The Hard Way by Lee Child

 

Read in November 2021 but just now posting,  another of my favorite Jack Reacher novels; this was published in 2016, 477 pages.  It is the 10th novel about exArmy major, Jack Reacher now on his own and on the move, always.  This novel has multiple reference  about military attributes, skills that become ingrained in  military service, anecdotes and what makes a soldier a survivor. 

  It  opens with Reacher getting coffee, he  consumes vast amounts of this as any follower of these books knows.  On page 1, "Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china and before it arrived at his table he saw a man's life change forever.  Not that the waiter was slow.  Just that the move was slick.  So slick, Reacher had no idea what he was watching.  It was just an urban scene, repeated everywhere in the  world, a billion times a day. A guy unlocked a car and got in and drove away.  That was all.     But that was enough. "   So begins this saga about Edward Lane who pays $1 million ransom to get Kate, his wife,  back.  Lane runs an illegal mercenary, soldiers for hire operation.  But as happens in the twists involving Reacher not all is what it seems and then even then not what is said. But Reacher will be" On the trail of vicious kidnappers, Reacher learns the chilling secrets of his employer’s past . . . and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war. He knows 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. And if he has to do it the hard way, he will."  

Page 3, " The guy was medium height, not young, not old, too solid to be called wiry, too slight to be called heavy.  ...His mouth didn't move much as he talked.  But his eyes did.  The flicked left and right tirelessly.  ..Reacher had seen the same look in elite infantry veterans who had survived long jungle tours."    Pg 4, " You notice things...I notice things...We're two of a kind.  We're peas in a pod."   

Back Cover with photo of Lee Child

Page 168, "Where would a military mind want to be?, she asked.   Reacher recited, 'A Soldier knows that a satisfactory observation point provides an unobstructed view to the front and adequate security to the flanks and the rear.  He knows it provides protection from the elements and concealment of the observers.  He knows it offers a reasonable likelihood of undisturbed occupation for the full duration of the operation."

Page 212 reveals Reacher preference for specific shoes and describes them. "His shoes were benchmade by a company called Cheaney from Northhampton in England.  Smarter buys than Church's which were basically the same shoes but with a premium tag for the name.  The style that Reacher had chosen was called Tenterden, which was a brown semi brogue made of heavy pebbled leather.  Size 12.  The soioles were heavy composite items brought in from a company called Dainite.  Reacher hated leather soles.  They wore out too fast and stayed wet too long after rain.  Dainites were better.  Their heels were a five layer stuck an inch and a quarter thick.  The Cheaney leather welt, the Dainite welt, two slabs of hard Cheaney leather and a thick Dainite cap.  Each shoe on its own weighed more than two pounds.  "...Page 213..." He put his weight on his back foot and stared at the door and bounced like a high jumper going for a record.  Then he launched.  One pace, two.  He smashed his right heel into the door just above  the knob and wood splintered and dust filled the air and the door smashed open and he continued running without breaking stride. "

Another 5 *****