The bad guy says, “Back up now.” Reacher doesn’t, and with that act of defiance the power balance between the two of them shifts, imperceptibly, even though, by rights, it shouldn’t-and we are off once again, in what will prove to be one of many ever-escalating, ever-more-exhilarating outbreaks of bloodshed.

The bad guy says, “Don’t move.” Reacher steps forward again. How on earth do you move a dead, six-feet-five block of stone? He steps forward. Reacher is a giant-six feet five and built like a block of stone-and some part of his brain tells him that he’s safer in the hallway than inside the door, because the guy with the gun won’t want to shoot him in a semi-public place. But the bad guy has a Ruger P-85 nine-millimetre with a nine-inch suppressor attached to the end of the barrel. He likes to travel light and acquires his guns on an as-needed basis. As is often the case in the Reacher novels-which involve, invariably, Reacher tumbling across some kind of malevolent conspiracy in the American heartland and killing everyone involved-Reacher is unarmed. Midway through Lee Child’s latest in the Jack Reacher series, “Make Me,” Reacher stands facing an armed man in a doorway.

Jack reacher killing