Reacher's journey starts in Gerrardsville, Colorado where he witnesses a woman being pushed under a bus, and a man in a hoodie took her purse and left the scene. Another "reliable" (non-drifter) eyewitness said she lunged into the bus, a definite suicide. The police took his word and close the case. Reacher knew what he saw. Being a former MP, he's not letting this go. Reacher meets Hannah who recently lost someone close where both deaths seem to connect. The Jed Starmer plot line is superfluous. Take him out of the story and nothing is lost but maybe 5,000 words.

But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid ontherun,a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows.” But Reacher isn’t a shadow.He is flesh and blood.And relentless when it comes to making things right.Painted as a target who might know too much, Reacher could find himself in a great deal of danger, but he refuses to stand down from trying to get to the root of the murder. Little does he know, but the killing is part of a larger conspiracy by a group who have even more nefarious plans that span across the country. The truth about Reacher gets better and better. . . . This series [is] utterly addictive.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times There is obviously something sinister behind the machinations of those running the Minerva Correctional Facility …. How is it related to the release of an innocent man? How will Jed and Lev eventually find themselves in Winson, Mississippi? I certainly enjoyed the ingenuity how the many moving parts of this narrative explosively collided to form an enjoyable denouement. There’s a crime sitting behind all of the mystery at the center of this book, but it’s really only presented as an aside with very little substance provided. It’s a dark, horrifying crime that may be difficult to come to terms with and if more was revealed about it, I may have been more convinced about Reacher’s actions when he reached Winson. As it is, Reacher appears to be heading further and further down the psychopathic path than ever. (Not a criticism, just an observation).

We should find out for sure,” Moseley said. “Make an informed decision. The key is, did the guy look in the envelope? That’s what we need to know.” I do want the sibling-authors arrangement to work, but I don't think it is. It's a lot to ask of Andrew to keep the print franchise going at the expense of his own career. Reacher was wired to move toward danger. To confront it. To defeat it, or die trying. It was baked into his DNA. This story is as always very entertaining escapism, with lots of action and violence. This plot would definitely make a great Prime Video movie with a crew of unscrupulous bad guys carrying out their sneaky plans and eliminating anyone who stands in their way.Hix tapped his fingertips on the tabletop. “Media exposure is good for the brand. We always publicize. We always have. If we change now we would only attract more attention. Make people think something is wrong. But I do think we need to know. Did he look?” Hix turned to the guys in the T-­shirts. “Best guess. No wrong answer. The chips fell where they fell. We understand that. Just tell us what you believe.”

There is No Plan B when the threat is Reacher. He is 6'5", 250 lbs. and scruffy. You can't miss him. So why must the bad guys constantly try him? Underestimate him? Square up against him? Maybe the better question is why the author(s) continue putting Reacher in unnecessary situations where he has to fight his way out and drop countless bodies. For why?! This is the 27th book in the Reacher series and if you’ve read any of the previous outings you’ll be aware of how things are going to go here. Faced with difficult to impossible odds, outnumbered and outgunned, Reacher wades into the fray full of the confidence of an overly large man who is capable of causing maximum damage with his fists, elbows, knees and feet. Not to mention any gun that he manages to get hold of.Reacher is the stuff of myth. . . . One of this century’s most original, tantalizing pop-fiction heroes.” — The Washington Post Reacher may be an exceptional soldier, but sweeping other people’s secrets under the carpet isn’t part of his skill set. As he races to discover the link between these victims, and who killed them, he must navigate around the ulterior motives of his new ‘partners’. And all while moving into the sight line of some of the most dangerous people he has ever encountered. Lee and Andrew Child team up again in the 27th thriller of this series, the third for Andrew. As with any long-running series like this, the plot scenario never varies too far from what has always worked well. Here, Reacher has stopped in Gerrardsville, CO, to spend time in a museum that interests him. Right in broad daylight in the downtown, he sees a woman pushed to her death. But the official ruling is suicide so Reacher feels compelled to figure out what's really going on and who would want her dead. The search leads him to a privately-owned prison in Mississippi. Reacher and Hannah formed an alliance to find out the truth. A father in Chicago loses his son. A fifteen-year-old foster boy from Los Angeles searching for his dad. Everyone heads to Winson, Mississippi.

In subplots, two other people are heading to that prison as well for their own purposes--one, a young boy running away from foster care, wanting to find his birth father; and the other, a man looking for revenge.

The evil corporate conspiracy trope has become cliche--variations of it have become too common in the series. It’s an action/adventure mystery consisting of three to four plots, each plot seemingly having no relationship to any other--which means we keep skipping from plot to plot, all the while wondering what and where the “big reveal” will be. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come until the very end, by which time Reacher has engaged in more than his share of brutal violence--including a killing that is exceedingly grotesque. And when the reveal does come, it’s not very credible Lev Emerson, who specializes in making accidents happen, to solve other people’s problems. Learns his twenty-two year old son has died, while in rehab ….. his liver and other body organs have failed. His next mission is that of revenge… for those he holds responsible. This is full of action and intrigue and can be read as a standalone. I think this is the best Andrew Child yet. I squirm at a certain scene...brutal, but Reacher is still my hero.💓