Persuader by Lee Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A ghost from the past returns to haunt Jack Reacher.

Thwarting a kidnap attempt brings Reacher into the inner sanctum of the Beck family and husband and father Zachary’s criminal enterprise.

But all is not as it first appears: Zachary Beck may be little more than a puppet on a string, he and his family held to ransom by a bigger and more ruthless villain.

Reacher is on a personal mission, a vendetta to right wrongs of the past and finish something he started many years ago.

‘Persuader’ is the seventh novel in Lee Child’s series featuring Jack Reacher, once again approached from a slightly different perspective to previous entries. As we dive into the action in the opening chapter's attempted kidnap scene, we are left wondering what has happened to the Reacher we've got to know in the previous six novels. As we discover what led Reacher to where we meet him again, it becomes clear that he has unfinished business and is entirely driven to correct this error.

In a rapidly evolving plot, multiple layers are at play as Reacher delves deeper into the circumstances surrounding what may be one of his most personal missions explored in the series so far. Flashbacks to Reacher's army days also feature throughout the narrative, the first time in the series we've delved into his history in this depth. One of his subordinates, Dominique Kohl, was probably one of my favourite characters in this installment, both her character and story vividly realised in her relatively few scenes.

I particularly enjoyed both the gothic elements woven into the plot - the secluded house, the long shadows of the past haunting the present, the family secrets and strife; and the isolated coastal setting, the cold ferocity of the ocean its own force beside the machinations of the criminals and those fighting against them. Once again, Lee Child delivers a gripping novel that explores a deeper layer to Reacher’s vigilante justice and never-ending habit of being drawn into wrongs that need righting in his vagabond’s journey across America. As always, we are left eagerly awaiting his next adventure.

Brutal and tragic, ‘Persuader’ is another action-packed thriller that delivers justice in Reacher’s own personal style.



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