Die Trying" by Lee Child"
It was my intention that this be spoiler free while giving a picture of the book and main characters. Some of what I wrote would be revealed in reading the novel, but I don't think that qualifies as spoilers. There is quite enough twists, turns and action to grab the reader.This is the 2nd of Child's Jack Reacher series. It is a great read with intertwined subplots that draw nourishment from the main plot. The action is superb carried out by well developed characters. Throw in some partial and complete red herrings and you have Die Trying.
Jack Reacher is a decorated ex U.S.Army military police major. He grew up in a military family that like most moved a lot. His military career was more of the same. Reacher an American had little experience of America. When he resigned he began taking in the country, never staying in any one place very long. He seems to stumble into trouble more often then not. Reacher is remarkable physically and mentally.
Holly Johnson is an FBI agent in Chicago. She has torn her ACL playing soccer. She is personally connected to people high in the military and the government. She and bystander Reacher get caught up in a plot to take down the U.S. government.
Beau Borkin like Reacher is larger than life. A 400 pound charismatic sociopath who has drawn a group of easily lead people in an extremely remote area. He has grievances against the government and the resources to cause real damage.
This is post Ruby Ridge and Mt. Carmel (Waco), so the government is reluctant to get into another big imbroglio that would fuel the mindset of certain groups who we are all too familiar with today.
In most novels the character development of bad guys is rather 2 dimensional, but Child does a great job on Borkin and his underlings. There is even a woman with a very small part that conveys her deep emotions in her couple of bits of dialogue.
I have only read 2 Reacher novels. The other is well on in the series. Yes there is a pattern that Child follows in his novels, but that doesn't detract from the stories.
Good plots, good characters, good dialogues and a theme that ultimately feels right. What's not to like.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hey, all reviews welcome here. Just because no one replies does not mean that they were not read and duly noted. So you just keep on.
I'll try to find that one at the library tomorrow. Thanks, everyone, for chipping in. 
As a matter of fact, I picked it up at the library yesterday, sat down on my porch to await mail delivery, and started it. By the time I went to bed I was through 85 pages. After a few hours of sleep, the cats woke me up (as usual) so I read up to page 176.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
I believe this is the first book I've read about this kind of villain. Back in the 80s-90s I never really paid much attention to their ilk, figuring a few hundred nut jobs couldn't really harm me. But now they are coming out of the woodwork and will be VOTING! Or so they say, anyway. And they are starting to scare me. So this book is totally creeping me out. 
There is one thing, though, that really made me say, "Oh, come on!" It's when he's writing about how a computer can analyze paint strokes, etc. on the van to determine the guy's height. BUT, They just interviewed the woman in the hardware store who recognized the face of the driver who bought the paint. Why didn't they just ask her how tall the guy was? Some agents, pffft.
It's okay, though. I still love this story and its intensity and suspect I will finish it by Friday because it is truly a page-turner!
