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"A chilling thriller"

Jack Reacher is always on the move as the former military police officer goes wherever the whim takes him. He never worries about local trouble because he is a big athletic hombre who knows how to take care of himself.

Carmen Grant believes that Jack is the perfect person to kill her abusive spouse because he is huge and she believes he feels no remorse. Jack refuses so Carmen murders her husband, claiming self-defense. The district attorney happens to have been the deceased's best friend, and coincidentally happens to find no evidence of spousal abuse, so Jack begins making inquiries. Carmen abruptly confesses and someone kidnaps her daughter, leading Jack to conclude that something is rotten in Echo, Texas.

The anti-hero of ECHO BURNING believes in justice more than he accepts the law and is willing to dole out his brand when injustice occurs. Some readers will claim Jack is a desperado or vigilante while others will think he is a Robin Hood hero. Regardless, all will agree that his methods work and he only hunts those deserving of his ire. The story line is fascinating and complex with numerous subplots that tie back to the main theme while showing how creative a talent Lee Child is.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 1, 2001

Hitching rides is an unreliable mode of transport. In temperatures of over a hundred degrees, you're lucky if a driver will open the door of his air-conditioned car long enough to let you slide in. That's Jack Reacher's conclusion. He's adrift in the fearsome heat of a Texas summer, and he needs to keep moving through the wide open vastness, like a shark in the water. The last thing he's worried about is exactly who picks him up.

He never expected it to be somebody like Carmen. She's alone, driving a Cadillac. She's beautiful, young and rich. She has a little girl who is being watched by unseen observers. And a husband who is in jail. Who will beat her senseless when he comes out. If he doesn't kill her first.

Reacher is no stranger to trouble. And at Carmen's remote ranch in Echo County there is plenty of it: lies and prejudice, hatred and murder. Reacher can never resist a lady in distress. Her family is hostile. The cops can't be trusted. The lawyers won't help. If Reacher can't set things straight, who can?

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

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