PERSUADER (2003)

Jack Reacher, making his seventh appearance in a novel, is an ex -- military cop. This means he knows lots about how to kill people and doesn't waste a lot of energy speaking in full sentences. But boy, is he smart, as is Child, who here places Reacher undercover in the remote coastline house of a very bad man. With so many people to kill -- and so many weapons to choose from -- Reacher is one happy camper. The ending drags, but the story is otherwise as tightly wound as Reacher himself.