The Visitor (A Jack Reacher Novel)

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Lee Child

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Pages: 501 (Paperback)

ISBN: 0553811886

Pub: Bantam Books Ltd

Pub date: 2001-04-02

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 560

Editorial Review:

Before Lee Child's Jack Reacher became a wanderer, stumbling into desperate situations and sorting them out with his two fists and sharp brain, he used his skill for the US Army's military police. When he is accused of a series of killings--women who left the army after sexual harassment proceedings found with their hearts stopped in baths full of camouflage paint--he has to use his skills to clear his name, and to do the Army and FBI's work for them. The near-impossible perfection of Reacher's physique and brain are met here by a puzzle that almost meets the same standard of perfection--the reason he is suspected is simply that perfect detectives are handy patsies for perfect murders, and Reacher is, besides, a man whom those in authority find making them itch...
"As a rule, the Bureau and the military don't get along too well."
"Well, there's a big surprise. Who the hell do you guys gel along with."
..."You know how it is. Military hates the Bureau, the Bureau hates CIA, everybody hates everybody else...So we need a go-between."
Reacher shrugged.
"I don't know anybody like that. I've been out too long."

Lee Child's remorselessly perverse ingenuity is working overtime in this, his fourth book, though like most great puzzles or tricks, his secrets depend a little heavily on mere misdirection. A book this driven by the central character's laconic aggression ought not to be quite as smart as this is, or quite as likeable--Lee Child's clever formula is to make that paradox work. --Roz Kaveney

Reader Reviews:

Sucked me right in! (4/4 people found this helpful)

I'd never been much of a reader until getting a paperback book for my daughter with a voucher and found myself reading it as I put the shopping away and was amazed to discover I was up to page 11 before I'd realized it. Thus began my love affair with books.

The first REAL book I bought for me to read was The Visitor by Lee Child and this fuelled my desire for thrillers.

So-o-o-o-o-o-o well written and the plot had me almost pulling my hair out trying to fathom out 'who'd dun it', right up until the answer was before me on the page towards the very end of the book.

I'd even asked my husband how he thought these women could be being murdered as he knows a fair bit about forensics but nope...he didn't get it either!

Literally could NOT put this book down and thank heavens that most women are multi-skilled or the spaghetti Bolognese could've been a disaster! Stirring the sauce with one hand while the other held The Visitor. Made for eating it a bit tricky though as Spag Bol is defo a two handed job but....my dear liccle book was open right beside my plate so I could read as I ate.

I not only passed my copy on to another family member, who then passed it on to another...then another....and so on, but I have also recommended it to l-o-a-d-s of other avid readers too and they've all agreed how unputdownable this book really is.

Love the Jack Reacher character and feel as if I know him so well now. He's like a pair of old comfy slippers. You see him mentioned on the back cover of a book and just know it's going to be good!

I've since read every single book that Lee Child has written and while I've enjoyed them all, I think that The Visitor has to remain as my all time Lee Child favourite.

Lee Child - The Grand Master of Thrillers (0/1 people found this helpful)

I have read a great many books by Lee Child and this one is up there with the others as a great read. Again our hero Jack Reacher (we that have known him some time refer to him as the modern day Lone Ranger - without Tonto)finds himself in the middle of a murder case. Two army career women are found dead, at home,in their bath and the bath is full of army camouflage paint. The FBI are looking for an army man,a loner,a smart guy that knew both women. Our hero of course fits the description. another first class Reacher (Child) story that will keep you guessing right to the end.

Easily worked out (2/2 people found this helpful)

i think i should start by saying that lee child has fashioned a great and completely likeable character in jack reacher. i wish i had read killing floor first (as this is the only one i have read) but the shop didnt stock it. it was a fairly run of the mill thriller. i would rate it 4 stars apart from the fact that i am 12 not particularly clever and i worked the end of this 500 page book out in 200 pages. it was a good twist just very easy to spot with the info you were given. this is a personal opinion but i find jack reacher jammed in this slightly irritating niche where he is not a complete sas hardman and not a forensic detective more an sas detective. but this could be an appealing factor to some people.

Very enjoyable thriller (4/4 people found this helpful)

i came accross this book by chance and I have no regret about buying it. Evene though the plot starts a little slow at first, it is thoroughly enjoyable and I found it really hard to put the book down. i actually had to get up at in the morning to finish the last 150 pages: I just had to know! I found it very easy to warm to Jack Reacher's enigmatic personality and character in this thriller book and despite his selfish personnality you can not help but admiring him for his thirst for justice. i am now working my way through all the Jack reacher novels and i love each and everyone of them.
I strongly recommend any of Lee Child's book.

Reacher matches wits with a very, very, very smart murderer (2/2 people found this helpful)

Women are being killed; the one thing that they all have in common is the fact that they are recent sexual harassment victims who have left the army. Forced by the FBI to be their consultant, Reacher must find the murderer and also decide if he is willing to stay in New York with his girlfriend, Jodie, or continue his transient ways. The greatest part of this thriller is how the women die. They are all found naked in the bathtub coated with three cans of army paint. There is no evidence left at the scene, and the FBI can’t even figure out how the women are killed. Reacher is the only one who does not believe in the FBI’s profile, and he sets out to prove them wrong. Lee Child delivers another masterful thriller.

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