Safe Enough

In “Ten Keys,” a drug-dealing hit man feels that he must unburden his fears and guilt to a stranger. A rookie cop in “Normal in Every Way” is assigned to the department’s file room, where he makes connections to historic dates that could lead to solving crimes. A methodical bodyguard quits his job when he’s outsmarted. A military mission is planned to perfection. A potential worker for the Manhattan Project is carefully surveilled by an FBI agent. A killer preys on other killers. Taken together, these stories are a riotous calamity of criminals and crime fighters; individually, they are expertly crafted, piercing tales that hit hard enough to leave a mark.

These twenty intriguing, thrilling, and rapid-fire fictions are sure to please new and longtime fans of Child and to illuminate a side of the author’s work unknown to Reacher devotees