Bantam The Affair: (Jack Reacher 16)

Been a huge fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher but steady on Lee. Far too many glaring errors such as picking up a spent shell to weigh in his hand to estimate the shells calibre - don’t think so! Possible fingerprint(s) not considered before touching it? There were so many errors which I read that I thought this book was not even written by Mr Child. And then the sexual encounters. Well, they were weary and just grasping at straws in stretching out what was a very poor story line, and sadly so unlike Mr Child’s previous fifteen books that they became reminiscent of the chic-lit market. And the killing and cover-up was the immoral side being given credence. Is Reacher now beyond the law, a maverick killer without any conscience? The scenes of violence were unnecessary illegal, and lacking in the ‘honour’ this character has previously in a dozen and more previous adventures demonstrated. Reacher is now just a single handed killing machine, and when he kills the protagonists as he does, gone is any morality, code of ethics and conduct. I found this book so incredibly disappointing, but then Mr Child has the right to take ‘his character’ in any direction he wants, but this reader will no longer follow him. Thanks for a previous fourteen good books, I enjoyed and appreciated them but perhaps it’s now time to retire Jack Reacher and move on.

Behind a bar in the Mississippi town of Carter Crossing a woman lies dead. With an army base nearby, the killer could be a member of the community or serving in the military. Sent in undercover, Jack Reacher must discover the truth, but he soon realises no-one wants to know what really happened. And when Reacher begins to dig into the town’s past, he learns the murdered woman isn’t a one-off.Although this is book number 16 in the Reacher series, the plot a little bit different to the other books, as the hero hasn’t yet made up his mind to leave the armed forces. This one is set a few months before the first book, Killing Floor, when Reacher is still a major in the army – it also hints at the story concerning Reacher’s brother, Joe, and his links to the treasury department. The story is intriguing and sets up a murder mystery that leads Reacher (and the reader) in different directions as he tries to uncover the truth.An enjoyable read that kept me wondering all the way through.

Pretty good read. It shows how a large organization, the military works. It is a fickle organisation, it causes its own problems, passes on the responsibility of sorting it out along the line, then, having sorted out the mess, you are out on your ear. You could see the way the wind was blowing, from early on. I must be honest, I was expecting a different outcome. Still , a good story.

Just finished 'The Affair', for the second time, or is it the third time. However, this is Reacher at his best. This book has it all, romance, kick-ass and straight talking Jack Reacher. Having read all the Reacher books to date, and having enjoyed every one of them. 'The Affair', has to be up there with there as one of the best JR adventures.

This reads as if someone else wrote it starts fine but is not the usual Lee Child style once it gets going. Maybe this was his original first go at writing a Reacher novel given it goes back to why Reacher leaves the service and was kept back until this point. If that's so he should have rewritten it, definitely not up to the standard we expect. Not recommended at all.