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Book summary and reviews of One Shot by Lee Child

One Shot by Lee Child

One Shot

by Lee Child

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  • Published:
  • Jun 2005
    384 pages
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Book Summary

When a former soldier is accused of a random killing spree, Jack Reacher heads not to his rescue, but to aid his prosecution. For Reacher knows that this soldier has killed before. But, when the perfect evidence in a perfect case unravels, Jack Reacher must turn his back on everything he knows and everything he believes to save the last man on earth who deserves his help.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Child has purposely designed the novel to move forward unfettered by stylish flourishes...the story speedballs to its satisfying conclusion." - Publishers Weekly

"[E]ven a slightly off-stride Reacher can run away from most of the competition in the thriller sweepstakes." - Booklist.

"Child caps his steadily building narrative with a gonzo action scene that seems a little heavy for Indiana." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about One Shot was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Techeditor

A good thriller
If you aren't familiar with Lee Child's books, as I wasn't, you should know that his stories involve Jack Reacher, a former army officer who went to West Point, a big man who now, apparently, doesn't own a home, a car, a cell phone, anything. Heck, he even buys clothes, wears them until they're dirty, then gets rid of them. He's a hard man to find, and he travels light.

But Jack Reacher is our hero.

In ONE SHOT Reacher comes to Indiana when he learns that a former soldier he knew in the army is accused of the mass murder of five people there who were leaving a DMV building. He finds out that all is not as simple as that, though, and he stays longer than he intended. (By the way, he wears the same $45 pants and shirt throughout the book.)

I had always avoided Lee Child's books just because I assumed they were cheap fiction, the kind I see dozens of at used book sales. So ONE SHOT was my first because I was curious and because I got the book for free.

Turns out, I enjoyed ONE SHOT. It's not literature, but it's a good thriller.

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Author Information

Lee Child Author Biography

Photo: Sigrid Estrada

Lee Child was born in the exact geographic center of England, in the heart of the industrial badlands. Never saw a tree until he was twelve. It was the sort of place where if you fell in the river, you had to go to the hospital for a mandatory stomach pump. The sort of place where minor disputes were settled with box cutters and bicycle chains. He's got the scars to prove it.

But he survived, got an education, and went to law school, but only because he didn't want to be a lawyer. Without the pressure of aiming for a job in the field, he figured it would be a relaxing subject to study. He spent most of the time in the university theater - to the extent that he had to repeat several courses, because he failed the exams - and then went to work for Granada Television in ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Lee Child's Website

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