by Lee Child
Part of Jack Reacher, book 17.5
First published 2013
July 1977. Jack Reacher is sixteen and stops in New York City before visiting his brother at West Point. The summer heat crushes the bankrupt city. The Son of Sam killer stalks the streets. Reacher meets a woman who needs help and agrees to assist her. Then the power grid collapses. The lights die across the city. Darkness brings chaos to the lawless streets. Most teenagers would hide and wait for rescue. Reacher is not most teenagers. In the blackout, he must navigate a city gone wild while keeping his promise to help a stranger. The young man who will become a legendary drifter faces his first real test in a metropolis where civilization has temporarily failed.
Genres: historical-fiction, adventure, mystery, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water
Setting: New York City, West Point
Period: 1977
64 pages · ebook · Delacorte Press