Echo Burning

Title: Echo Burning

Author: Lee Child

Published in: 2001

Date read: Not yet read

Score: /5

Genre: Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Echo Burning," published in 2001, is the fifth novel in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. It finds the nomadic ex-military policeman pulled into a complex and dangerous web of domestic violence and murder on the vast, isolated plains of Texas.

The story begins with Jack Reacher hitchhiking through a blistering Texas landscape when he is picked up by a young, beautiful woman named Carmen Greer. Carmen, a seemingly wealthy and desperate woman, makes Reacher an extraordinary offer: a large sum of money to murder her abusive, estranged husband, Sikes, who is due to be released from prison soon.

Reacher, true to his moral code, refuses to kill Sikes. However, he recognises Carmen's genuine fear and desperation and agrees to stay with her and her daughter at her secluded ranch until Sikes arrives, offering his protection. He is immediately suspicious of her story and her family, who seem to be a powerful and interconnected dynasty in the region.

When Sikes does return, he is found dead, shot in the head. The local authorities, controlled by the powerful Greer family, quickly arrest Carmen for the murder, despite her claims of self-defence. Reacher, now embroiled in the conspiracy, realizes that he has to uncover the truth to save Carmen from a rigged justice system and a ruthless family.

The narrative shifts into a thrilling investigation as Reacher, now the target of both the law and the Greer family's hired enforcers, tries to piece together the events surrounding Sikes's death. He discovers that the Greer family is hiding a sinister secret, one that has been carefully concealed for years. Sikes's murder is not a simple case of domestic violence but is tied to a much larger, more malevolent conspiracy involving family members and a hidden crime.

Reacher must use all his skills—his knowledge of military and police procedure, his combat expertise, and his innate ability to read people—to navigate the treacherous landscape. He is up against a powerful, entrenched family that believes it is above the law. He is also forced to question whether Carmen herself is entirely honest and if he is being manipulated.

The climax is a classic Reacher showdown, as he confronts the Greer family's hired guns and exposes the truth behind Sikes's murder, culminating in a brutal and violent resolution that brings justice to a long-unsolved crime and frees Carmen from her past, leaving Reacher to once again disappear into the vastness of the American landscape.

Comments:

Books that we've read by Lee Child (4):
Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) (1997), Die Trying (Jack Reacher, #2) (1998), Tripwire (Jack Reacher, #3) (1999), Running Blind (Jack Reacher, #4) (2000)