WITHOUT FAIL

Characters never sound middle-of-the-road in Dick Hill's narration. They're brimming with personality, distinctive and vivid. All of that is especially true of Child's protagonist in this gripping, incisive thriller about an attempt to kill the vice president. Jack Reacher, a former military investigator, is cocksure and whip-smart, and Hill gives him swagger, wit, and passion. Reacher is brought in by the Secret Service, first to see if an assassin could get to the vice president and then to stop real assassins from doing just that. The book is a joyride for listeners, full of false leads, dead ends, concussive bursts of action, and characters who are fully realized and individual. This is as much fun as an audiobook performance can be. M.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]