Review of "The Hard Way" by Lee Child

This author seems to be able to turn out these exciting tales like pouring a cup of coffee. The hero’s name is Reacher. He is, of course, tough and smart. He is an epic hero who fades into the sunset at the end, while the reader hopes to see him again. As Jack Reacher is quietly prowling the streets of the city, he spots a black Mercedes taking off. It is only later that finds that there is one million dollars in the car that was to be used for the ransom. The kidnapped victim is the wife of Edward Lane, who is a rich man whose first wife was kidnapped and murdered. This time, his wife and her daughter were taken. Lane lures Reacher into the hunt for the lost pair and to help figure out where they are. This man, Lane, runs a group of soldiers that are for hire anywhere in the world. They are all ex-members of an elite military group and they are all killers.

Reacher gets involved and finally gets suspi8cious about the whole deal. He meets and takes up with an ex-FBI agent who worked on the first kidnapping and murder. She is a female, of course, and they soon worked together on the mystery.

It’s an exciting adventure with a satisfactory, if explosive, ending. Reacher walks off into wherever he goes with the satisfaction of solving and saving a viscous plot and an innocent woman.