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The Enemy (novel)
Encyclopedia
The prequel, The Enemy is the eighth book in the Jack Reacher
series written by Lee Child
.
motel when he dies of a fatal heart attack. Military Police Major Jack Reacher
investigates, and comes to the conclusion that the woman Kramer was with in the motel stole his Army briefcase.
Reacher goes to a bar across the street from the motel to find out who the hooker was, and creates some trouble when he gets into a fight with the owner, shattering his knee. Afterwards, the motel receptionist informs Reacher that he heard a military vehicle leaving after Kramer's death, and Reacher concludes that the woman Kramer was with is a female officer. The book introduces General Vassell and Colonel Coomer, and later their errand boy, Major Marshall. It becomes clear that they are hiding something, related to an agenda for a meeting that was in Kramer's briefcase.
Two soldiers named Carbone and Brubaker are murdered soon afterward. It turns out that Carbone filed a complaint against Reacher, his first in a sixteen-year career, for assaulting the bar owner. This puts Reacher under a cloud of suspicion.
Reacher, in a talk with the Chief of Staff, finds out that with the collapse of Soviet communism that the military at large is worried about its inevitable downsizing, and in particular the different branches are having a power struggle.
Reacher realises that Vassell, Coomer, and Marshall killed Carbone, by sneaking Marshall into the base in the car trunk. This is proven when investigation of the car finds Marshall's fingerprints as well as large quantities of blood in the trunk.
Reacher arrests Vassell and Coomer for conspiracy to commit homicide. He makes the mistake of traveling alone to a firing range in the Mojave Desert
to arrest Marshall. Marshall is hiding out in a bunker, also armed. A firefight ensues, during which Marshall calls his tank squadron, practicing nearby, to fire rounds on their position. Under cover of the incoming tank shells, and realizing that time is short, Reacher sneaks into the bunker and shoots and wounds Marshall. Escaping in his Humvee, he drives the wounded Marshall to a military hospital.
Reacher finds the missing agenda. It turns out that it was a plan to ensure that Armored Branch, the military the conspirators worked for, avoided being reduced. The agenda was a plan to assassinate eighteen prominent individuals in the army, one already killed. Vassell, Coomer, and Marshall plead guilty as charged in exchange for life imprisonment
, avoiding the death penalty which was threatened.
Reacher pleads guilty to the brutality charge that had been brought by Carbone, and is demoted to Captain, but has cleared his conscience.
Jack Reacher
Jack Reacher is a fictional character created by British author Jim Grant who writes under the pen name of Lee Child.-Biographical information:...
series written by Lee Child
Lee Child
Jim Grant , better known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British thriller writer. His wife Jane is a New Yorker, and they currently live in New York state. His first novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel....
.
Plot introduction
In the last hours of 1989, two-star Army General Ken Kramer is in a North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
motel when he dies of a fatal heart attack. Military Police Major Jack Reacher
Jack Reacher
Jack Reacher is a fictional character created by British author Jim Grant who writes under the pen name of Lee Child.-Biographical information:...
investigates, and comes to the conclusion that the woman Kramer was with in the motel stole his Army briefcase.
Plot summary
Reacher and a female assistant named Lieutenant Summer travel to inform Mrs. Kramer of her husband's death. However, when they arrive, it turns out the house has been broken into and Mrs. Kramer has been murdered with a crowbar.Reacher goes to a bar across the street from the motel to find out who the hooker was, and creates some trouble when he gets into a fight with the owner, shattering his knee. Afterwards, the motel receptionist informs Reacher that he heard a military vehicle leaving after Kramer's death, and Reacher concludes that the woman Kramer was with is a female officer. The book introduces General Vassell and Colonel Coomer, and later their errand boy, Major Marshall. It becomes clear that they are hiding something, related to an agenda for a meeting that was in Kramer's briefcase.
Two soldiers named Carbone and Brubaker are murdered soon afterward. It turns out that Carbone filed a complaint against Reacher, his first in a sixteen-year career, for assaulting the bar owner. This puts Reacher under a cloud of suspicion.
Reacher, in a talk with the Chief of Staff, finds out that with the collapse of Soviet communism that the military at large is worried about its inevitable downsizing, and in particular the different branches are having a power struggle.
Reacher realises that Vassell, Coomer, and Marshall killed Carbone, by sneaking Marshall into the base in the car trunk. This is proven when investigation of the car finds Marshall's fingerprints as well as large quantities of blood in the trunk.
Reacher arrests Vassell and Coomer for conspiracy to commit homicide. He makes the mistake of traveling alone to a firing range in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
to arrest Marshall. Marshall is hiding out in a bunker, also armed. A firefight ensues, during which Marshall calls his tank squadron, practicing nearby, to fire rounds on their position. Under cover of the incoming tank shells, and realizing that time is short, Reacher sneaks into the bunker and shoots and wounds Marshall. Escaping in his Humvee, he drives the wounded Marshall to a military hospital.
Reacher finds the missing agenda. It turns out that it was a plan to ensure that Armored Branch, the military the conspirators worked for, avoided being reduced. The agenda was a plan to assassinate eighteen prominent individuals in the army, one already killed. Vassell, Coomer, and Marshall plead guilty as charged in exchange for life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, avoiding the death penalty which was threatened.
Reacher pleads guilty to the brutality charge that had been brought by Carbone, and is demoted to Captain, but has cleared his conscience.