Personal, by Lee Child

Jack Reacher, loner, ex-Army, brilliant detective, just wants to be left alone and live his life.  But he keeps getting called back into service.  This time, it's Personal.  Reacher's on the trail of one of the world's great snipers.  The catch is that a dozen years ago, Reacher put this sniper in prison, and he holds a major grudge against Reacher.

Reacher heads to France to investigate a failed assassination attempt, then to England to try to prevent an attempt at the G8 summit.  Getting mixed up with the Serbian gangs and the English mob, who are working together to protect the sniper, Reacher, characteristically, beats them all against long odds.  Of course Reacher gets his man, but, as Child's readers know, it's never easy and it's never in the way you expect.

Child's narrative style, clipped and driving, keeps the action strong and compelling.  Reacher's frequent stream-of-consciousness passages amused me, especially when he riffed on a theme: "Mass and velocity, just like baseball, just like everything." Or "It's a DNA thing.  Like rats."  He also plays out his fighting with all the calculations and analysis, measuring the angles, relative weights, weapons, and odds.  With some writers, this might get tiresome, but Child does it well.

Fans of Child's Jack Reacher novels will feel right at home with Personal.  It twists and turns, and reminds me that Reacher is tougher, stronger, and smarter than I am.  Very enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!