains clues pointing to Reacher as culprit. With Summer, a young black female lieutenant MP at his side (and, eventually, in his bed), Reacher digs deep, in his usual brilliant and violent way, butting against villainous superior officers, part of a grand conspiracy, as well as against members of Delta Force who think that Reacher killed their colleague. Unlike recent Reacher tales, the novel is as much mystery as thriller, as Reacher and Summer sift for and put together clues, but the tension is nonstop. There's a strong personal element as well, involving Reacher's relationship with his brother and dying mother, which will make the novel of particular interest to longstanding fans of the series. Textured, swift and told in Reacher's inimitably tough voice, this title will hit lists and will convince those who still need convincing that Child has few peers in thrillerdom.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Child continues to knock out his action sequences with flair, but in The Enemy, he takes time to depict the piecemeal construction of a criminal investigation. He also spends energy on the hero’s relationship with his mother and brother, an effort that further fills in Reacher’s background and will surely please long-time fans of the character. It’s true, Child throws in some clichéd elements to this otherwise first-rate story. But most reviewers easily looked past that flaw. “After reading these books for so many years, I’m not easily kept in the dark,” claims the St. Petersburg Times, “so it’s always fun when I’m still guessing toward the end.”

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Dell (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440241014
• ISBN-13: 978-0440241010
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (145 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 8 in The Jack Reacher Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting police procedural with a blockbuster ending., May 16, 2004

By	Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8) (Hardcover)

In the taut, staccato style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler or John D. MacDonald, Lee Child presents his eighth Jack Reacher novel, a police procedural with a difference: Reacher is an MP, an army Major at Fort Bird, North Carolina, obedient to a different set of rules and objectives. Recently transferred from Panama to be MP Executive Officer, Reacher must immediately investigate the death of a two-star general who has died in a seedy, nearby motel, presumably with a prostitute. His briefcase, containing the agenda for a top-secret conference in California, has disappeared, and when Reacher and his aide, Lt. Summer, go to break the news to the general's wife, they find her dead, too, bludgeoned to death with a crowbar within hours of the general's death.

With almost military precision, dramatic complications unfold, and Reacher soon finds himself facing two new deaths, one of which is a gruesome butchering which takes place on the base. Ordered by superiors to cover up the murder by calling it a "training accident," Reacher and his aide investigate surreptitiously, soon discovering that his MP XO counterparts at twenty more bases throughout the world have also been newly appointed to their positions, all of them on or around December 29. Obvious questions arise about who is pulling the strings, who has the power to transfer so many MPs to new posts, and why someone would want to do so.

Child is a meticulous writer whose plot follows a strict chronological order and moves at a breath-taking pace, with one dramatic scene following hard on the heels of another. Reacher and his aide Summer are not fully developed characters, but they do not need to be as they struggle to learn who is controlling the grisly chess game which has resulted in four deaths. The action is resolved in an extravagant grand finale, with twists and turns and spectacular surprises. Though the ending resolves the disparate threads, it may also be a disappointment to some readers, since the premise behind the plot and the motivation which led to the murders, when finally revealed, seems too unrealistic to justify the murderous extremes to which "the enemy" has gone. Though Child is brilliant in creating an exciting story packed with action, the final pages feel cynical and reveal a view of humanity that is grim. Mary Whipple

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flashback to Reacher as Army Major / MP -- fine tale!, May 31, 2004

By	Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8) (Hardcover)

We've been hooked by Child's Jack Reacher series since reading "Killing Floor". Unlike the other seven, which feature our leading man as basically a vagrant vigilante, wandering around incognito solving difficult problems and snapping necks here and there (!), in "Enemy" we have almost a Clancy-style military thriller from when Jack was still in the Army. After being transferred rather suddenly just before New Year's 1990, Jack is soon embroiled in the murder of a 2-star found in an unlikely motel near the Ft. Bird post. When the general's wife, two states away, is murdered hours later, it's obvious something more sinister than an assignation gone bad is at hand. Reacher partners with an ambitious young black Lt. Summer, and together they chase clues (and each other periodically), with not as much violence on Jack's part as usual, until a conspiracy originating at high levels is uncovered. Still the plot takes unusual turns and twists right 'til the end, building deep suspense that keeps the page turns flying! And in the end, Jack administers a pleasing touch of his own brand of justice just in case!

An interesting side development is the death of Jack's mother in Paris. He meets his brother Joe there to visit with her and through some rather poignant scenes, we share the brothers' agony as they deal with their mother's dignified approach to a fatal cancer. This part of the story helps us make sense of later relationships and interactions between Reacher and Joe...

Child's stories never fail to entertain and "Enemy" is no exception. A complicated plot lets Reacher reveal his more intellectual side, and the "prequel" nature of this story sheds new light on his behavior in the current time tales that have preceded this book. All in all, another fine and enjoyable novel from Lee Child.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent, Gripping Read, December 13, 2004

By	Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8) (Hardcover)

I picked up Lee Child's The Enemy based on a number of recommendations, but not really knowing what the novel would be all about. The Enemy is an excellent thriller/mystery and I can see why Child's Jack Reacher series has so many followers (but don't understand why there aren't more). This is an excellent, well-written novel, with enough plot twists to keep you interested, some out of left field, some you may figure out on your own, but none that will disappoint. The novel opens on New Years' Eve 1989. Jack Reacher is an MP who has just been reassigned to an army base in North Carolina, and investigates the death of a general in a motel nearby. It looks like a heart attack, but things aren't adding up. Other, seemingly unrelated deaths and Reacher's got to figure it all out. The ending is both satisfying and plausible. Very well done. Enjoy.