River Readers

The Reacher family is constantly moving from base to base, and at each new assignment teen brothers Joe and Jack Reacher have to prove themselves to the teens wanting to establish a pecking order. Thirteen-year-old Jack Reacher is itching for a fight but has to help his father, accused of losing a code book, and Joe, accused of cheating on a placement test when his mother is called away to her dying father. Using his powers of observation and a girl he meets gives the reader a prelude to the successful military policeman he will later become.

Jack Reacher is a man with no home and ample curiosity. When he emerges from a train at Mother's Rest to learn the story behind the isolated town's name, he instead finds Michelle Chang, an ex-FBI agent worried about her missing co-worker -- and a hostile town that wants to see them both leave. As they crisscross the United States to locate the partner and unravel the mystery, they also discover the residents have invested in some deep-pocketed killers. Who are the series of guests staying overnight at the town's one hotel, and what secret could warrant such protection?

Finding a personal ad for him in a discarded military newspaper sends Jack Reacher on a worldwide hunt after an assassination attempt on the French president. The government fears one of a handful of snipers, deadly from three-quarters of a mile away, endangers world leaders at the upcoming G-8 global conference. One of the possibilities, John Kott, is a man Reacher helped convict 15 years ago, and who apparently still holds a grudge. Together with rookie analyst Casey Nice, they are tasked to stop the assassin.

After a horrific killing, the police arrest Little League coach Terry Maitland during a ballgame in front of most of the town of Flint City, Oklahoma. A in-depth investigation isn't required, with numerous eyewitness testimonies, blood and DNA samples. Only ... Maitland was with the English faculty of his school at the time with footage and fingerprints to back up his ironclad alibi. The story moves from police procedural to horror as Holly Gibney is brought in to help investigate. A familiar face from King's "Mr.

Pete Banning started his day like most others, until he enters the Methodist church and shoots the pastor to death, refusing to defend or defend his actions to anyone. Set in 1940s, Grisham returns not only to the town of Clanton, Miss., but also to World War II, and how Banning survived to become the town's war hero. The story explores the immediate and long-term ramifications of a decision on the Banning children, an institutionalized wife, a sister, and Clanton.

What president banned Christmas trees from the White House -- and why? How did a telephone number typo and Raggedy Ann doll lead to annual Christmas traditions? What familiar Christmas carol was first written to celebrate a birth that was not Jesus? This book delves into the origin of the music, stories, symbols and foods associated with Christmas in tales that will both inform and surprise readers of all ages.

Jack Reacher was intrigued by her voice when he needed some help while in South Dakota, and he has hitchhiked back to Washington, D.C. to meet Susan Turner, who now has his command at the 110th MP unit. What he finds instead is that Turner has been accused of embezzling and he is accused of both beating a man to death and a second case that shocks him even more. In order to clear their names they have to go on the run, but their unknown suspects have vast resources and are tracking their every move.

Andrew Dahl's assignment to the Intrepid, the flagship of the Universal Union's space fleet, made him feel very fortunate ... at first. But something's not quite right in the 25th Century. There's an unusually high number of casualties on away missions, problems are solved by a mysterious Box, and the laws of physics and common sense often seem to be ignored. The only conclusion he and his friends arrive at is preposterous. And to make things right, they will have to go on a rogue mission of their own to the most unlikeliest of places.

In the year 2066, a chance observation by Americans spots the presence of alien visitors at what appears to be an orbiting station around Saturn. It doesn't take long for the world to spot the presence and it becomes a race between Americans and Chinese to be the first to arrive and acquire technology with global implications. What will be found? Readers who enjoyed the science-driven plot of Andy Weir's "The Martian" will find this story of exploration and discovery compelling, with interesting characters and subplots, with plenty of surprises and a healthy dose of treachery.

Why is there suffering and tragedy? Ronald Higdon takes his 55 years of ministry to wrestle with these questions, helped by writers as diverse as escaped slave Frederick Douglass, Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl, and actor Michael J. Fox. Whether it be the a frustrated, conquered people, the death in a German concentration camp, the death of a child (including his own son), illness. disease, or aging, Higdon avoids easy answers, Instead he suggests some unexpected conclusions.

Jack Reacher is hitchhiking to Virginia when he's picked up by a threesome on their way to Chicago -- all dressed alike, but after noticing curious discrepancies and encountering several police stops, he quickly realizes something is off. Getting away from the group, he finds himself working with the FBI's Julia Sorenson to investigate the murder of a diplomatic attaché . There's less action in this title in the Reacher series, but still includes deduction, a final confrontation, and a verbal puzzle that all combine to make this a page-turner.

Throughout Lee Child's series, readers are told of Jack Reacher's history as an Army M.P. and his past decision to leave the only life he has ever known to become a wanderer. "The Affair" returns to 1997, when Reacher is assigned an undercover role near a secret base in Mississippi run by a powerful senator's son, where a woman has been murdered. Reacher arrives in town and quickly has his cover blown by local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux who tells him about other women who have been murdered.

Jack Reacher is spending the night as he makes way through rural Nebraska when he's drawn into the problems of a small community. It is run by the Duncan family, who the farmers depend on because of their transportation company and fear because of the college football players who supply their muscle. Reacher's curiosity into the 25-year-old mystery of a little girl's disappearance stirs up trouble that is affecting an important delivery slowly making it's way through Canada and across the border.

When a U.S. Senator and his mistress are in an accident, he calls upon U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport, who helped him previously, to look into the homicide which he believes was an assassination attempt. The case brings Lucas to Washington and puts him on a collision course with an old nemesis, Taryn Grant, who is attractive, ambitious, and just a little bit crazy -- and with a very real likelihood of a White House run.

U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport likes to hunt killers and when he comes across a multiple homicide at a drug counting house -- including a child -- he goes on a hunt for Gavin Poole, a killer who's been largely invisible for years.