Echo Burning is the 5th book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. This is the first book since Jodie went to London and Jack sold his house, so we, surprise, find Reacher waking up in a grimy motel. He gets a ride from a young hispanic woman who, while on the ride to her destination, asks him to help her kill her abusive husband. Reacher refuses to kill him, but agrees to help her in other ways, somehow. Reacher’s big heart gets him into a lot more trouble than he initially thought, however, because there is a lot more going on in this situation than initially meets the eye.
Reacher finds himself in the middle of Texas, in a place that is really quite suited to his personal way of handling… conflict. But, while it works well for Reacher personally, it does not work for his new friend Carmen. Her husband is part of a wealthy, ultra racist family, and they all hate her and her daughter, because they are not 100% white, and because they hate her, the local law enforcement wouldn’t help her even if there was concrete proof of abuse, which there actually is. Reacher has to prove himself, both as a horseman (which he absolutely is not) and as a tough guy (which he absolutely is) in order to stay close to Carmen and her daughter.
Suddenly Carmen is arrested, Ellie is missing and nothing looks like it orginally did. Reacher has to figure out exactly what is going on quickly, because Carmen doesn’t have much time. And, when the pieces start falling together, be ready to be surprised. Be ready to be up far too late at night so you can finish the whole book in 24 hours… despite a migraine bad enough I was occasionally throwing up, and couldn’t handle any sounds or smells. Trust me, the ending is good.
Obviously I liked Echo Burning. It was well written and shows us more of Reacher’s character development, and we learn more about how he… ticks. I definitely suggest you go pick this one up ASAP.
The Unsophisticated Bibliophile 