Thrills grip even ordinary Reacher

After seeing a mediocre-at-best Jack Reacher movie in October, I needed a pick-me-up in November. Lee Child delivered it with 'Night School” (Delacorte Press, $28.99, 369 pages), the 21st book in his best-selling Reacher series.

This engaging thriller is set in 1996 when Reacher is a major in the U.S. Army. He's just received a Legion of Merit for an undisclosed black ops venture when he receives cryptic orders to report for a class titled 'Recent Forensic Innovation on Inter-Agency Cooperation,” which would be as silly as it sounds if it existed. It doesn't. It's a cover for Reacher and counterparts from the FBI and CIA to investigate a scary report from an undercover agent in a jihadist sleeper cell in Germany. An unknown American is trying to sell something to some dangerous folks for $100 million.

Reacher gets an assistant to find out what is being sold and stop the transaction. He calls on Sgt. Frances Neagley, a fascinating and recurring character in the series who's about as insightful and dangerous as Reacher is. Those two go hands on in Hamburg, Germany, and the action cartwheels suspensefully from there.

This isn't the best book in the series (it has more plodding police procedural activity than usual and has more of a committee feel instead of the lone-wolf approach readers hold dear), nor is it the worst. But even if it were the worst, it wouldn't matter. Every book in the series is a worthwhile read.

Reacher was as formidable in the Army as he is on his vagabond trek across the U.S. in his post-military days. He's an exceptional literary character made more compelling by Child's spare narratives, whether first person or third person.

There's plenty to like here. Reacher bashes some heads after some quick mental choreography. He intuits plenty and quickly shoots holes in others' arguments. He tells time in his head, and it's fun to see just how much technology has advanced since 1996.

It's a different kind of conclusion for a Reacher book - no less suspenseful but certainly not as violent.