The Affair

Jack Reacher, Book 16

By: Lee Child

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

With Reacher, number-one New York Times best-selling author Lee Child has created “a series that stands in the front rank of modern thrillers” (The Washington Post)

Everything starts somewhere....

For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. A lonely railroad track. A crime scene. A coverup.

A young woman is dead, and solid evidence points to a soldier at a nearby military base. But that soldier has powerful friends in Washington.

Reacher is ordered undercover - to find out everything he can, to control the local police, and then to vanish. Reacher is a good soldier. But when he gets to Carter Crossing, he finds layers no one saw coming, and the investigation spins out of control.

Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice - and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared.

A novel of unrelenting suspense that could only come from the pen of number-one New York Times best-selling author Lee Child, The Affair is the start of the Reacher saga, a thriller that takes Reacher - and his readers - right to the edge... and beyond.

PLEASE NOTE: As a special bonus, this download also includes a recording of the New York Times best-selling e-book exclusive short story "Second Son", read by Dick Hill: At 13, Jack Reacher already knows how to end a fight. He knows that his brain is more important than his brawn. He knows how to get the job done. When his father is transferred to the military base on Okinawa, Jack and his older brother, Joe, prepare for school and consider how to deal with both the neighborhood bully and a missing code book that could cost their father his career.

Take another thrill ride with Jack Reacher.

©2011 Lee Child; 2011 Random House Audio (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Child is a superb craftsman of suspense.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“The truth about Reacher gets better and better.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“Implausible, irresistible Reacher remains just about the best butt-kicker in thriller-lit.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Best yet

I am half way through all of the Reacher books and I think this is the best yet. Can’t wait to start another. Dick Hill is a great reader.

Definitely not Lee Child's best

I've read several of Lee Child's books, and he's my husband's absolute favorite author and character. This book is pretty boring, and definitely not Lee Child's best.

Interesting story but abruptly ended!

This was another good Jack Reacher story, but I felt like the author suddenly had to stop writing and move on to something else. The ending reminded me of hitting a wall - and left me hanging with unanswered questions. Not the usual wrap up of all the loose ends I've come to expect from Lee Child's writings. All in all, though, it did make my commute less stressful while listening to this audiobook.

Thought I had it figured out early on but....

Enjoyed listening, good story but took time getting started. The narrator sounded older which was odd to me as the protagonist was supposed to 36 years old. Once the story started, it continued at a fast pace. The ending, although I thought I had it figured out, happened in a startling way. For a 16 hour book, that took a few chapters to get into, it ended too quickly!

Great Plot switch

Love the book. For a moment I thought Jack was losing his skills but nope, he does it again. This book tells of one of the stories when Reacher was still in the military. It was a very nice change. Also the story story “Second Son” is good too.

Good story

Good story, but slightly predictable ending. Overall I am very pleased with the story, just not over the moon about it.

"All Aboard!"

"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..." Say you've seen those books over the years, the ones with the little subtitle, "A Jack Reacher Novel", seen they were the 8th in a series, the 12th in a series, and now here comes the 16th, and you've passed them by because who wants to start in the middle? Here is the perfect chance to come on board! With 15 previous novels inspired by this Jack Reacher, you know this has got to be one interesting guy. Why now? Because The Affair is how it all got started (why nomad Jack likes his toothbrush). A brilliant idea by multi award winning author Lee Child; show the reader the etiology of the coffee guzzling, rapier witted, ex-military sleuth as he himself recalls,"I remember the date...the 11th of March 1997..." and thus begins the legend of Jack Reacher as he walks away from the Pentagon. As usual, lots of action, sharp humor, a colorful cast of characters, and a train that speeds through the one-diner town rattling more than the tracks. Dick Hill has been narrating Reacher books for a while and seems to have a great time with this one, particularly some of the scenes involving the train--talk about gusto! Childs has it down to a formula, churning out consistently top rated mystery thrillers, and while it may be predictable--it's never boring to travel along with Reacher. Reacher fans will love this one--newcomers will be jumping on the band wagon--or the train. [Next stop for newbies...#1 in the series, Killing Floor, *Now in movie production: Tom Cruise playing Reacher (some fans are up in arms) #9 in the series, One Shot.]

After 19 Reacher books, I still want more!

Where does The Affair rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

It's as good as the best and better than many.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Reacher, as always, is my favorite super hero.

What about Dick Hill???s performance did you like?

Since I have listened to Dick Hill perform this character through 19 books, I just like everything about his reading. I cannot see anyone else as Reacher.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I tried to do this, but it was too long for that. Anyway, I would have been disappointed if I didn't hae it to look forward to listening to again.

Any additional comments?

Yes, I would like to say that whoever chose Tom Cruise to play Reacher, must not have read the books. Reacher is supper tall, blond and blue eyed and very big. Does this author's description at all resemble Tom Cruise? What a colossal mistake. I hope something prevents Cruise from doing this movie. Only a type such as Dolph Lundgren could possibly be Reacher.

Mostly solving a mystery.

It’s fun because it’s Reacher. 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 ½ 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. His brother Joe was 15. They had just moved with their parents to a marine base in Okinawa (I think). There is a local bully and a couple of thefts. Reacher fights the bullies and solves the mysteries. It was good.

TOM CRUISE DISASTER:
If you haven’t heard, Tom will be playing Reacher in the first Reacher movie. He’s tiny. HE’S A LITTLE GUY. There are billions of people in this world. You'd think at least one exists who’s the right size and can act. Stallone was an unknown when he did the first Rocky, and it turned out great! Please movie people, show some Reacher integrity. You’re just going to turn this into another copy of all the other action movies out there. Reacher is different. Let him stay that way.

NOTE TO AUTHOR:
Someone suggested that you are changing things to better fit Tom Cruise and the movies. That reviewer said there was less talk of Reacher’s large size in this book and more sex. My request: please don’t change for the movies. Keep writing for us “readers.” One of the fun things about Reacher is hearing you say things like “250 pounds of power behind his ham-sized fist.”

Good story; graphic details of violence

Overall entertaining story, good character development, interesting twists. Graphic descriptions of violent situations, more so than other Reacher novels. I found these a bit over the top so I reduced my rating to a 4. My download included a short story after The Affair. This short story was interesting and gave some insight into the adolescent Reacher and his family. I found the young Reacher to be unbelievably clever.