Rating: 
Summary: A tale of murder, investigation, duplicity and integrity.
Review: This is a mystery with so many historical and social undercurrents that you must be very knowledgeable about the atmosphere of the times to understand them all. The setting is New Year's Day in 1990 and they are giddy times in Europe. The German people are smashing the hated symbol of the communist conquest of Eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall, to pieces. For all practical purposes, the Cold War is over and the Western democracies are victorious. However, military people who are paid to think ahead are not altogether happy.
The political changes in Europe means that the massive armored divisions the American military keeps in Western Europe are no longer needed. Therefore, the American military needs to drastically rethink and retool in order to be able to respond to the new conditions. As is always the case when there are drastic changes, there are those who are opposed and those who see the opportunity for personal and professional advancement. This climate leads to ruthless actions, and in this case, the trail leads to senior MP Jack Reacher.
A general dies of a heart attack in a seedy motel, apparently in the midst of a dalliance with a prostitute. Reacher is called in to investigate the case, and there are many unusual features. The general went well out of his way for the dalliance and his briefcase is missing. Since the general was involved in strategic planning, the briefcase most likely contained very sensitive materials. The plot quickly thickens when the general's wife and a gay soldier are both brutally murdered. Shortly after that, the commander of the elite Delta force is also found murdered in what presents the appearance of a drug deal gone wrong.
There are many twists and turns to the plot, and the solution is an interesting one in that the culprits are the obvious ones, but the path to the conclusion is not obvious. It involves the army looking after its' own and attempting to avoid scandal, the presence of gays in the military and the politics of military downsizing. It turns out that the motivation for the murders involved all three themes.
As a subplot, Reacher's mother dies in the story. After her death, an old French disabled veteran hands him a box containing material showing a side of his mother that he never knew. She was involved in the French resistance in World War II as a child, posing as the relative of downed Allied airmen so that they could be smuggled out of France and rejoin their units.
This is a gripping tale. I thought I knew who the culprits were early in the book. I was right but wrong about the reasons and the circumstances. Reacher is the ultimate tough guy, able to easily take on veteran barroom bouncers and Delta force members. However, he is also smart and possesses a great deal of integrity. At the end, he sacrifices his rank to protect the memory of a man who sold him out rather than lie.
Rating:
Summary: Retro Reacher
Review: "The Enemy" is Lee Child's eighth Jack Reacher novel - and a prequel to the previous seven. It is New Year's Day 1990, and it is Major Jack Reacher now, an officer in an elite unit of the military police, recently and abruptly reassigned from Panama to acting Provost Marshall of North Carolina's Fort Bird. A visiting General is found dead of an apparent heart attack in a sleazy motel with by-the-hour rates. Not long after that, the same General's wife is found bludgeoned to death in her rural Virginia home, setting the course for an arcane path of treachery reaching the highest levels of the Army. In the search unravel the mystery, Reacher must deal with deceitful Army bureaucrats and Delta Force commandos out for revenge, while grappling with the imminent death of his ailing mother."The Enemy" is more a police mystery than the standard Child suspense/thriller fare, but the results are more than satisfying. While it lacks some of the force and adrenalin of some of Child's earlier works, it does fill in some of the background on Child's reclusive hero. We learn much about his French mother, and in her find clues to Reacher's stoic sense of honor and commitment. Reacher's brother - Joe - is like younger brother Jack in many respects. Conversations between Jack and Joe are about as animated as Lincoln and Washington chatting on Mt. Rushmore. The plot - a rather convoluted tale implying high stakes politicking to determine who's on top in the Army following the inevitable post-Berlin War force reductions - is thin and implausible. But not to worry, for as with all Jack Reacher tales, the plot needs merely to be a passable backdrop in which Reacher can show off his martial and mental talents. In short, "The Enemy" is another fast moving installment from Lee Child, sure to please fans of both mystery and suspense genres.
Rating:
Summary: CSI-Style Crime Solving with a Military Background
Review: "The Enemy" is the eighth book in the Jack Reacher series, but being a prequel, it's still a fine place to begin to cut your teeth on this fascinating albeit terminally unlucky protagonist. It happened to be the first Reacher book that I read and it's been a great primer for the older books in the series.
The book will be of obvious interest to anyone who's into the whole CSI-wherever mania. The backdrop of the U.S. military at the functional crossroads of the fall of the Berlin Wall is an interesting one that I haven't seen explored before in this sort of thriller.
Reacher's experiences in this book also go a long way toward explaining and justifying his cynical worldview and tenacious pursuit of right over wrong that otherwise might seem to be a bit of overkill when considering only the other books in the series. The author made a great choice in providing this prequel as a framework for the rest of his protagonist's life.
Best of all, the book is just plain well-written. The subtle mark of good writing is that its flow makes it virtually transparent to the reader. I find that I have to force my way through so many other lesser authors' stilted verbiage and clumsy narrative; this is not the case with "The Enemy". I've read many other people complain about the rat-a-tat-tat style of brief stream-of-conscious phrases that Child employs. While there probably is too much of this convention in earlier Reacher books, it's not so here. The incomplete thoughts and unfinished observations here only serve to give credibility to the first-person voice he employs.
The story is a true page-turner a la Harlan Coben when he's on his game. While it does lag a bit past the halfway point, the story wraps with a conclusion that is exciting without being over-the-top, interesting without being implausible. It's more than you get from the vast majority of thrillers out there right now.
"The Enemy" is a highly-recommendable piece of suspense/detective fiction and an excellent starting point in the series of Jack Reacher novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that good
Review: Have read ever Childs book, liked them all, especially Reacher. This plot seemed a bit convoluted to me. Wholesale transfers throughout the service with a master plan of deceit and deception.
Did not seem plausible to me but I may be wrong. As a result I did not care for the book or the plot.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS NOVEL LIFTS THE SERIES TO A NEW HEIGHT!!!!
Review: Here's a quick plug for the PERSUADER. Though I didn't write a review on that particular book, I considered it to be a solid 6-Star novel (a 5-Star rating being the highest that can be given on Amazon.com) and wondered if Lee Child would be able to top it. I now have my answer with THE ENEMY. In the newest "Jack Reacher" novel (think Nelson DeMille's THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER), the author takes our famous ex-MP back to 1990 when Reacher was still a Major in the Army and what led to his dissatisfaction with the Military. Suddenly transferred without any warning from the hot action of Panama to the quiet life of Fort Bird Army Base in North Carolina (I'm from N.C. and I've never heard of Fort Bird, which makes me think that it's actually supposed to be Fort Bragg-the home of U.S. Army Special Forces and Delta Force), Reacher finds himself immediately caught up the unexpected death of a visiting U.S. General from Germany. Though deemed "death by natural causes," the late General's briefcase turns up missing, which sets up a series of future murders that may, or may not, be connected. There's a military agenda in the General's missing briefcase, dealing with a huge transformation that the military is about to go through with the downfall of Soviet Russia. Everybody seems to be secretly trying to get their hands on the agenda, while at the same time blocking Reacher's investigation. When the deaths of two Delta Force soldiers occur and the rumor starts flowing around that Reacher killed them, our hero finds himself combating not only a hidden enemy within the higher Army's echelon, but also being placed at the top of Delta Force's hit list. The only person who believes in him is a black, female officer in the MPs named Summer, and she's more than willing to tangle with whomever gets in her way. Reacher only has a short amount of time to find the answers before the members of Delta Force decide to take matters into their own hands to get revenge for their dead comrades. THE ENEMY had me staying up way past my bedtime, trying to figure out what was really happening, asking myself who the villains actually were, and questioning whether or not Reacher was tough enough to take on the members of Delta Force (yes, he is!). As usual, Lee Child is at the top of his form in writing and plot development and creating enough suspense to keep the reader hanging on for dear life. You're with Reacher every step of the way as he plows ahead with clear intelligence and brute force, defying direct orders from superior officers and death threats from the country's most highly trained killers. The author makes you cheer out loud for Reacher and his code of honor, realizing that this is the type of man you would want covering your back in a fox hole. Read THE ENEMY and you'll become an instant fan of Jack Reacher. No brag, just fact!!!
Rating:
Summary: Classic Reacher
Review: I have been a fan of Reacher since The Killing Floor - The Enemy definitely lives up to everything you would expect from the monumental workings of Lee Child - in a word - SWEEEEET! I found The Enemy faster paced then the last two in the Reacher series, and full of more twists and turns than usual. Oh - to have more characters like this tough cookie out there - tough, intelligent, sexy as hell - a thinking man. Reacher rocks! I cannot wait to read the next novel up - One Shot.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, Suspensful, Fast Paced, Well Written
Review: I have loved all of Lee Child's books, with Reacher as the amazing, competent, flawed hero. The Persuader was a dissapointment, so it was wonderful to read The Enemy and have the quality of previous books revisited. It is curious how Lee Child, from book to book, will write in the first person or the third person and yet somehow it still works. I have recommended these books to others and will continue to. I am looking forward to the next Jack Reacher story that Lee Child is working on.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring Read
Review: I have read all of the Reacher books. I liked them because they were a mixture of mystery and action. This book has very little in action, almost non-existant, and the mystery was far fetched. I struggled to stay awake for this one. I hope his next is better.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing!
Review: I have read all the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child and was somewhat dubious about what I call a prequel to the current Reacher. Well, I'm no longer dubious. This book works, and is an engrossing insight into what makes Reacher tick. What a great read!
Rating:
Summary: Reacher Rocks
Review: I have read all the Reachers series and one thing I always wanted was a "Take us back to when he was in the army" well that's exactly what we got with The Enemy, clever the twists and turns through-out the book had me reading this book in one sitting. Great book Reacher Rocks!!
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