Released in October of this year, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher: The Secret is the 28th novel in his long-running book series. This particular novel was co-authored, in part, by Andrew Grant as well. Fans of the series eagerly await another Jack Reacher release like middle-aged moms on Black Friday. I had not read any of Child's books before, so I went in with little expectations. However, I found myself wanting to keep reading as the mystery captivated me.
Without having fully completed the novel, I do have a good gist of what has been going on so far. It does feel as if Child and Grant’s novel starts off strong with murder at the very first paragraph. Without spoiling too much about the main plot, (or the ending since I am still reading the novel) the novel begins with a man who witnessed an event in 1969 that was so important, two women are after him for information. . Flash forward to 1992, the witness is now in the hospital recovering from a heart attack.. As people in dire need of the answer to an important question do, they track him down and choose to “visit” him while he is in his hospital bed. Ultimately, they try to interrogate him for answers. . However, the witness is firm in his will power, and he refuses to answer them. It just goes to show the implications that such a secret entails in the novel. Since the witness refuses to play ball with the two women, they forcefully throw him out the hospital window as he plummets to his untimely death.
The government catches wind that one of their former witnesses was murdered in such a bizarre way. They order Jack Reacher to investigate the situation and track down the two women who have committed the murder. Upon vigorous investigation, Reacher finds that these two women are on a murdering spree. What happened in 1969 that holds such major implications to these women? Is there an inside job in regard to the “secret” at hand? Are these women hired by the government to cover up a mistake? Is Jack Reacher hired to find any loose ends? All these questions are sure to be answered as I continue reading.
It was incredibly interesting to see the backstory of Jack Reacher as he is tasked on this mission. Without having read any of the last Jack Reacher novels, Child and Grant do a good job of not losing the reader by providing them with necessary backstory. Reacher is a captain in this novel due to his demotion from major. This is because he apparently assaulted an army general by slamming his head into his own desk. I’d probably court martial Reacher for doing something like that as well. Regardless, the government simply can’t let him go because he is as good a detective as they come. I look forward to finishing the latter half of this novel to see just how important the stipulations behind a government secret truly are.
