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Summary and Reviews of Persuader by Lee Child

Persuader by Lee Child

Persuader

A Jack Reacher Novel

by Lee Child
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • First Published:
  • May 1, 2003, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2004, 496 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Ten years ago, a key investigation went sour and someone got away with murder. Now a chance encounter brings it all back. Now Reacher sees his one last shot. Some would call it vengeance. Some would call it redemption. Reacher would call it…justice.

Jack Reacher.

The ultimate loner.

An elite ex-military cop who left the service years ago, he's moved from place to place…without family…without possessions…without commitments.

And without fear. Which is good, because trouble—big, violent, complicated trouble—finds Reacher wherever he goes. And when trouble finds him, Reacher does not quit, not once…not ever.

But some unfinished business has now found Reacher. And Reacher is a man who hates unfinished business.

Chapter One

The cop climbed out of his car exactly four minutes before he got shot. He moved like he knew his fate in advance. He pushed the door against the resistance of a stiff hinge and swiveled slowly on the worn vinyl seat and planted both feet flat on the road. Then he grasped the door frame with both hands and heaved himself up and out. He stood in the cold clear air for a second and then turned and pushed the door shut again behind him. Held still for a second longer. Then he stepped forward and leaned against the side of the hood up near the headlight.

The car was a seven-year-old Chevy Caprice. It was black and had no police markings. But it had three radio antennas and plain chrome hubs. Most cops you talk to swear the Caprice is the best police vehicle ever built. This guy looked like he agreed with them. He looked like a veteran plain-clothes detective with the whole of the motor pool at his disposal. Like he drove the ancient Chevy because he wanted to. Like he ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Booklist - Bill Ott
Starred Review. To generate real thrills, an author must put real people behind the wheel, and Child does exactly that. Reacher may grow from type--the tough-guy loner, wounded and trying unsuccessfully to disengage--but he brings his own sinewy presence to the role.

Kirkus Reviews
The tension leading to Reacher and Quinn’s reunion could easily sustain a simple, two-man, High Noon–style face-off, but Child lays on and drags out the violence, the one time his otherwise expertly judged work goes over the top. Wily plotting, swift pacing, mordant wit Child is one skillful writer.

Publishers Weekly
Any thriller fan who has yet to read Lee Child should start now.

Library Journal
Jack Reacher has a problem; he's after a drug dealer tied to a man he once killed-or maybe he didn't. A tough seventh case.

Reader Reviews

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