Jane Stewart's Reviews > The Affair

Mostly solving a mystery. It’s fun because it’s Reacher.

STORY BRIEF:
Books 1 to 15 in the Jack Reacher series flow in chronological order. All of them are set after Reacher left the army in March 1997 except for Book 8 (The Enemy) and this one. This book 16 goes back in time and is set in March 1997. It describes Reacher’s last investigation as an MP before he left the army.

A woman is murdered in a small town in Mississippi. The Kellum army base is nearby. They army is hoping that the murderer is not a soldier. One MP is sent to investigate within the army base. Reacher is assigned to go undercover as a civilian and work with the local cops to investigate. Reacher and the local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux become an item. Reacher learns other women have been murdered in the same manner and some civilians have been shot near the army base.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
My favorite Reacher stories are the thrillers where the reader is in the bad guy’s head. I like seeing the bad guy’s motivations, plans and action to get Reacher. This book is not a thriller. We’re not in the head of any bad guy, but that’s ok. This is mystery, suspense, and some action. It’s enjoyable and entertaining because it’s Reacher. I like being in his world. Again, as with all the Reacher stories you need to suspend disbelief. Don’t try to hold him to technicalities. I will admit there were a few things about the plot that were not developed or explained well, but they were minor. This is my comic book hero escape.

One of the fun things I like about Reacher is how he confronts people and does not avoid conflict, which is so opposite of me. I like to avoid confrontation whenever possible. In this story, three army rangers are assigned to “sort of” arrest Reacher for a few hours. My reaction would be to sneak around and hope they don’t find me. What does Reacher do? He calls them on the phone and says I’m in the diner, here’s how I suggest you approach the diner to get me, but I’m not going with you.

Early in the story, Reacher’s boss orders him to investigate the case from the civilian side. I was chuckling at Reacher’s comment “You want ME to impersonate a CIVILIAN?” Apparently he had never done this before. Then I was chuckling on the subject of Reacher’s toothbrush. (We hear about this toothbrush in every book.) He needs to purchase traveling supplies, so he goes shopping for a toothbrush. He really likes this folding covered toothbrush and buys it. Later in the story, his boss tells Reacher not to go back to Mississippi. Reacher says I need to go back for my personal property. His boss asks what did you leave there? Reacher said my toothbrush. His boss said forget it. Reacher asked will the army reimburse me for it? His boss said no. Reacher said then I need to go back and get it... I then thought of another scene from one of the other books. Some bad guys trashed Reacher’s motel room and stepped on his toothbrush. Reacher walks in and isn’t bothered by the destruction until he sees his broken toothbrush, “b****rds he yells.

SEX SCENES:
I was laughing out loud at the sex scenes (in a good way - I’m not being critical). This book has more sex than any of the other Reacher books. It had six sex scenes. I’ve read a lot of romance with sex scenes written by female authors. They are sensual and passionate and designed to turn on a female reader. The Reacher sex scenes are not. They are written by a man and told from Reacher’s perspective. And they fit Reacher. There is nothing wrong with them. I just find it funny the way they are geared to a guy - not written to appeal to a female. I liked it for the humor. It fits.

SECOND STORY 4 stars:
To my surprise a second story by Lee Child was at the end of this audiobook. It was a short story, 1 ½ hours long. It was titled “Second Son.” It’s about Reacher when he was 13 years old in 1974. His brother Joe was 15. They had just moved with their parents to a marine base in Okinawa. There is a local bully and a couple of thefts. Reacher fights the bullies and solves the mysteries. It was good.

NARRATOR:
The narrator Dick Hill was very good.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 15 hrs and 33 mins (includes both stories). Swearing language: none. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 6. Setting: March, 1997 mostly Mississippi with some in Washington DC and Virginia. Book copyright: 2011. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: good.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Lee Child books, see my review of Worth Dying For
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...