Review of The Affair by Lee Child (a Reacher novel)

I began reading the “Jack Reacher” novels in 1998 when the The Killing Floor was first published in a mass-market paperback. After finishing it, I immediate passed it around to other employees at the old Stardust Hotel here in Las Vegas. The novel was a winner in every sense of the word. Everyone who read The Killing Floor was hooked just as I was. We couldn’t wait for the next book to come out. I, however, was the only one to buy the hardcover of Die Trying. I couldn’t wait another year for the paperback to be published. From then on I’ve read every “Jack Reacher” novel in hardcover within a month or so of it hitting the stands. All of the books have been good, while some of them have actually been great. Still, I secretly felt as if Mr. Child would never be able to top his first novel…that The Killing Floor would always remain his best.
Wrong!

The newest “Jack Reacher” novel, The Affair, has now taken over the mantle as the best of the series. I kid you not. This novel had me staying up late at night, reading it as quickly as I could. Only work, a movie, and sleep interrupted my progress. I knew it was going to be great within the first few chapters and the author didn’t disappoint me.

The Affair takes place while Reacher is still in the Army during the year of 1997. In fact, it’s his last mission before being booted out of the service for being an honest cop who always gets to the truth of any situation, no matter what the consequences. This time around, Reacher is ordered to Carter Crossing, Mississippi to act as an undercover investigator in the brutal slaying of a beautiful white woman, who may have been dating the commander of the nearby military base. The base is where an elite group of Rangers hold house when not fighting in Kosovo. The commander, Reed Riley, is the son of a powerful senator, who also happens to control the purse strings of the armed forces. This is a situation in which bad results could affect everyone involved.

Once Reacher arrives in Carter Crossing, he encounters the local sheriff, Elizabeth Deveraux, an ex-Marine and the daughter of the previous sheriff. She’s as tough as they come and as beautiful as any woman Reacher has ever seen. Not trusting each other at first, both gradually join forces as more deaths occur. Reacher also discovers that the white woman wasn’t the first female killed by being hung upside down and having her throat slit open. There were two black women before her who were just as lovely and who were also dating the base’s commander.

It’s difficult for Reacher to remain undercover for long. Just his size alone makes him stand out, not the mention the countless questions he starts asking the locals. Some of the locals don’t like him being there, and he has to take on several of them to prove his not someone you want to mess around with. Even six rednecks against one military police officer don’t have much of a chance in succeeding once Reacher is riled up.

Anyway, as Reacher slowly, but methodically, gets closer to the truth, he finds the officers above him putting roadblocks in front of every steps he stays. All they’re concerned with is protecting the Army’s good name, not in finding out the identity of the killer or the truth behind what’s been happening in Carter Crossing. Reacher soon becomes intimately involved with the sheriff, only to find out that all roads seem to come back to her and that she has connections to the base commander and certainly knows how to kill someone with a sharp hunter’s knife. Reacher definitely has his work cut out for him this time around. If the killer doesn’t get to him first, the Army just might.

Who do you trust?

No one.

In many ways, I consider The Affair to be a perfect crime novel that’s filled with just the right amount of suspense, action, extremely strong character development, hooks that grab you at the end of most chapters, and a twist or two at the end. Lee Child is definitely a master of the written word, and this time around he’s knocked the ball right out the park. Crime novels don’t get much better than this.

The author also manages to capture the small-town atmosphere correctly and how dependent the community is on the nearby military base for its financial security. I’ve known towns just like Carter Crossing in North Carolina where Camp Lejune and Cherry Point Marine Corp Base are located. So much of the town is made up of bars, adult bookstores, pawn shops, cheap furniture stores, and used car lots. If a base closes up shop, the town quickly disappears as all the businesses close.

And, what about the main character—Jack Reacher? It was fun to see how everything began for our huge, slightly tarnished hero and how he ended up being voluntarily discharged from the Army after the case was over. He knew it was coming if he stayed on the same path in his quest for find a murderer, but it still surprised him when it happened. You put your life on the line time and time again in the service for your country, only to discover that the upper brass doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you and what you’ve sacrificed to get the job done. Such is the way with large corporations, and the U. S. Army is definitely a large corporation. Of course, if Reacher hadn’t been cashiered out of the military, we wouldn’t have a sixteen-novel series to read by Lee Child.

So, if you’re waiting for the paperback to come out…don’t. Run out and get this hardcover right now, whether it’s new or used. You don’t want to wait a year to read this. It’s that good! Now, all I want to know is how the author intends to top this one.