Without Fail (Jack Reacher #6) by Lee Child****

Reading dates: 2 October – 8 November 2018

This is my favourite Reacher so far. Perfect pace, perfect level of reveal. Reacher is cool and calm, gets a partner, gets a girl and works things out, rather than spends page after page, punching, trapping and shooting. The plot is about an assassination threat to the vice-president of the US so there are anonymous letters, and the secret service and FBI get involved. We get to know Reacher better through a little bit of family history revealed and this enhances the book considerably. Geographically, we move between North Dakota, D.C., Georgetown and Wyoming and the contrast works in the writing. The baddies are clever and efficient, a good match for Reacher. My only issue is with the resolution, when the baddies turn out to be less clever and efficient all of a sudden. Yes, indeed, the whole mess has to be resolved somehow but after weeks of grief, it all gets done in 10 minutes, and it feels insubstantial and dissatisfying.

I am going to give Reacher a rest before carrying on with the series through #4, which I missed.