The Enemy: A Reacher Novel

Lee Child

May 2004 · Jack Reacher Book 8 · Sold by Delacorte Press

About this ebook

Don’t miss the hit streaming series Reacher! 

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING JACK REACHER SERIES • “A thriller that gallops at a breakneck pace.”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Soldier’s son. An elite military cop, he was one of the army’s brightest stars. But in every cop’s life there is one case that changes everything. For Jack Reacher, this is that case.
 
New Year’s Day, 1990. In a North Carolina motel, a two-star general is found dead. His briefcase is missing. Nobody knows what was in it. Within minutes Reacher has his orders: Control the situation. Within hours the general’s wife is murdered. Then the dominoes really start to fall.
 
Somewhere inside the vast worldwide fortress that is the U.S. Army, Reacher is being set up as a fall guy with the worst enemies a man can have. But Reacher won’t quit. He’s fighting a new kind of war—against an enemy he didn’t know he had. And against a conspiracy more chilling, ingenious, and treacherous than anyone could have guessed.
 
The Enemy, like most of the books in the Jack Reacher series, can be read as a standalone thriller.

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: Nice backstory, weak mystery . PLOT OR PREMISE: Jack Reacher is still in the military and gets transferred out of Panama just before New Year's Eve, 1989. The Berlin Wall is falling, Panama is heating up with Noriega, and Reacher is watching grass grow at his new post, until a General drops dead at a seedy motel. . WHAT I LIKED: The story gives more of Reacher's back story, and it is interesting to see the "man alone" working within a command structure with others. And it is an interesting premise -- what do you do in the military when the future looks like you're about to become obsolete? The supporting characters were good, and it was nice to see Reacher with his brother and mother. At the end, there is a twist about an error Reacher makes early on that comes back to bite him, and it is a great element to keep. The aftermath is kind of abrupt, with who went where and what happened next, but hard to avoid in a "flashback" style story. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The premise for the story is a little far-fetched, but when they get to the final reveal, the real specific motive is ridiculous as the people involved would never have done what they did, at least not on paper, and not openly. Reacher stumbles around in the dark long past where certain lines of enquiry should have been obvious, and particulalry for the identify of a specific witness. And the killer. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media.

As usual, this is another great Jack Reacher book!!! I'm reading these books in the order in which they were released. So, this book makes ABSOLUTELY NO CHRONOLOGICAL SENSE!!! This Should have been the 1st Reacher book, NOT the 8th! Another issue I'm having is that in ALL of the previous books he's addressed as "'MAJOR' Jack Reacher", not Captain! EXTREMELY poor choice in making this the 8th book instead of the 1st! You Should have, at least, made it seem like he was telling someone this story!!

Finished The Enemy in one sitting... very hard to put down. Reacher novels would make for much better movies with out Tom Cruise. He was placed into shoes we all know he can't fill.

About the author

Lee Child is the author of nineteen New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, ten of which have reached the #1 position. All have been optioned for major motion pictures; the first, Jack Reacher, was based on One Shot. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in almost a hundred territories. A native of England and a former television director, Lee Child lives in New York City.