2003 novel by Lee Child
Persuader
is the seventh book in the
Jack Reacher
series written by
Lee Child
.
[1]
It is written in the first person.
According to an
Instagram
post from
Alan Ritchson
posted on January 24, 2024, this book will be adapted into season 3 of the
Reacher
television series on
Amazon Prime Video
.
[
citation needed
]
Plot
[
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]
Jack Reacher
is working unofficially with the
Drug Enforcement Administration
to bring down Zachary Beck, suspected of smuggling drugs under the pretext of trading in rugs, and safely retrieve an undercover DEA agent. They stage a kidnapping of Zachary's son, Richard, and have Reacher "rescue" the boy from the kidnappers to gain the confidence of the family and lead him to their residence. After being rescued, a frightened Richard places his trust in Reacher and asks him to take him back home.
Reacher gains access to Beck and gradually gains his confidence by working as a hired gun and bodyguard. While working
undercover
, he has to eliminate a few of Beck's minions to prevent them from exposing him. The DEA, upon finding that they were mistaken about the nature of the business Zachary was involved in (it is gun-running, not drugs), tries to pull Reacher out.
Reacher refuses to step back as his primary motivation in getting involved at all in this off-the-books operation is to have another go at Francis Xavier Quinn, a former
Military Intelligence
agent who, ten years before, had brutally mutilated and murdered Reacher's colleague Dominique Kohl. Reacher had assumed he had killed Quinn at their last encounter but found that to be incorrect after running into Quinn in public. It is ten years later and Quinn is Zachary Beck's boss in a lucrative international gun-running enterprise. It is revealed that Zachary was forced into working for Quinn and his family was tormented by bodyguards appointed by Quinn.
Despite a number of cliff-hanging setbacks, Reacher manages to free the undercover DEA agent and finally eliminate Quinn.
Accomplices
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- Dominique Kohl
, 29, was a
Sergeant First Class
on the way up and assigned to Reacher's unit when he was a Captain in the Army. She appears in
Persuader
, where Reacher remembers the events that led to her death ten years earlier. Kohl is mentioned again in
Personal
, when Reacher partners with a woman who reminds him of Kohl.
- Susan Duffy
is a DEA agent in
Persuader
. She is Reacher's accomplice throughout the novel, and they have a brief relationship.
Critical reception
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]
Leslie Doran of
The Denver Post
said that the novel had a "gripping and suspenseful opening" and that "for returning Reacher fans...beginning scenes will cause extra suspense".
[2]
Patrick Anderson of
The Washington Post
described it as "a skillful blend of sex, violence, sadism, weaponry, spies, smuggling, revenge, deception, suspense and nonstop action", though he also notes that the novel has "several premises that are hard to swallow".
[3]
After a short description of how quickly he read through the earlier books in the series after reading
Persuader
, Dale Jones of
The Gazette
simply stated "You might say I liked it".
[4]
References
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]
External links
[
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]