CHAIN REACTION by Lee Child and Andrew Child

 CHAIN REACTION

by

Lee Child and Andrew Child

    Chain Reaction, by Lee Child and Andrew Child, is the 31st novel in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. Its expected publication date is October 20, 2026.

    In Chain Reaction, we once again encounter Susan Turner - although now she is General Susan Turner, not Major Turner as she was when Reacher first "met" her when he telephoned the 110th MP, the unit he had commanded and she was then commanding. General Turner is now commanding a new section, an independent internal army law enforcement division including criminal investigation, counterintelligence, and uniformed MPs. When she lost an agent to what was deemed a random mugging, General Turner was not convinced. She needed help from someone she could trust, someone outside her new section; she needed Reacher. But how does one find a perpetual wanderer who is essentially totally off the grid? General Turner figured that out; and, Reacher helps her figure out what really happened to her deceased agent.

    When the chance arose to review an Advanced Reader Copy of the new Reacher book, I immediately requested it, like a knee jerk reaction. After I did so, I began to rue my decision; although I have been an ardent Reacher fan, the Reacher in the co-authored books has seemed to me like a vastly different character than the Reacher I had grown to love. Nonetheless, I had agreed to read and review the book, and so I did. And, I am glad that I did so.

    Although the Chain Reaction Reacher is not the beloved Reacher of my remembered past, he seems closer to that character than the other co-authored Reachers. Chain Reaction Reacher cares about fairness and justice; he cares about helping a friend in need, like Turner. Together, Reacher and Turner piece together the complex, convoluted situation that led to the death of Turner's agent.

    I thoroughly enjoyed my return to Reacher's world, especially when I caught glimpses of the remembered Reacher. The plot of Chain Reaction is interesting, complex, and fast moving. Overall, Chain Reaction provides an engaging and satisfying Reacher reading experience.

IMO, Chain Reaction is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This review is based upon an Advanced Reader Copy kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

MYSTERY PLAY by Elizabeth Kostova

 MYSTERY PLAY

by

Elizabeth Kostova

    Mystery Play, Elizabeth Kostova's fourth novel, is expected to be published on October 13, 2026. It follows The Historian, The Swan Thieves, and The Shadow Land (my reviews of these can be found at https://imobookreviews.blogspot.com/, the first two dated June 27, 2015, and the third dated April 2, 2017). In Mystery Play, the reader is immersed in the history of the world of theater.

    Mystery Play introduces us to James (Jay) Taylor, a historian (from a long line of historians), roughly a year following his mother's death. While going through his mother's belongings, Jay found a newspaper fragment from 1902 referencing Gael Brogan, an actor who was most famous for his portrayal of Dracula. The remainder of the book switches between the theater in the late 1890's, primarily through Brogan's leading lady from that time, Fern Quinn, and Jay's deep dive into Brogan's world.

    While Jay was sorting through his mother's possessions, we learn that his mother had owned a book dated from 1477, one of a few commissioned by Vlad Tepes (also known as Dracula), a blank book but for a woodcut printing of a dragon at the center. She told Jay that she had donated this book to the Rutherford Museum and Library. Nonetheless, while he was discovering the article fragment, Jay received a delivery, the very same book. Although this book is obviously the same book received by some historians in The Historian, thereby connecting Mystery Play to The Historian, the relevance of Vlad's book within Mystery Play is not clear to me.

    I found Mystery Play to be quite slow at the beginning. However, as the book progressed and the pieces started coming together, the pace picked up as well. The history of the theater detailed in the book did not pique my interest as much as the subjects considered in other Kostova novels, although Jay and his story did. I soon became immersed in the book and enjoyed the experience.

IMO, Mystery Play is RECOMMENDED.

This review is based upon an Advanced Reader Copy kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

COLD ZERO by Brad Thor and Ward Larsen

 COLD ZERO

by

Brad Thor and Ward Larsen

    Cold Zero is a new thriller by Brad Thor, renowned and award-winning author of the popular Scot Harvath series, with Ward Larsen, an Air Force veteran, fighter pilot, federal agent, airline captain, aircraft crash investigator, and bestselling author. Its expected publication date is February 10, 2026.

    In Cold Zero, Dr. Chen Li, a brilliant Chinese scientist, is defecting to the United States. He is bringing with him his creation, Sky Fire, a new technology that has the potential to change modern warfare and the balance of power. Kasey Sheridan, the CIA operative responsible for getting Dr. Li and Sky Fire on the airplane and out of China, relaxes a notch once the airplane leaves Chinese airspace and heads toward New York. But, unbeknownst to Sheridan, the difficult part of the extraction is yet to come. For before reaching New York, the airplane crashes north of the Arctic Circle.

    Surviving First Officer Brett Sharpe, with the assistance of Kasey Sheridan, works to assist those who survived the plane's crash landing on an ice floe somewhere near the North Pole. Communications are down, but it is not long before the Russians and the Chinese join the Americans at the site. 

    I am a long time Brad Thor fan, so I thought I would give this Thor/Larsen collaboration a try. I had my doubts at first - after all, neither Kasey Sheridan nor Brett Sharpe are Scot Harvath - but those reservations were soon forgotten and I was engrossed in this engaging thriller.

    But, Cold Zero is a cold experience. I attribute it to the quality of the writing and the overwhelming, immersive nature of this book, but I was so cold during my reading experience (despite reading the book

during a warmish winter). So bundle up - and enjoy this fast paced, action packed thriller.

IMO, Cold Zero is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This review is based upon an Advanced Reader Copy kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

VIGIL by George Saunders

 VIGIL

by

George Saunders

    Vigil is the latest novel by George Saunders, award winning author of, inter alia, Lincoln in the Bardo, winner of the Man Booker Prize (and one of my all time favorites). Its expected publication date is January 27, 2026. 

    In Vigil, we experience the end-of-life vigil at the bedside of the dying CEO and oil tycoon, K. J. Boone. Despite this deceptively simple summary of Vigil, the book is anything but. Rather, Saunders portrays what feels like a lengthy, thought provoking, and rather complex vigil, with all the creativity and imagination encountered in Saunders's work.

    Part way through Vigil (and the vigil), I realized that the esoteric philosophical questions about eternal verities that Saunders was "forcing" the reader to grapple with were not the point of the vigil. Saunders tied those complexities to the multitude of crazinesses endemic in today's daily existence. So now, I think, I am ready to begin reading Vigil once again.

    Saunders is one of my favorite authors. His examination of the vigil in Vigil is thought provoking and delivers what I've come to expect from him. Vigil is quintessential Saunders.

IMO, Vigil is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This review is based upon an Advanced Reader Copy kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.