Lee Child: Without fail

By MICHELE HEWITSON

Jack Reacher is the man with no fixed address, no official identity, no job and no emotional ties. He's got a very big bank account and no cashflow card. He's the perfect character for the thriller: Child can put him in a new place every time and can flesh out his story a little at a time, so that he remains enigmatic but becomes familiar.

We know Reacher was a former military cop, we know he has bad dreams and itchy feet. We know that he is part guardian angel and part worst nightmare. In this fourth Reacher novel Child has written another winner. He draws you in by feeding you just enough of the plotline, and then drawing back to his main character, whose ambiguities are what make him endearing.

Without Fail sees Reacher tracked down by his dead brother's former girlfriend. She's an officer in the US Secret Service; so was his brother, Joe. M.E. Froelich (she's known only by her initials) wants him to have a go at knocking off the Vice-President. Or maybe she wants him to protect him. Whatever the job really entails, Reacher's not going to be able to turn it down once she evokes Joe's name.

Action-packed and full of conspiracy. And he may or may not want to get the girl.

Bantam Press

$34.95