One Shot Lee Child | ISBN : 0-385-33668-3

One Shot

Author: Lee Child

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Publication Date: 14 June, 2005

ISBN: 9780385336680

Pages: 384

Subjects: Mystery, Suspense, Thrillers, Crime

Available as: Trade Cloth, 978-0-375-43338-2 Trade Cloth, 978-0-385-33668-0 Trade Paper, 978-0-440-42301-0

Description:

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, from the world he lives in-no phone, no address, no commitments-ex--military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. In Lee Child's astonishing new thriller, Reacher's arrival will change everything-about a case that isn't what it seems, about lives tangled in baffling ways, about a killer who missed one shot-and by doing so give Jack Reacher one shot at the truth.... The gunman worked from a parking structure just thirty yards away-point-blank range for a trained military sniper like James Barr. His victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But why does Barr want Reacher at his side? There are good reasons why Reacher is the last person Barr would want to see. But when Reacher hears Barr's own words, he understands. And a slam-dunk case explodes. Soon Reacher is teamed with a young defense lawyer who is working against her D.A. father and dueling with a prosecution team that has an explosive secret of its own. Like most things Reacher has known in life, this case is a complex battlefield. But, as always, in battle, Reacher is at his best. Moving in the shadows, picking his spots, Reacher gets closer and closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. And for Reacher, the only way to take him down is to know his ruthlessness and respect his cunning-and then match him shot for shot.... From the Hardcover edition.

PW Publishers Weekly

Review Source: Publishers Weekly

Review Date: 2005-05-23

The final sentence of Child's ninth suspenser (after The Enemy)-"Then he could buy a pair of shoes and be just about anywhere before the sun went down"-is quintessential Jack Reacher, the rugged ex-army cop who practically defines the word "loner" and kicks ass with the best of 'em. In the book's gripping opening, five people are killed when a shooter opens fire in a small unnamed Indiana city. But when ex-infantry specialist James Barr is apprehended, he refuses to talk, saying only, "Get Jack Reacher for me." But Reacher's already en route; having seen a news story on the shooting, he heads to the scene with disturbing news of his own: "[Barr's] done this before. And once was enough." Nothing is what it seems in the riveting puzzle, as vivid set pieces and rapid-fire dialogue culminate in a slam-bang showdown in the villains' lair. (And what villains: a quintet of Russian ?migr?s, the stuff of everybody's worst nightmares, led by a wily 80-year-old who makes Freddy Krueger look like Little Lord Fauntleroy.) As usual, Child makes the most of Reacher's dry wit, cut-to-the-chase psychology and stubborn taciturnity-in short, this is a vintage double play for author and leading man. Agent, Darley Anderson. (June 21) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved