Night School

Starred review from August 8, 2016
Set in 1996, bestseller Child’s splendid 21st Jack Reacher novel (after 2015’s Make Me) delves into his hero’s U.S. Army past. Right after Reacher is commended for a mission in the Balkans, he’s immediately sent “back to school.” It turns out that school means a vital and secret mission: a sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has learned of an American traitor with something to sell to Islamic terrorists for $100 million. Alfred Ratcliffe, the U.S. president’s National Security Adviser, tells Reacher and his fellow students—two seasoned agents from the CIA and the FBI—“we have enemies everywhere” and gives Reacher’s team its orders: “Your job is to find that American.” It’s no spoiler to say that Reacher handles the heavy lifting on-site in Hamburg, though he’s ably assisted by two former military police colleagues, Frances Neagley and Manuel Orozco. The premise of the pre-9/11 plot is both compelling and disconcerting, and Child applies his trademark eye for detail to make the whole endeavor surprisingly and thrillingly credible. Agent: Darley Anderson, Darley Anderson Literary.