Nothing to Lose
by Lee Child

Release Date: 24th Mar 2008
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 978 0 59305 702 5
RRP: £17.99

Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher adventure is set between two small towns in the middle of nowhere – one is called Hope, the other Despair – no guessing which one is going to cause Jack more bother than the other. Only Jack could get kicked out of a town for vagrancy and take it personally. And it’s his keen nose for trouble that lands him in a fresh load of ... er herm.

Reacher isn’t alone (he never is for long), local female cop at Hope called Vaughan decides that he’s too pretty to get his head kicked in by the rather vicious lot at Despair who are all gunning for any strangers (or vagrants) that are where they shouldn’t be. The town, it seems, is under the militant control of Mr Thurman; the owner of the only local source of employment, the land owner and also their preacher.

When a girl shows up in Hope looking for her boyfriend who has disappeared in Despair, Reacher smells a rat and decides to make his presence felt in a town that really doesn’t want anyone nosing around. And when the townsfolk of Despair start showing alarming signs of sickness, Reacher is only too happy to get his hands dirty and start digging up the dirt.

Vaughan is a more than useful sidekick for the imitable Jack Reacher, although she would have been more realistic had she been more reticent to comply with Reacher’s inevitably illegal behaviour. From religious zealots, to smuggling deserters, this novel simply packs in the action. In classic Reacher style, there are some amazing fight scenes and clever manoeuvrings by Jack – just when you think Child’s can’t make him any better – he goes and does it.

This is addictive reading at its peak. You are quickly absorbed into Reacher’s world and way of thinking. This is unstoppable.

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