A problem facing any anthologist is "what to put first." The obvious solution is to put the best story first, or at least one of the best. But this is a mistake in my view, and one which Maxim Jakubowski avoids by placing a tedious item by John Harvey in the lead off spot. If the first story is too good, then its successors seem all the feebler by comparison and the reader's estimation of the collection as a whole plummets. Of course, if the first story is terrible, the reader will be disinclined to purchase in the first place. So mediocrity is the best course. But, and this is most important, the second story must be either top notch or so arresting as to impel the reader onward into the storm. The story by Lee Child in this volume does its job admirably. So now the bait is taken and the hook is set. From this point on, a field of duds, if that is indeed what you have to work with, must be interplanted with at least a few hearty and nutritious varietals. I apologize for my mixed metaphors, but the punishment suits the crime. ( )