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    The Affair: A Jack Reacher Novel
    The Affair: A Jack Reacher Novel
    The Affair: A Jack Reacher Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hoursJack Reacher

    The Affair: A Jack Reacher Novel

    Written by Lee Child

    Narrated by Dick Hill

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    With Reacher, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child has created “a series that stands in the front rank of modern thrillers” (The Washington Post).
     
    Everything starts somewhere. . . .

    For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. A lonely railroad track. A crime scene. A coverup.

    A young woman is dead, and solid evidence points to a soldier at a nearby military base. But that soldier has powerful friends in Washington.

    Reacher is ordered undercover—to find out everything he can, to control the local police, and then to vanish. Reacher is a good soldier. But when he gets to Carter Crossing, he finds layers no one saw coming, and the investigation spins out of control.

    Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice—and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared.

    A novel of unrelenting suspense that could only come from the pen of #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, The Affair is the start of the Reacher saga, a thriller that takes Reacher—and his readers—right to the edge . . . and beyond.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
    Release dateSep 27, 2011
    ISBN9780307749482
    Author

    Lee Child

    Adrian Muller is one of the co-founders of CrimeFest, the international crime fiction convention.

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    Reviews for The Affair

    4/5

    734 ratings48 reviews

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    • 5/5

      Jul 4, 2023

      Another great Reacher story, this time going back to 1997 and showing us what Reacher was like in the Army. The story is not finished til leterally the last 3 pages, with a twist I didn't see coming. Excellent as always.
    • 4/5

      Oct 7, 2021

      One of the better Reacher outings. Vivid, tricky mystery, Reacher kicks butt as usual, and it is an origin story of sorts, as it takes place in 1997, just before the events of The Killing Floor, the first book in the series.
    • 4/5

      Mar 16, 2021

      One of series leading up to Never Go Back.
      Minor scene glitch is the weather in the northern midwest US *always* flows north-west eastward! Never east to west! The summer thunderstorm dri-line runs from south to north east.
      When you use weather as part of plot get it right!
    • 4/5

      Nov 25, 2020

      Love that guy!!!!
    • 5/5

      Sep 13, 2020

      Whoa. Quite the story, and quite the telling. There's a very messy part somewhere in the middle, but all is resolved, the author forgiven, and then whew. Really, just very good.
    • 3/5

      Jun 5, 2020

      I've loved every single Reacher novel until this one. This one was just boring. Really boring. I did not care about the characters. I wanted to ask Reacher what in the world had been done to him. Ugh. This is a .5 star book. But, I'm feeling kind.
    • 3/5

      Apr 3, 2020

      This is the 16th book in the Jack Reacher series but it is set in 1997 when he is still in the Military Police.
      He has been sent to a small town called Kelham in Mississippi, to investigate the death of a young Woman.
      There is an Army base in Kelham, the local Sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux is looking into this and also 2 other murders.
      Reacher and Deveraux become a couple, they believe there is a Military cover up.
      Reacher has to go back and forth to the Pentagon a few times.

      It turns out a popular Senator called Riley's son was based at Kelham and was up and coming in the Military he killed the ladies tried to blame it on Deveraux with a false report stating she was jealous.
      Reacher tricks the Senator and his son and their car is hit by a freight train so it looks like a fatal accident.
      Reacher returns to the Pentagon to say his goodbye. This is the end of his Military career.

      OK book took a while to get going.
    • 5/5

      Oct 1, 2019

      I quite enjoyed this, although at times it seemed a bit more far fetched than other Lee Child books that I have read, such as the executions carried out by Reacher with seemingly no blow back or consequence, a tad unrealistic.

      Overall though, it was an entertaining tale and I certainly enjoyed the subtle hints dropped throughout the book that didn't add up to a full picture until the closing scenes when it was all tied together nicely.
    • 4/5

      Apr 29, 2018

      Fans of Jack Reacher finally see him at work as MP Major and learn about the situation that caused him to leave the Army. Suspenseful, lots of twists to the plot. Good read.
    • 5/5

      Sep 20, 2017

      Lee Child's is back on his game with this. His recent previous ones I found a bit disappointing. I little too cold and dispassionate. This one keeps you guessing and has more emotional depth.
    • 5/5

      Aug 7, 2017

      One of Child's best, as Reacher is sent to monitor the investigation of a murder that might be connected to a U S. Ranger base.Lots of political machinations occur when the prime suspect turns out to be the son of an influential U. S. Senator. Reacher puts together a great supporting cast to blow away the political "Fogr of War" and create an appropriate finale.
    • 4/5

      Aug 5, 2017

      Routinierter Jack Reacher Roman, der vom Charma seiner Hauptfigur lebt. Selbstjustiz auf seine beste Art und Weise !
    • 5/5

      Jun 20, 2017

      I was a little perturbed when I found out this year's Reacher novel would be a prequel to the series. Since Killing Floor Lee has evolved Reacher into a one man wrecking ball for truth and justice and hot women. Reacher has essentially become Superman without the need for external underwear and the ability to actually have a broken nose. This doesn't exactly mesh with the Reacher before his evolution.

      This aside, Lee has served up another fantastic Reacher tale. The mystery unfolds, the intertwining clues and events are right there for you to pick up on and only implicitly used later - something I like about Lee's writing. In short, this is another fine Reacher novel.

      Despite having pre-ordered this book it didn't arrive until quite awhile after its release date, something that has annoyed me for several books now (Matt Hilton's Dead Man's Harvest arrived late, Matthew Reilly's Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves still hasn't arrived). It was worth the wait though, as 50 pages in I was reminded why I had pre-ordered The Affair in the first place. I'd hazard a guess and say that next year's releases by my favourite authors are more likely to be received on their release date, straight onto my Kindle, just as soon as Amazon starts selling the new Kindle Touch outside of the US (bastards!).
    • 3/5

      Jun 21, 2016

      OK, this isn't the best in Lee Child's Reacher series, but it's still a good read. The pace is fast, the writing is straightforward, and the story is fairly well-constructed. Since it covered the period when Reacher was still an MP, it was interesting to fill in the blanks on some of his earlier history.

      I try not to play the spoiler in reviewing novels, but suffice to say that the ending was a bit unsatisfying. The loose ends of the story were tied up sufficiently well, but some of the details in how we reached that point were a little incredible. I liked most of the characters, particularly the sheriff and Munro, the other MP, but others (like the Army higher-ups) weren't developed very well. Some of Reacher's rare violent actions took place with zero blowback, which I found to be somewhat unbelievable.

      If you're a fan of the Reacher series, you'll probably like this well enough. If you're new to Lee Child, I'd recommend starting elsewhere. This is a good book that unfortunately is judged against previous efforts that were considerably better. And I still can't believe Tom Cruise portrayed Reacher in a film.....
    • 4/5

      May 18, 2016

      This is the best of the Jack Reacher novels. The story takes place while Reacher is still in the military and assigned to investigate a murder in an Army post in the South. The only weak part of the story is his encounter with a self-important Colonel who is trying to derail Reacher's investigation. He tells the Colonel to stuff it and continues, bringing the culprits to Reacher's brand of justice. Child depicts this encounter as derailing Reacher's military career. This is a weak basis, completely lacking in verisimilitude, for the consequences Child depicts. With a little thought he could have invented a much more plausible for Reacher's decision to leave the Army.
    • 4/5

      Jan 21, 2016

      This is a fast moving investigation into what looks like an army cover up of the murder of a young woman. This is the prequel to the series.
      Reacher is sent undercover, into a small Southern town, to investigate the murder and to keep the Pentagon officials informed of what's going on, so a lid can be kept on things. Even then, Reacher didn't like to toe the line.
      The story has a few twists in its resolution.
    • 3/5

      May 10, 2015

      Another jack reacher story. It's junk food but fun. What else can be said?
    • 4/5

      Jul 27, 2013

      Finally, now we know why Jack Reacher left the army. Read an ARC copy this weekend. Still can not fathom Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher.
    • 2/5

      Apr 6, 2013

      This one was just okay.

      It's the long ballyhooed story that explains why Reacher left the Army. Reacher is dispatched to Mississippi to investigate a murder, with the understanding that what he finds out may be so sensitive that the Army may want to keep a lid on it. What seems like a single murder becomes a case of serial killing. Adding to the confusion are cover-ups which lead to other killings.

      Novels about serial killers often rely on salacious examinations of the abnormal psychology of the perpetrator. That's not a bad thing. In fact, it's probably the sine qua non of a good novel of that type. But here we get never get up close and personal with the killer. We see the end results of what the murderer has done, but unlike most Reacher novels, we never stand in the presence of the evil in such a way that when Reacher comes down on the perps in typical Biblical fashion, we feel that it's warranted. The killers and conspirators seem hapless rather than diabolical, so when Reacher finally murders them in cold blood (yes, not even in self-defense, in some cases), we end up directing our opprobrium toward Reacher himself, and not his victims. And that's not why you read a Reacher book. For Reacher's over-the-top brand of violence to work, you need to feel that the bad guy is a monster that needs killing.
    • 3/5

      Mar 26, 2013

      Love Jack Reacher!
    • 5/5

      Mar 21, 2013

      When an unshaven and civilian shod Reacher is sent south to investigate a politically sensitive murder at an army base with too many secrets, you know what's bound to happen. All hell's going to break loose, and of course it does.

      It's 1997 and Reacher's career is about to end. Don't miss it.
    • 4/5

      Dec 28, 2012

      Love all the Jack Reacher books but this was on of the best. It takes place while he is still in the Army and gives you more of the background reasons he becomes a "civilian". Well done Lee Child. But as an aside how could you think Tom Cruise even remotely resembles Jack Reacher. Shame on you.
    • 5/5

      Dec 5, 2012

      This is the darkest Jack Reacher novel to date (IMHO).

      Nevertheless if you like Reacher novels, you gonna enjoy this one - true prequel to the series.
    • 4/5

      Aug 11, 2012

      Another great yarn with a solid main character. This is a kind of sequel to the prequel - set in 1997 & tells how Reacher left military service.

      I can't wait for the next one !
    • 3/5

      Jun 23, 2012

      The book group I'm in hops wildly from genre to genre - that's the second-best thing about it, the best being the people - and so we tackle books I would never normally read, like this one.

      I was expecting something in the Tom Clancy line, but this was quite a bit better than I expected - even though the solution to the murder mystery is telegraphed quite early in the novel, which makes the introduction of a lengthy read herring in its second half rather annoying. Jack Reacher is an engaging character, and the milieu of the novel is well-drawn - although I knocked off half a star for Reacher's readiness to act as executioner as well as judge and jury. He's the human equivalent of a drone strike.
    • 4/5

      Jun 12, 2012

      After a couple of books with what I thought had major problems, Lee Child is back in form for The Affair (signed copies available). Perhaps it is due to this being a prequel, that is, in a way, a smaller story, a narrower focus, more of a whodunnit. Hard to say.
      But this story takes us back to Reacher’s final case as a military investigator, back in the Spring of ‘97. There’s been a murder outside a ‘secret’ military base and he’s sent to get into this small Mississippi town to look for information – a back-up investigator to the one sent into the base itself. From the start, things don’t add up and Reacher forms an alliance with the police chief, herself a former Marine, to search for answers.
      As with the best of the Reacher books, about every other chapter there‘s a major plot twist. I would continually think I knew what was coming but I was invariably wrong. It was wonderful, the best kind of entertainment. Is the murder related to someone on the base or a local? Reacher is warned going in that there are heavy politics involved so he needs to tread lightly but get answers. Can’t really give you more – that’d ruin the chain of surprises.
      Delightful too were the links he laid in that point to the actual first book in the series, Killing Floor to the small town in Georgia mentioned by his brother Joe in a postcard. Haven’t read that since it came out 14 years ago (actually, I probably read an advanced copy a few months before it was published, so it’s been more like 15 years!) and I should sit down and re-read it.
      Anyway – Lee Child’s The Affair – read it, read it now. It’s alottafun!
    • 2/5

      Jun 10, 2012

      I think this is the worst Reacher novel. It is mean-sprited, overly complicated, and wordy. Where the series' strength is in the velicity and inevitability of Reacher triumphing over evil, using deadly force if required, here he becomes a sadistic cold-blooded murderer who is judge, jury, and executioner. By the end of the novel you are left with a bad taste in your mouth, both from the corruption the book decries and Reacher's sociopathic violence. Where in the series' other titles Reacher's violence is cathartic, here is is just revolting. The author deserves credit for witholding the plot denouement until the last pages, but even upon discovering the truth, it is a diluted experience because of overly complex plotting. Maybe Reacher and his creator get a pass since this is a prequel, but it doesn't make me look forward to the next iteration as I have done in the past.
    • 4/5

      May 25, 2012

      Better than the last few, but not yet back at the gripping page-turning heights of the first. Even though this is 16 books into the series, it is perfectly readable as a standalone. As it happens there are references to characters that have appeared in other books (almost for the first time in the series!) but there's no particular importance to them, they're just people Reacher knows.

      This is set back in '97 when Reacher is still in the Army - a Major in the Military Police. He instructed to go to a small country town near a local base. There have been some disturbing homicide reports and the Army wants to make sure no bad publicity gets out. If it was an Army person then it's to be handled descretely. Reacher's job is not on the base, other MPs are dealing with that, he is to liases with local law enforcement and ensure they're on the ball. The case is particularly delicate because a Senetor's son is one of the captains on the base, and being a bigshot ladies man is one of the prime suspects. Reacher quickly ascertains that the local sherif if a beautiful woman who was ex-marine MP - pretty much his equal. But every woman falls into his arms and within a day they're shagging like bunnies.

      All which was quite entertaining. After that it laspses back into the generic Reacher, with some of the faults from the later books. There's too much coincidence - Reacher happening to walk past the Sherif's former town house and discovering incriminating evidence. He was just cutting down a conveninent street, it asks too much of the reader to believ that 1 street in 1000 he picks would be the one with the details in it. Loose ends don't get tidyied up properly, there are no recriminations for shooting people etc etc. I think in the early stories it wasn't so obviously set in in an america where these things matter, more like Modern Wild West, but by now the whole basis of the novels is that they are contemporary. Hence it does matter. Also this is very much told retrospectively - how I got to be where I am today, which takes any of the mortal danger tension out of the equation. Whether it's six street punks coming for him or a bunch of annoyed Rangers (a unit that Reacher seems to have perenial problems with) we know he survives uninjured. One of Lee Child's tricks of the trade is a fairly meticulous detailed descriptions of a few items. When it works it's great this time the details again flow somewhere inbetween, they're slightly jarring whereas in the first books of the series they were seemless. But in the worst they were turgid lumps, and they aren't that bad either.

      Gripping aside it was fun, the plot twists were sufficiently devious. You could see how the evidence could be read weither way (is the perpetrator an army man or town one - and who?) but when one piece of evidence pointed one way, the next would lean the other. In the end I was disappointed with violence solves eveything approach - although that is classic Reacher - in that the consequences of violence weren't fully explored.
    • 4/5

      Feb 1, 2012

      The Affair is the 16th Jack Reacher book, but the first one I've ever read. I enjoyed listening to it. I don't think they are so great I need to read them all but I will be willing to listen or read them if one crosses my path. Reacher almost seemed to be close to Mary Sue levels of invincibility.

      A woman is found dead with her throat cut in an ally in a little town outside an army base in the late 90's. Jack Reacher is sent in undercover to make sure the local law enforcement isn't going to just blame a soldier and make a stink for the Army. Surprisingly he finds his match in the local Sheriff. She's an ex-marine and is pretty sharp. The more Reacher learns about the case, the more he thinks something stinks, apparently this is the 3rd victim, only the other 2 were from the wrong side of the tracks so didn't cause a stir. It doesn't help that one of the Officers in charge of the company suspected of the crimes happens to be the son of an important US Senator.

      There are quite a few twists and turns though none of them caught me completely off guard. As I said it was an enjoyable read and I'm sure I'll read more at some time in the future.
    • 5/5

      Feb 1, 2012

      I don't usually read action-packed murder mysteries but this was very compelling. I liked the writers style, subtle humor, attention to detail, short hard hitting sentences, characterizations. My first Lee Child novel, but I will be reading more. Jack Reacher, the protagonist, is a man to be reckoned with!