"This is escapist literature at its best with action that rivets and images that stay
burned in the mind's eye long afterward." Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
US
UK
Jack Reacher was alone, the way he liked it, soaking up the hot, electric
New York City night, watching a man cross the street to a parked Mercedes
and drive it away. The car contained one million dollars in ransom money.
Edward Lane, the man who paid it, will pay even more to get his family back.
Lane runs a highly illegal soldiers-for-hire operation. He will use any
amount of money and any tool to find his beautiful wife and child. Then
he'll turn Jack Reacher loose with a vengeance—because Reacher is the
best man hunter in the world.
On the trail of a vicious kidnapper, Reacher is learning the chilling
secrets of his employer's past...and of a horrific drama in the heart of a
nasty little war. He's beginning to realize that Edward Lane is hiding
something. Something dirty. Something big. But Reacher also knows this: he's
already in way too deep to stop now.
The only way to find the truth, as they used to say back in the service, is
to do it the hard way. So Reacher starts over at square one. He
sweats the details and works the clues. What started in NYC explodes three
thousand miles away in the sleepy English countryside with Reacher striding
alone in the shadows, armed and dangerous, and invincible.
Delacorte hardcover May 2006 0385336691
Dell US paperback March 2007 9780440241034
Bantam UK hardcover July 2006 059305184X
Bantam UK paperback March 2007 9780553815870
Bantam US eBook May 2006 0440336058 / 9780440336051
Bantam US trade paperback Sept 2010 9780440423027
Brilliance Audio unabridged:
Tape 9781596003255 / CD 9781596003286 / MP3 9781596003309
Brilliance Audio abridged CD 9781423306382
REVIEWS
Tension builds through plot twists to another riveting finish by Child,
who once again shows his mastery of the thriller.
—Library Journal, starred review
[T]he narrative propels you forward with a locomotive's thrust, but Child
never loses sight of the small detail or the human fabric—not unlike
Reacher in the dark, armed and dangerous, intent on the action in front of
him but always aware of the sights and sounds to his sides and behind
him.
—Booklist, starred review
[A] sidewalk café encounter in New York City plunges Reacher into one of his most
challenging—and thoroughly engrossing—adventures to date....the author's
atmospheric descriptions make Manhattan a leading player, with menace lurking at every
intersection. The inevitable showdown, on a farm outside a tiny English village,
ranks as one of Child's most chilling finales.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Nine red-hot books ago, Lee Child concocted the rough, tough Superman of the
crime-busting genre, as smart and charismatic as he is unbeatable... [The Hard Way is]
one more labyrinthine story that takes off like a shot: as usual, Mr. Child has you at hello.
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Another cracking teeth-chatterer. —Daily Mail
A compelling and irresistible thriller. —Cape Times
Lee Child now has the confidence to reveal that Reacher, who has long since gained mythical status,
is human after all... the trail leads to a windswept farm in Norfolk, the scene of a nerve-shredding
showdown. This is storytelling of the highest order: lean, laconic, laced with tension. —Mark Sanderson, Stardard
This is escapist literature at its best with action that rivets and images that stay
burned in the mind's eye long afterward.
—Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
I started out reading Lee Child in paperback. Then I realized I couldn't
wait and started buying his books in hardcover. Now I call around to my
publishing friends, and make them send me the galleys. My next step is to
break into Lee Child's house and watch over his shoulder while he types.
—Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point
