Author Lee Child has created a bestselling series of books featuring hero Jack Reacher, the tall lone stranger who arrives into town not usually looking for trouble, but trouble has a way of coming to him. In Lee Child’s latest book, The Midnight Line, Jack Reacher sees a West Point class ring from 2005 in a pawn shop. It makes him curious. It is a small ring, clearly owned by a woman cadet, and it would have been her graduation present to herself. Jack Reacher is a West Pointer too, and he knows how much blood, sweat and tears went into graduating – so he asks himself one simple question – why would she give it up?
It becomes a quest for Reacher, as he tracks the ring back to its owner, step by step, encountering criminals and junkies along the way. Will he find her? Will she be okay? If not, he will want justice for her at any costs. What he eventually finds is not what he would have imagined…
I think this may be Lee Child’s best thriller yet. I was gripped as the action draws closer to the missing woman. And I don’t want to do any spoilers, but when Reacher finally encounters the missing woman she has a story that you won’t want to miss. She is a character who is strong, but damaged, living on the edges of society after tragedy – and it delves into some very interesting themes, while still being an unputdownable thriller.
The tagline on the front cover declares ‘A righteous avenger for our troubled times – we all need Jack Reacher’ which I think is nicely put and reflective of the novel. Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers, and after reading The Midnight Line, it is easy to see why.