Book Review: "Personal."

 Jack Reacher is back.

 Which isn't that noteworthy, in all honesty, as author Lee Child releases a new Reacher novel every year at around this time. "Jack Reacher is back" must be the book advertising equivalent of "Winter Is Coming." Maybe they're the words of House Publishing.

 It's been a tough few years for Reacher fans. As the number of books have climbed into the high teens and our leading man has reached his early fifties, it's hard not to find the whole exercise a little stale. This is before we mention the recent movie (and its threatened sequels) in which the huge, blonde Reacher was played by the neither Tom Cruise.

 With all this in mind, "Personal," Child's nineteenth Reacher book, is actually a pleasant surprise. Where the previous four books have followed a loose narrative arc as ex-millitary cop Reacher - phoneless, carless, devoid of a fixed abode - made understandably slow progress across the USA to a pending appointment that ultimately came to nothing, the new book, "Personal", sees Reacher picked up by the government to help with an assassination attempt on the French president.

 Why Reacher? Well, because it's... "Personal."

 It can't be easy churning out a book every year, so it's understandable that Lee Child might end up spinning his wheels after all this time. "Personal," however, seems to find Child re-focused and re-energised. While recent books have suffered a lack of anything memorable, "Personal" has a number of set-pieces that are, in the best possible way, Child-like.

 Child has also done the reader a favour by creating an imposing villain. Reacher's quarry is a master sniper, able to hit a target from 1400 yards away. As we watch developments through Reacher's eyes, it's hard not to feel increasingly uneasy. A large chunk of Reacher's appeal has always been his formidable physical presence, but being a great street fighter does no good against an enemy who can take you out from three quarters of a mile.

 "Personal" also sees Reacher returning to the UK for the first time since 2006's "The Hard Way." That book, probably my least favourite of the series, saw Reacher storming around in what felt like an episode of The Archers, so it's nice to have Reacher turn up in London for "Personal," hemmed in by modernity and East End gangsters.

 There are flaws, of course. Some plot elements feel recycled (notably from "Persuader", probably the best Reacher novel) and Child's notorious tin ear for character names is in evidence - a female sidekick whose name is Nice and a British sniper named Carson are glaring examples. I've never known anyone in the UK with the name Carson except the late comic, Frankie. Maybe the sniper in question was a portly, grey haired fella with glasses.

"Heh-heh, it's the way I kill 'em!"

 Child has also said in interviews that he never does a second draft of anything, and it's fairly obvious that he should. The dialogue scenes, for one, are always terse back-and-forth exercises in smarter-than-thou snappiness that ends up making every character sound like a variation of Reacher himself. If Jack Reacher is meant to be the smartest man in the room, it would help if other characters didn't seem to think and speak exactly the way he does.

 Also, the final big reveal is obvious to any readers who have been paying attention, and the only attempt to obscure it is made through Reacher's trademark, annoying habit of keeping information to himself until the final scene, like a blonde, big fisted Columbo. In the case of "Personal", however, the reader can probably see the sting coming from, well, about fourteen hundred yards away.

 These flaws in the book are indicative of wider flaws in the series as a whole, and are fixable - second drafts, a little more nuance, and maybe the tried and tested road of making a recurring character ageless - but based on the evidence of "Personal," fixing may not be needed. Because there series isn't broke.