The Enemy: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher Book 8)

Classic Reacher but all while he is still in the military. Easy to see why he was so comfortable with being discharged, he was always “his own man”!

It makes my head spin to try and keep up with the twists and turns in the plot. But now I'm not happy unless I'm reading Reacher. If anyone had ever told me I'd fall in love with thrillers I would've laughed in their face. But I'm hooked now and everything else seems too tame. Not that I'm real happy about it.

Another wonderful Reacher adventure with great characters and a very entertaining storyline. You won't want to put this one down.

On the very day the Berlin Wall falls, in North Carolina, inside a dirty motel in the middle of nowhere, a Colonel of the US armored branch dies of a heart attack. And wearing a still unused condom. The highest ranking military cop on duty in the area is Jack Reacher, and was appointed there only one day before. He deftly dismisses the incident. But he gets upraised by his boss, as this is a very important colonel who died. So he has to go and show face, and also break news to the widow -not sure about the condom though. But as it turns out, the dead Colonel was on his way from Berlin to California. So why does he show up dead of apparently natural causes in North Carolina? And is it just coincidence that Reacher was transferred there only one day ago?I read all of Jack Reacher novels and short stories over the past two and something years. Lee Child's novels don't come out every two months, so I knew I would go back and re read those that lingered in my mind as the most memorable: The Enemy, Persuader, and Killing Floor. Turns out those are also books that received awards. Come to think of, I will also revisit Bad Luck and Trouble.Looking back, it seems pretty darn obvious that the best Reacher stories are those in which his past as a military cop bears heavily. And The Enemy takes place right on those days. In a nutshell, the novel is about Reacher investigating murders leading him as to how the US army will adjust to the fact that the Soviet Union has collapsed. Some will go to desperate measures. From making a brutal murder pass as a "training accident", and as far as to command tanks to fire at people. Well, not people at random, but at one particularly resilient military cop.In between, Reacher will find and examine a lot of corpses, will travel to Germany and France, will hang out with his brother and his mom, and will be marked for assassination by the most glamorized assassins in the world. He will also go AWOL, and set things right with one single bullet. Or almost right. Depending on how you look at this novel, there is either a lot going on, or not much going on. Reacher is a committed cop, so he carries his investigations to the very end, and to the last consequences. But all the wrong bells are ringing here. So keep on reading.There is a nice interplay of themes I only got to feel on the first read, so revisiting the book was decidedly a good idea. I got to appreciate the interplay even more, in which a quite prominent theme that has to do with the German occupation of France, back in the 1940s, bolts straight back to the title of the novel, "The Enemy". Just as the enemy that has collapsed and triggered all sort of things in motion, things which Reacher begins to figure out by the end.For fans of Reacher, they will find here some good introspective moments, also ingrained with his family life and personal biography. Those who are seeking the violent displays of Killing Floor will find them a bit scarce, but life cannot be a succession of explosive violence resulting in broken necks, plus mind you, Reacher here is doing his job. At least supposedly. So you have to wonder why does he has to take down other cops. Well, not many, but he does.This books is also about Reacher building a case, and an extremely weak case it turns out to be. His deductions end up missing a lot of evidence. By the end of the book, the very last paragraphs were a bit dry to my taste. But that's how Reacher will let you into this story, and how he will decide to close it.Do I regret re reading it? Like hell, no. It was a good idea actually. I read it at a very slow pace, and enjoyed it a lot again, and most importantly: differently.Would I recommend it? A tricky one. To those who enjoyed Killing Floor, yes, as Killing Floor continues to be for me at least the best entry point to the series. Other curious readers, read the other reviews and give it a try if you are teased.I am onto rereading Persuader next.

I love the reacher books but this one became hard to follow. Too much fluff; it was like the author was just trying to make it longer.

I found this Reacher novel by Lee Child much more convoluted (in a good way) than other Reacher novels I have read. Not as fast-paced as Child's later Reacher books, but for a good reason. The book also provides insight into the backstory for later Reacher books. I enjoyed it very much.

Lee Child can weave an interesting tale about Jack Reacher but may drive readers who are familiar with proper sentence structure and use of punctuation to the brink. I know that’s the case for me. I purchased the entire Jack Reacher series of books after seeing the first season of the series. I never would have read so many of his books if I hadn’t already paid for them. I have often wondered why, with all the money that Lee Child must have brought in from his writing, he can’t seem to afford a staff who will proofread and correct the many mistakes throughout his books. Same goes for his publisher. I held onto hope with each successive book that he might learn something about writing and make his books easier to read. I hoped, with the addition of his brother on the last couple, that the books would improve but seemed to get only worse. Sometimes, 2 whole pages of back-and-forth banter are written with nothing to occasionally let you know who is speaking, so multiple readings may be needed at times to sort it out. I think almost all, if not all, of the pages have sentences with commas where none are needed, periods where commas are needed, clauses used as sentences, and a new paragraph starting from a clause that belongs in the previous sentence of the preceding paragraph. As I said, hard to read if you understand basic sentence structure. There are often times where I wish Lee had done one iota of research to get facts right. I refer to passages in the stories where it was apparent that Lee Child had no experience or knowledge; I guess, more or less, the writing is off the top of his head. Some problems are: 1: He thinks the flashing emergency lights of vehicles in the western states are the same as in much of the New England states (blue on fire trucks and red on police). 2: He didn’t know what the average shoe size in America is actually 10 ½ (stating it as 9) 3: He thinks a large man like Jack Reacher would have what Lee evidently thinks of as a large foot size of 11, instead of something closer to 14 or 15 (I am 6’1” and wear a 13.) I assume Lee has a small foot. 4: Lee has never been near a fast-moving train, thinking there is violent ground movement when the train is even over a mile away and hurricane force winds near one traveling 60 mph. 5: He seems to think that all gas stations and quick marts sell khaki pants and various shirts, packs of socks, and underwear. 6: Jack Reacher can knock anyone unconscious and very often dead with one punch. I can remember only a couple times when it took two. 7: He thinks face bones will “shatter” from a Jack Reacher punch and can knock out a gorilla or even an elephant. Jack also never has injuries to his hand or elbow from such amazing blows. 8: Jack Reacher’s hands are said to be as large as a dinner plate and his fists as large as Thanksgiving turkeys…really? Yes, his books are hard to read for these and other reasons caused by lack of oversight by his publisher and lack of staff. Please, I hope never to find out he has a staff that lets this stuff through. Good storyteller, other than the lack of research on details and no idea as to sentence/paragraph structure.. Rating would be five for the story.Won't buy future books

Book arrived on time in an excellent condition. Thank you

like a great crime jack reacher want dissapoint

It's a Lee Child book so a good read as all his others have been.

Ein packend geschriebener, extra harter Rückblick in Reachers Army-Dienstzeit... vor der realen Hintergrundfolie unserer deutsch-deutschen Vergangenheit. 👍👍👍👍👍Ein echter Lesegenuss!

Lovely input and fantastic thrill. Love it all the way. It got a little lengthy towards the end but I L;over it

This book keeps the suspense alive until the end! it was a great read.