The Sentinel

Finished July 11

The Sentinel by Lee Child and Andrew Child

This episode of the Jack Reacher novels takes us briefly to Nashville, and then to a small town a ways north of the city. When Reacher arrives in Nashville, he looks for a few things, including music, and finds himself in a bar with little ambience, but with musicians who sound good to him. Unfortunately, they are just finishing up, and when he leaves he encounters them outside and finds himself in a position to assist them. 

A few days later, he is on the road and gets picked up by someone who needs help finding his way. Reacher decides to go on with him to the destination, and finds himself in this town that has recently been a target of ransomware. The IT manager, Rutherford, has been fired despite him being the one warning his bosses and trying to guard against this situation. The two men meet when Reacher prevents something happening to Rutherford, and they both get arrested. When they join forces to try to figure out why Rutherford is targeted, and start digging deeper, they find themself making a few new aquaintances.

As often happens, there is more than one group of bad guys, and somethings they cross over between groups. 

This is an interesting look a topic that is definitely a current event at publication time and still a topic of much discussion. As always, Reacher is thoughtful, empathetic to those in a bad situation, and aware of the bigger picture. 

A good read.