The story gets off to a hot start when a sniper mows down (with six rifle shots) five random people innocently leaving their place of work. The guy seems to have expertly planned his attack, yet leaves behind such a wealth of forensic evidence that even a CSI rookie could have followed the trail and snagged the killer, as did the local Indiana small city cops just hours later that night. The arrested man, James Barr, who turns out to be a Gulf War Army sniper, says almost nothing, but finally denies his guilt and asks for Jack Reacher. Reacher hears about the deed on national TV and sets out for the town before he knew he had been tangentially involved. Meanwhile Barr gets almost killed in prison overnight and is in a coma in the hospital. When Reacher shows up and sees the case from the police side, he is also convinced it's open and shut -- and we're left wondering where this is all going. Answer -- into one great story that tracks down the truth from the tiniest of inconsistencies, with little more than caring people to keep the search going strong. When Reacher gets hit on by some bad guys after a setup from a cute townie girl, and then the girl gets brutally offed, he's in the game for good now; and as usual, enraged enough morally to relentlessly chase -- mostly on foot (he doesn't own a car or anything else for that matter!) -- the villains. Finally, it may be that a crooked cop or DA (the defense lawyer's father of all people) may be part of the problem, only adding to the tension! Cap this off with a fabulous ending that leaves everybody happy and satisfied, especially we readers, and what more can we ask for in a novel!