(sorry, upon reviewing this posting I saw glaring spelling and punctuation errors, so here's the redacted entry)

The latest adventure (well, for me) of Jack Reacher, ex-MP, tough guy, loner, experienced and intelligent. This time our dauntless hero stumbles onto a kidnapping plot and collaborates (well, for awhile, at least) with some American and British ex-Special Forces guys to solve the kidnapping. Of COURSE, things aren't as they seem, and it takes awhile to get to the truth of the matter. We have the requisite bad guys, a victim or two, and the love(? Not for Jack Reacher!) interest in the form of a gorgeous, pert, smart and tough-as-nails ex-FBI gal. The action moves fast (Lee Child and Dan Brown seemed to borrow the "REALLY-short-but-action-packed chapters" genre from each other). While the interest is easily maintained by Mr. Child's writing style, this one seems to skip a couple steps along the way, especially in the denouement, making one have a "What the H*** happened? What about _____?" moment. So one is left somewhat frustrated and unsatisfied, so this one gets only three stars. I felt that Mr. Child was on some sort of deadline with this one and had to finish it up fast. Not his best work.

All that said, it seems to me that Mr. Child sort of enjoyed the writing of this one, since half the action takes place in England, where us foreigners are totally lost. I have noted that he slips into the British vernacular at times in all of his books, but this one reflects his easy familiarity with London and the English road system and geography. Here's an example, from a car chase scene:

The road signs were clear and helpful. But they were all written with the same size lettering and there seemed to be a maximum permitted length for a fingerpost. Which meant the the longer names were abbreviated.

OK, OK, so I didn't know what a fingerpost was. I, for one, am not afraid of a dictionary and use it often (NOT those online dictionaries most of these dang youngsters use these days). SO, here's Webster: "A post bearing one or signs often terminating in a pointing finger." I would guess that "fingerpost" is a common term over there in the UK.

There are also references to "Ordnance Survey maps (which I would surmise refers to topographical maps issued in this country by the U.S. Geological Survey. I must admit that I did consult Google Maps for road maps of London and England, ah well....

Bottom line: Read it, enjoy it, but don't expect it to come up to his usual quality.