Book Reviews and More: The Secret - Lee Child and Andrew Child

Saturday, 25 November 2023

The Secret - Lee Child and Andrew Child - Jack Reacher Book 28

The Secret
Jack Reacher Book 28
Lee Child

Andrew Child (Andrew Grant)

Delacorte Press
Penguin Random House Canada
ISBN 9781984818584

eISBN 9781984818591

ASIN B0BRPZLG9G

The Secret - Lee Child and Andrew Child - Jack Reacher Book 28 UK Edition

This is the fourth novel in the series that is a collaborative effort from Lee and Andrew Child. And the first they have written together that is set back when Jack is in the Military. A few years ago I read the first 24 Jack Reacher novels, and also the Jack Reacher short stories, novellas and crossovers. In fact, I had to make sure I read other books in between. After I read the first two that they co-wrote I read the 9 previously written by Andrew. And now I eagerly await the fall release of a new novel written by the two of them to continue the saga of Jack Reacher. Like the Epic of Gilgamesh, the story if Reacher is an epic tale that now spans decades. And Reacher has more adventure in most of the stories than some people have in a lifetime. And this fourth offering by the brothers Child is one of the best yet!

It has been a long wait of almost a year for this volume to be released. Once I started reading this it was done in less than 24 hours. I stayed up a little too late to finish this story because I could just put it down. This story is a very well written suspense thriller! But let us get back to this specific story.

This story begins with Reacher busted back to captain and looking into a case about arms that had issues. But before the arrests are even finished, he is approached and told he has a new assignment and to be in Washington the next morning. This is not the first time we have encountered Reacher on a multi-agency task force. But something about this mission is off from the beginning.

The description of this offering in the Reacher series states:

“A string of mysterious deaths. A long-classified mission. A young MP with nothing to lose.

1992. All across the United States respectable, upstanding citizens are showing up dead. These deaths could be accidents, and they don’t appear to be connected—until a fatal fall from a high-floor window attracts some unexpected attention.

That attention comes from the secretary of defense. All of a sudden he wants an interagency task force to investigate. And he wants Jack Reacher as the army’s representative. If Reacher gets a result, great. If not, he’s a convenient fall guy.

But office politics isn’t Reacher’s thing. Three questions quickly emerge: Who’s with him, who’s against him, and will the justice he dispenses be the official kind . . . or his own kind?”

This story has amore of a mystery element to it than some of the other Reacher novels. And I did figure it out before the reveal but not by much. It was interesting watching Reacher (Army) working with Amber Smith (FBI), Gary Walsh (Treasury Department), and Kent Neilsen (CIA) the team being coordinated and led by Christopher Baglin (DoD Department of Defense). Someone is knokcking off scientist from a project dating back to 1969, a project that seems to have had a project within a project, and hidden in a civilian facility. But the truth of what happened in 1969 and why is of importance, and there is someone out there working their way down a list to find out the clues to figure out what really happened.

Once again we must never underestimate Reacher. Once he has set his mind to something he will figure it out, the consequences be damned. And this time he has some help from other agents on the way out at their respective agencies.

This story is book 28 in the series but would be story number 7 in chronological order. As a side note I still prefer the UK covers to the North American ones.

This is another excellent volume from the Child brothers. And will leave readers desperate for the next instalment. If you are a fan of Reacher either from the books or TV show give it a read. And if you have never read a Reacher story it is as good a place to start as any. This is a great book in an always entertaining series!