Every autumn a new Jack Reacher mystery arrives. Lee Child and Andrew Child return with The Secret (2023, Delacorte Press), the 28th Reacher book in the series.
Reacher books have a wide following, helped by two Tom Cruise films. Now, I’m not for or against Cruise as Reacher, but he did increase the character’s popularity. The Reacher series on Amazon Prime has also gained traction with its second season launching this month.
I don’t generally talk about plots of books I review, I’m not one to ruin a good story. The authors have this Reacher story not in the present, but in 1992. The Soviet Union has collapsed, but the twin towers have not. The world is a dangerous and unpredictable place. Reacher is active Army and has been demoted from Major to captain.
Scientists are being murdered and Reacher is assigned to an interagency task force to identify the assassin and save the remaining scientists. Then things get difficult.
This is not your typical Jack Reacher book. And that’s a good thing. The past few books in the series were reaching if you pardon the pun. The plots were becoming outrageous and the violence extreme. While The Secret has its share of murder, less of it is described and the plot is certainly fanciful, but within the bounds of reason. This series is tough to keep interesting and inventive, sooner or later, Reacher will have foiled all of the large-scale crime operations and used his large army boot to squash evil.
That’s why going back in time is such a great storyline. Reacher is Reacher, that’s not a surprise; but we see a younger version who is not quite the Reacher we know. This story has a bit of character humor which is refreshing.
The Secret is one of the best Reacher books. I hope the next one has the freshness and spirit of this one.
4.5/5
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