Six shots, five people dead and a small Indiana city is thrown into a state of terror. Within hours, the cops have solved it. It's a slam-dunk case but there's one problem. Even in the face of overwhelming forensic evidence, the accused says they've got the wrong man. And he wants Jack Reacher to prove it. Jack Reacher, an ex-military cop and drifter catches the news on the television and immediately heads for Indiana. What he finds is the accused in a coma and a case that's a little bit too perfect.
Review
One Shot is not great literature but that's not Lee Child's thing. What is Lee Child's thing are fast-paced, smart, and well written thrillers that may be implausible but are a lot of fun to read. The action starts slowly as Child sets everything up. Once the pieces are in place, the pace picks up, the plot thickens and a case that originally looked watertight starts to unravel. Jack Reacher too is a great character. In a genre full of alcoholic, divorced, world-weary detectives, he's a breath of fresh air. He rides into town on a Greyhound bus, analyses the hell out of everything, kicks everyone's ass and rides off into the sunset with a clear conscience. Some of the stuff he does is frankly implausible but he does make enough mistakes to prevent him appearing omniscient.
In summary, not a great work of literature but a good thriller. The fast pace and smart plot makes this a real page-turner and One Shot will keep you hooked until the last page.
Read On
One Shot is the ninth book featuring Jack Reacher and the tenth is The Hard Way. Other rollicking thrillers with kick-ass characters and implausible storylines include Ice Station by Matthew Reilly and Map of Bones by James Rollins.
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