A deadly team of assassins has just put the Vice President in their sights and will stop at nothing to realize their objective. These men have planned well, but they haven't planned on Reacher. For only Reacher has the head and the heart to corner his prey and bring them to justice - without fail.
Jack Reacher gets a lift from seductive Carmen Greer, but it comes with a few hitches: a dangerous husband, a small town with secrets, and a plan. Now Reacher's part of it, and before the sun sets, the ride could cost Jack and Carmen their lives.
The story begins in New York, with Reacher confronting and beating up two thugs sent to collect money from the diner he was eating in as part of a protection racket, implying that he is a member of a rival gang. Reacher is then pulled up by the FBI and questioned over who he is working for, but explains he is a loner and has been since he mustered out of the army. He is then questioned about two women whose cases of sexual harassment he dealt with when he was an MP and it is revealed they have both been killed in the last few months and a criminal profiling team have come to the conclusion that the person who did was someone exactly like Reacher.
Digging a swimming pool by hand in Key West, former military policeman Jack Reacher is not pleased when Costello, a private detective, comes nosing around asking questions about him. Determined to keep out of trouble, Reacher conceals his identity. But when he finds Costello dead with his fingertips sliced off, he realizes it is time to move on - and move on fast. Yet two questions worry him: who was Costello's employer, the mysterious Mrs Jacobs? And why is she determined to find Reacher? Moreover, who is Hook Hobie, the vicious and amoral manipulator in a Wall Street office who preys on other people's assets?
Jack Reacher meets an attractive woman struggling along a Chicago street with her crutches. He stops to offer a steadying arm, and then they both turn to face twin handguns aimed at them. Reacher and the woman - who claims to be an FBI agent - are kidnapped and taken 2000 miles across America.
