Gone Tomorrow Book

Lee Child has steadily accrued one of the keenest groups of admirers for any contemporary thriller writer – and the reason is easy to discern. In such gritty and authoritative novels as Tripwire, Killing Floor and Die Trying, Child established his tough itinerant protagonist Jack Reacher as a key modern hero, with a taciturn, hard-boiled appeal that has not palled over many books (though some have queried Jack’s transformation from a man who triumphed -- with difficulty – over insuperable odds – into a nigh-invulnerable super-hero). But the narrative grasp of the author remains absolutely iron-clad, and there are the stunningly drawn American locales that are so notably impressive from an English author.

In the latest outing for Jack Reacher, Gone Tomorrow, Child’s resourceful hero is travelling in New York City, observing his fellow passengers on the subway. He’s aware that suicide bombers are easy to spot – they’re usually nervous, and (as he wryly notes) by definition they're first-timers. As an ex-law enforcer, Jack notices that of his five fellow travellers, one is distinctly giving out the signals that spell danger. Grand Central Station is approaching – will Jack act and save lives – including his own? But… what if he's wrong?

This high voltage situation is the arresting curtain opener here, and the tension is screwed tighter, as Jack Reacher is pitched against the one of the most challenging threats he has come up against. Gone Tomorrow has all the dynamism of Child’s earlier work; spruced-up, super-charged and showing no sign of age. --Barry Forshaw

Suicide bombers are easy to spot. They give out all kinds of tell-tale signs. There are twelve things to look for. No one who has worked in law enforcement will ever forget them. New York City. The subway, two o'clock in the morning. Jack Reacher studies his fellow passengers. Four are OK. The fifth isn't. The train brakes for Grand Central Station. Will Reacher intervene, and save lives? Or is he wrong? Will his intervention cost lives - including his own? Waterstones have been following the nail-biting exploits of Jack Reacher since he first loped into town in Killing Floor in 1997, a striking figure standing at 6ft5 all dirty-blond hair, with a chip on his shoulder and a lethal ability. His creator Lee Child lays claim to the fact that every second somewhere in the world somebody buys one of his novels. He starts every new novel on the same date, the 1st September and has managed to keep fans coming back for more every time, he says of thriller-writing ‘It's the only real genre and all the other stuff has grown on the side of it like barnacles’.

Gone Tomorrow : Paperback : Transworld Publishers Ltd : 9780553824698 : 0553824694 : 18 Feb 2010 : Riding the subway in New York at two o'clock in the morning, Reacher knows the twelve giveaway signs to look out for. Watching one of his fellow-passengers, he becomes sharply aware: one by one, she ticks off every bulletpoint on his list.