No Middle Name

Sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, twenty-­four hours in a day, seven days in a week, fifty-­two weeks in a year. Reacher ballparked the calculation in his head and came up with a little more than thirty million seconds in any twelve-­month span. During which time nearly ten million significant crimes would be committed in the United States alone. Roughly one every three seconds. Not rare. To see one actually take place, right in front of you, up close and personal, was not inherently unlikely. Location mattered, of course. Crime went where people went. Odds were better in the center of a city than the middle of a meadow.

Reacher was in a hollowed-­out town in Maine. Not near a lake. Not on the coast. Nothing to do with lobsters. But once upon a time it had been good for something. That was clear. The streets were wide, and the buildings were brick. There was an air of long-­gone prosperity. What might once have been grand boutiques were now dollar stores. But it wasn t all doom and gloom. Those dollar stores were at least doing some business. There was a coffee franchise. There were tables out. The streets were almost crowded. The weather helped. The first day of spring, and the sun was shining.

Reacher turned in to a street so wide it had been closed to traffic and called a plaza. There were café tables in front of blunt red buildings either side, and maybe thirty people meandering in the space between. Reacher first saw the scene head-­on, with the people in front of him, randomly scattered. Later he realized the ones that mattered most had made a perfect shape, like a capital letter T. He was at its base, looking upward, and forty yards in the distance, on the crossbar of the T, was a young woman, walking at right angles through his field of view, from right to left ahead of him, across the wide street, direct from one sidewalk to the other. She had a canvas tote bag hooked over her shoulder. The canvas looked to be medium weight, and it

Lee Child is the author of twenty-one New York Times bestselling Jack Reacher thrillers, twelve of which have reached the #1 position. All of his novels have been optioned for major motion pictures including Jack Reacher (based on One Shot) and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Foreign rights in the Reacher series have sold in one hundred territories. A native of England and a former television director, Lee Child lives in New York City.

Praise for No Middle Name
 
Captivating . . . classic [Lee] Child . . . This volume demonstrates what his fans already know: he s a born storyteller and an astute observer. Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
Lee Child, like his creation, always knows exactly what he s doing and he does it well. Time in his company is never wasted. Evening Standard

Praise for Lee Child

There s a reason [Lee] Child is considered the best of the best in the thriller genre. Associated Press

This series [is] utterly addictive. Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Jack Reacher is today s James Bond, a thriller hero we can t get enough of. I read every one as soon as it appears. Ken Follett

The Reacher novels are easily the best thriller series going. NPR

Reacher s just one of fiction s great mysterious strangers. Maxim

Irresistible Reacher remains just about the best butt-kicker in thriller-lit. Kirkus Reviews