Hope welcomes him; Despair wants him dead.
Who drives the story
A drifter and former military policeman walking a Colorado highway when the story opens. Told he has nothing to lose, he proves that's exactly what makes him dangerous, and he walks out of the book the way he walked in: alone, westbound.
The religious fundamentalist who owns Despair's metal recycling plant and runs the town as a theocracy. He stockpiles surplus military explosives from Iraq to build a bomb meant to trigger Armageddon, and dies in the church basement fighting Reacher.
A Hope police officer who tells Reacher the Hope police have no jurisdiction in Despair but agrees to help him unofficially. She arrives with Hope police to secure the town and offers him a place to stay; he declines.
A woman in a Hope bar whose soldier husband went missing after returning from Iraq, last seen near Despair. Her request pulls Reacher into the investigation; her husband is found shot execution-style in a shallow grave, identified by his dog tags.
How they are connected
He stockpiles surplus military explosives from Iraq to build a bomb meant to trigger Armageddon, and dies in the church basement fighting Reacher.
A Hope police officer who tells Reacher the Hope police have no jurisdiction in Despair but agrees to help him unofficially.
Her request pulls Reacher into the investigation; her husband is found shot execution-style in a shallow grave, identified by his dog tags.
Go deeper
Nothing to lose · Faith weaponized · Company towns and closed borders · The cost of looking away
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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