Lee Child begins EXIT STRATEGY --- which he wrote with his brother, Andrew Child --- by thanking everyone who stood by Jack Reacher through these 30 books. If you’re a fan of high-octane adventure and non-stop action, you’re in the right place. If you’re a newcomer to this series, you’ll be hugging yourself with glee before it’s over and quickly seeking out the previous 29 installments.

Our giant nomad is starting his day in innocent fashion at a coffee shop in Baltimore. Not only will he get involved in a scam to rip off elderly people with a bogus investment scheme, he will be part of a case of mistaken identity where he is drawn into a situation with a person who is in desperate need of help from some really bad people. It sounds like a typical day for Reacher, and he is more than ready for whatever comes his way.

"I really enjoyed how Lee and Andrew waited until the last line of the book to explain the meaning of the title. It is quite poignant."

The man who leaves Reacher a note is Nathan Gilmour, a recent hire at the Port Administration location in the Baltimore shipyards. He was told to look for the largest man in the coffee shop. At the moment he arrived, that person happened to be Reacher. It turns out that the individual Gilmour was supposed to connect with had a heart attack and died on his way there.

Reacher follows through with the request for help and goes to the abandoned warehouse at the date and time indicated on the note. He meets up with Gilmour, who is quite nervous, and convinces him that he was not the intended recipient. When he learns that the man is also retired from the military police, he decides to help him. It turns out that Gilmour is being blackmailed by some people who paid off his enormous gambling debt in exchange for his being hired for this new job, where he is able to share access to certain cargo shipments arriving at the port.

Of course, all of this occurs after Reacher inserts himself into the situation involving two elderly people who were being scammed. Not only did he get them their money back, he beat up the trio behind the deception.

The big villain in this story, and the one extorting Gilmour and others to guarantee the delivery of the incoming cargo, is Morgan Strickland, who operates a private military contracting company that is quite shady and is prepared to bring about the deaths of many people in a skirmish taking place in Armenia, which is all a ruse. Once Reacher and Gilmour become privy to what's going on, through a lot of crafty investigating and another line of bodies left behind, they will not stand for it and intend to keep this unnamed delivery from making its way into Strickland’s hands.

New allies are made along the way, and everything finishes in a grand battle at a secretive underground mine, which is the clandestine operations center for Strickland’s organization. As is typical, Reacher seeks no credit and makes his way onto a bus heading to the first destination that comes up.

I really enjoyed how Lee and Andrew waited until the last line of the book to explain the meaning of the title. It is quite poignant. EXIT STRATEGY is another Reacher adventure not to be missed!