Make Me by Lee Child

Reacher's not on a bus this time. He's on a train. Headed north for Chicago before it gets cold. Why is he headed for Chicago? No idea. He just is.

A stop in the middle of nowhere on the prairie gets his attention. Mother's Rest. How'd a town get such a name? Being a nosy sort, and with time on his hands, he decides to get off and find out. He's the only one getting off. Lots of grain elevators, stores that support farmers, North-south streets perpendicular to the east-west streets. And a woman coming from behind one of the grain elevators trying to get his attention.

Wrong person. She's looking for Keever, a fellow PI in a loose-knit nationwide firm made up of ex-cops and FBI types. Keever's big. So is Reacher. Honest mistake. Her name is Michelle Chang and her home base is Seattle.

Mistaken identity. Happens. Reacher gets a room and starts to wander around asking how the town got its name, but folks aren't happy. It's a bit odd that Reacher and Chang show up so close in time to Keever being dumped deep into a hog pen. The motel manager, the FedEx guy, an irrigation parts store clerk, the Maloney brothers and others are instructed to keep an eye on Reacher and Chang. They might be working together.

Which Reacher and Chang eventually do. Work together. And through a long series of 'maybe' and 'suppose' and 'could be' and 'what if' scenarios, they work their way to Oklahoma City, LA, San Francisco, and Phoenix before retuning to Mother's Rest to settle up with the locals.

#20 in the Jack Reacher series. All best sellers; 10 reached #1. All optioned to Hollywood. Child is obviously doing something right.

And what's right is that he continues to come up with a storyline better than the previous outing and that makes this one the best ever, at least until #21 comes out next fall. Child reveals just enough to get the reader thinking the plot will take this direction before slamming on the brakes and heading off to something entirely different. And each turn turns darker and darker until Reacher and Chang are facing a band of psychopaths that provide the cruelest and sickest service possible for a very discreet and well-heeled clientele.

It's no wonder that Child is on the top of most guy's power rotation. Me included.

East Coast Don