The Enemy by Lee Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A gripping military crime thriller.

On New Year's Day, just after midnight, Jack Reacher receives a call advising a general has been found dead in a motel.

Though apparently the result of natural causes, the general's death triggers a chain of events that results in multiple homicides.

Fighting a system intent on a cover-up, Reacher pursues the trail across the US and Europe, uncovering a conspiracy that reaches the upper echelons of the military.

'The Enemy' is the eighth novel in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, and prequel to the previous seven books. Taking us back to 1990 and the beginning of a new year and new decade, we meet a younger Reacher, not yet thirty, still a Military Police Major in the US Army, over seven years before we first met him in 'Killing Floor' as the drifter with no fixed abode. An action-packed, thrilling mystery; this is the beginning of Reacher’s journey to becoming a ghost.

With a complex plot involving multiple deaths miles apart and a missing agenda claimed never to have existed, we follow Reacher’s determined efforts to uncover the truth, despite resistance by his colleagues and superiors, as it becomes apparent a military conspiracy is in play, someone manoeuvring key military personnel for motives unknown in response to events on the world stage – the Soviet Union is crumbling, thus change is expected to follow in the US military. Beneath the honour, the patriotism, the comradery and loyalty, there is a dark and sinister underbelly, somewhere Reacher has all too often had to wade in his role as a military police officer. The novel also touches upon the institutional prejudice within the military – homophobia, racism and sexism seemingly hardwired, sowing unease into the lives of those suffering this discrimination.

With heightened emotional stakes, we learn a little more about Reacher's relationship with his brother Joe as they journey to France to visit their mother, whom they discover to be gravely ill. This is a poignant and often moving chapter in the saga; already we can feel the sense of Reacher’s detachment, dislocation and loneliness that comes with being posted at various bases in the US and Europe, while the bond he develops with Lieutenant Summer adds another emotional layer, something quite affecting about a genuine connection that circumstances dictate to be so fleeting.

At this stage of his life, Reacher still believes in the Army and the system; it has been his life, having grown up with his father in the military, and he has remained loyal and dedicated, but he discovers, as if often the case with institutions and those that wield its power, there is no loyalty in return. It's tragic to witness the disintegration of this faith and his growing disillusionment, this investigation setting him on the path to how he will ultimately come to walk away from his life several years later.

Lee Child delivers another gripping and entertaining novel, once again approaching from a different angle, this time going back in time – it’s always fascinating to explore events that led to a future we’ve already explored. There are already several more prequels dotted throughout the series, set between 'The Enemy' and 'Killing Floor', and I look forward to delving further into Reacher's past as the series progresses.



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