One Shot (Jack Reacher, No. 9) | Lee Child

One Shot (Jack Reacher, No. 9) | Lee Child | The caring, compassionate Reacher

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One Shot (Jack Rea...

	One Shot (Jack Reacher, No. 9) Lee Child Dell, 2006 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 128 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Jack and the Sniper

When there's a treat you can only enjoy on rare occasion, you may wait a bit to indulge in it. The anticipation heightens the pleasure, and when you finally get to it, you need to be careful not to have it disappear too quickly. Such are Lee Child's Jack Reacher books with me: delights I can only read once a year or so, lest I run out of them too quickly.

One Shot, the ninth Reacher book, opens with a sniper striking out at people as they leave their work, killing five in just a few seconds. Though the killer disappears, the police are able to determine pretty quickly that the sniper is James Barr. Barr is arrested within hours of the attack and remains silent except for two statements: he declares he is innocent and he wants Jack Reacher.

The evidence against Barr is overwhelming, though one of the first rules of thrillers is that the obvious suspect is rarely the actual criminal. It would seem that Reacher, then, would be the one to fight to save Barr, but when he arrives, he actually has a different agenda: he wants Barr convicted. What Reacher knows is that back in the days of the Gulf War, Barr - a trained sniper - had committed a similar crime, and only politics and luck saved him from conviction. Reacher wants to make sure this injustice doesn't happen again.

Though convinced of Barr's guilt, Reacher is also certain that there is more to the story. Barr was part of a conspiracy; unfortunately, an attack in jail has left Barr with no memory of the event or his role in it. Reacher is right, though, and the others involved in this killing are willing to resort to additional murder to cover up their role in the crime.

I've always believed that the mark of a truly good novel leaves with you two conflicting feelings: you want to turn the pages faster to know what's going to happen, but you also want to read more slowly so the experience doesn't end. As with Child's other books, this one fits into that category. Whether you've read the other books in the series or not (each novel stands by itself), One Shot is a top-of-the-line thriller well worth reading.

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The caring, compassionate Reacher

Who says he's a cold calculating killer? I think he's a complicated, caring and compassionate individual who runs into some pretty strange situations, but he's more than capable of dealing with what comes his way.

Compassionate: When asking questions of a reluctant lawyer, "Do you have medical insurance?"

Caring: Still with the interview with the lawyer, "Do you have a dental plan?"

Capable: He brings a knife to a gun fight.

Yes, Reacher won't disappoint the reader who's been with him through all the previous novels. This would make a good movie.

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One of Lee Child's Best!

I started with Tripwire and it hooked me, but with the Reacher story you can start with just about any one of them. Just be aware not all of Lee Child's Reacher novels fill in the blanks about the character completely. You have to read several to start getting the full background on him. Very much like the James Bond character took time to flesh-out. Reacher is no James Bond he is much better, more graphically violent, and the kind of un-sophisticated, un-PC guy we all would want to be like if we stopped conforming to society's expectations, plus he is ex-military which always draws me into a character. We'll see if they ever get the movies made that I have heard are in the works. Hopefully it will be the darker style of the books and not cheese version that Hollywood has done with other action figures. Reacher is a good guy, but he does things his way which aren't always the "proper way" and is what I like about him. Also if you ever wanted to "drop-off the face of the earth" yet still live life your way, then the Jack Reacher stories are for you.

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