Exit Strategy by Lee Child and Andrew Child

 

A case of mistaken identity sees Jack Reacher approached by a man who wants to disappear because his life is in danger. Reacher is never one to take the easy way out, so he offers to help the man uncover who is threatening him.

I'm a die-hard Reacher fan, having stumbled across the series when the second book was published. One of my annual treats was always the purchase of a new Reacher novel as soon as it was published (I remember when that used to be round about Easter, now it's October). Of late, however, I've found my enthusiasm waning, to the extent that I've only just got around to reading Exit Strategy, which was originally published in October 2025. With the thirty-first book in the series about to be published, I figured I should get caught up.

With thirty full-length novels spanning almost thirty years, some work better than others, with the earliest books in the series being the most memorable. Unfortunately, Exit Strategy is one of the weakest. 

The storyline is very disjointed. The main storyline, antagonist, and location all provided an interesting plot, but were not strong enough to carry a full-length novel. Overly descriptive information about buildings and storage areas seemed to be used to pad out the narrative. One of the things I love about Reacher is that he regularly gives his opponents the chance to walk away, although we secretly love that they don't, leading to some fast and bone-crunching takedowns. This time around, the violence seems to have been ramped up a notch, and at times, this made for uncomfortable reading.

The final showdown was over far too quickly. I really did expect the underground areas to be used far more extensively after we were told so much about them. If this had been my first Jack Reacher novel, I doubt I'd pick up another. Thankfully, I'm just going to treat it as a blip.

Author Deatils

Lee Child is one of the world’s leading thriller writers. He was born in Coventry, raised in Birmingham, and now lives in New York. It is said one of his novels featuring his hero Jack Reacher is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. His books consistently achieve the number-one slot on bestseller lists around the world and have sold over one hundred million copies. Two blockbusting Jack Reacher movies have been made so far. He is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Andrew Child is a British thriller novelist. Under the name Andrew Grant, he is the author of nine acclaimed thrillers. Since 2020, he has collaborated with his brother, Lee Child, continuing the legacy of one of the world’s most iconic thriller heroes. He lives on a wildlife preserve in Wyoming with his wife, the novelist Tasha Alexander.