'One Shot' was the first book I read by novelist Jim Grant, better known by his nom de plume, Lee Child. It stars 'Jack Reacher', an ex military cop who was 'let go' by the military because he was too good at what he did. Reacher is a character who stars in a whole bunch of Child's 'Reacher' books.  Post retirement,  Reacher lives the life of a ghost: no credit cards, no automobiles registered against his name, no property records, nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch.  He lives his life that way, partly due to paranoia and partly because he believes that it continues to keep him sharp.  He pops out of the woodworks when he chooses, and disappears right back as if he'd never come forward.  

'One Shot' starts with a sniper taking a vantage position on a multilevel parking garage which is under construction.  He gets in position and proceeds to mow down five people in less than thirty seconds with his high power sniper rifle before disappearing into nothingness.  Only, a team of police detectives, led by Emerson, chief of the local PD get their act together straight away, and after an impeccable effort, they zero in on their man: James Barr, a forty one year old ex infantry specialist with all tell-tale signs of a traumatic post-service blues.  Barr keeps his peace, the only words he speaks before lapsing into complete silence are "Get Jack Reacher" when his lawyer tries to get him to open up.  To make matters worse, Barr gets so severely beaten up in a prison brawl that he loses his short-term memories completely, leaving him with no recollection of what he did or didn't do at the time of the shooting.  With overwhelming evidence against him and he himself suspecting that he probably did kill the people,  nobody gives Barr even a slim chance.  Until Reacher comes in.  The rest of the book beautifully showcases Reacher's special skills which he has honed over years of being an excellent military cop and it is truly a treat. The action is gripping and the narrative taut. Child also doesn't leave any loose ends unfinished or unexplained.  A lovely read, it got me interested in reading other books from the 'Reacher' series of books by Lee Child.

Title: One Shot Author: Lee Child Genre: Thriller

My Scores: Suspense: 7/10 Character sketches: 9/10 Research: 7/10 Overall enjoyability: 8/10 Total Score: 7.75/10