The Hard Way, Lee Child

Lee Child has out done himself with the new suspenseful thriller "The Hard Way". Reacher is drinking an espresso late one evening on a sidewalk cafe in New York when he sees a man get into a car and drives off. This is the beginning of a journey that leads Reacher into the hands of a mercenary, Edward Lane, who's wife was kidnapped along with her daughter. Five years earlier Lane's first wife was kidnapped and killed, so no cops on this case. With the mercenary market quite lucrative, Reacher is offered a million bucks to solve this. By piecing the puzzle together, Reacher uses more witt than mite, like Sherlock Holmes. By learning the chilling secrets of the past of his employer, Reacher is to deep in this to let it go, so he does it the hard way. The story leads the reader to England where a chilling stand off with mercenaries and Reacher have a show down.

Child has Reacher using his investigating skills more than his strength to out do Lane, but the ending is full of the hands on killing that Reacher is known for. The mystery is a great challenge for Reacher, but Child puts it all together in a good story. One of the best.