"Fabulous investigative legal thriller"

The gun man fired six shots, killing four males, one female, and one miss with the five KIAs all shot with precision in the head. Law enforcement believes a military trained sniper caused the massacre. The military database leads to nearby resident, ex Infantry Specialist James Barr. Warrants allow the cops to search Barr's property where further proof surface. Within six hours, James is arrested for mass murder.

James fails to respond to any inquiry from the DA except to calmly and quietly whisper they got the wrong guy but also demands they get him Reacher. Hearing the news of the slaughter and subsequent arrest, Reacher is on the way to the city even before Barr's strange request. He knows that Barr has done this before, and there is cause to see the man executed this time around as Barr escaped with no real punishment with the previous incident. To his chagrin, Reacher believes Barr's plea of innocence, and joins the defense team trying to prove the impossible as their client refuses to accept an insanity plea.

Though there seems an obvious conflict of interests between the two legal teams and Reacher's disdain for the accused, who he considers the ENEMY, it leaves him less frenzied than normal. ONE SHOT is a fabulous investigative legal thriller. The story line is action-packed as all Reacher tales are while the hero struggles with an ethical dilemma that slows his normal wacky pace yet makes him seem more human. The climax will blow away the audience as Lee Child provides a powerful thriller that fans of the series will relish.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 24, 2005