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)

Very creatively written Reacher sex scene! Loved.

Compelling story, kept me guessing until the end. You have to love Reacher..I think most women would like a slice..this was my favorite book yet!

Broader Talent to Narrate Needed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The story is very well written with only the minor exception of the fact that it is being written in first person for a 1997 time period, yet the author chose to reference ahead to 9/11/2001. When telling a story from a present day perspective, it is bad form to reference the future which you should know nothing about yet.

The downfall of the audiobook is that Mr. Hill has two vocal inflection stylings: the main character and everyone else. Every character beyond Jack Reacher sounds so much alike that it is challenging for the listener to differentiate between characters when they are engaged in conversation. It also sounds as though Mr. Hill is trying terribly hard to over enunciate and takes on the air of being read right from the book as opposed to being truly a story-telling experience that causes you to forget that he is a narrator and become immersed in the story and character.

This may or may not stop me from downloading future Lee Child, Jack Reacher books. However, with better options for my listening enjoyment, it will make it difficult to select one of his books over others that compete within the genre.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. The plot was well developed and twisted well enough to keep me guessing throughout the story.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Dick Hill?

No. He was stiff and unable to var4y voices well enough to create character differentiation.

Immagry, where Jack is I am.

One of the selves that came with the play Larry at 8, or12, or 10 years of age comes alive again in Lee Childs story telling. When I have my Recher mask on, I'm always bigger than me, I have the playing soldier again that was a little bit more everything than life. That little boy plays hero again. Thank you for that Lee.
- Larry Lee Vaughn is om

Jack Ryan

I love all the Jack Ryan series! Lee Child is great. Now on to the next one.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst

Reacher is just fun to listen to, and this is an especially fun prequel with a bonus pre-prequel story at the end. Audible 20 review sweepstakes entry

Good old Jack Reacher

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The latest Jack Reacher. Sure they're all more or less the same - but yet different enough to keep coming back. Dick Hill is the best voice for Jack.

So this is how it all began

I have become a huge fan of this series. This book starts with Reacher still in the army and tells how he left. It's maybe the best Reacher book I have listened to so far out of about five novels. The characters are extremely well defined and the plot is deep.

My First Child

This book got me out for my walks. Had to listen to the next instalment. I plan to get anothen book by Child.

An entertaining Reacher book

The Affair is an entertaining Reacher that takes place while he is still in the army. It’s amazing what he can get away with, but it is fiction after all. The end of this book sheds a little light on the background to the first book in the series.

The narrator is the same one who does most of the books, and he does a good job.

The Affair

Only Timothy Olyphant could be Reacher. I just don't think there are many others who could carry it off