The Sentinel

Chapter 1

Rusty Rutherford emerged from his apartment on a Monday morning, exactly one week after he got fired.

He spent the first few days after the ax fell with his blinds drawn, working through his stockpile of frozen pizzas and waiting for the phone to ring. Significant weaknesses, the dismissal letter said. Profound failure of leadership. Basic and fundamental errors. It was unbelievable. Such a distortion of the truth. And so unfair. They were actually trying to pin the town s recent problems on him. It was . . . a mistake. Plain and simple. Which meant it was certain to be corrected. And soon.

The hours crawled past. His phone stayed silent. And his personal email silted up with nothing more than spam.

He resisted for another full day, then grabbed his old laptop and powered it up. He didn t own a gun or a knife. He didn t know how to rappel from a helicopter or parachute from a plane. But still, someone had to pay. Maybe his real-­life enemies were going to get away with it. This time. But not the villains in the videogames a developer buddy had sent him. He had shied away from playing them, before. The violence felt too extreme. Too unnecessary. It didn t feel that way anymore. His days of showing mercy were over. Unless . . .

His phone stayed silent.

Twenty-­four hours later he had a slew of new high scores and a mild case of dehydration, but not much else had changed. He closed the computer and slumped back on his couch. He stayed there for the best part of another day, picking at random from a stack of blu rays he didn t remember buying and silently begging the universe to send him back to work. He would be different, he swore. Easier to get along with. More patient. Diplomatic. Empathetic, even. He would buy donuts for everyone in the office. Twice a month. Three times, if that would seal the deal . . .

His phone stayed silent.

He didn t often drink, but what else was there left

Lee Child and Andrew Child

I loved The Sentinel! Classic Reacher, great story. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I do love the spare writing style, the descriptions, Reacher s responses to threats. Joyous stuff. I hope there will be many more Reachers to come. Conn Iggulden
 
It s great to be back in [Reacher s] company in a world where the bad guys get what s coming to them. . . . A smooth transition for a much-loved character. The Observer
 
As always, the bad guys this time, Russian spies and American-Nazi thugs discover too late that they are no match for Reacher. Despite the change in authors, the writing remains tight and the non-stop action is as propulsive as ever. Associated Press

As ever, [Reacher is] the sole, unrivalled champion of the average man. Daily Mail

Fresh, perfectly plotted, and packed with action, The Sentinel is one of the year s best, must-read thrillers. The Real Book Spy

It s terrific. . . . The story is just as powerful. . . . Brutal action mixes with keen-eyed detective work as Reacher metes out his own brand of justice. . . . If this novel is a harbinger of what s to come, then Jack is in good hands. Booklist (starred review)
 
Much of The Sentinel is humorous as Reacher patiently teaches bad guys about the flaws in their tactics. While there s lots of action, the novel also feels like a procedural as Reacher interviews suspects and delves deeper toward the truth. . . . [The Sentinel has] one of the most inventive action sequences in recent memory. . . . It continues the series without any sense that there s now a coauthor. In a year of drastic change, fans will welcome the consistency. Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Jack Reacher series

The truth about Reacher gets better and better. . . . This series [is] utterly addictive. Janet Maslin, The New York Times