In the novel, retired Army military police officer Jack Reacher must race against time to catch a sophisticated serial killer who is murdering a group of female soldiers, but leaving no forensic evidence.

In New York City, Jack Reacher beats up two thugs sent to collect protection money from the new restaurant in which he has just finished dinner.

When he returns home, Reacher is picked up by the FBI and questioned about two women whose cases of sexual harassment he investigated when he was an MP in the U.S. Army.

Jodie returns to work, and Reacher drives to his house in upstate New York that he inherited from her father Leon.

Reacher and Special Agent Julia Lamarr, the lead profiler on the team, drive to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, whilst discussing the case.

Julia reveals the killer's modus operandi, which is killing the victims in an unknown way, with no bruises or injuries, leaving them naked in their bathtub, filled with army-issue camouflage paint.

The war results in a crime lord being taken out of the picture, which effectively removes the FBI's leverage over Reacher and Jodie.

Reacher and Harper come to the conclusion that Lamarr was using her expertise in hypnosis to control the victims into suffocating themselves by swallowing their own tongues, with the aim of gaining a family inheritance meant for her stepsister.

The FBI is unhappy that Reacher has killed one of their agents, but an accord is eventually reached with the whole affair to be kept secret.

Reacher then meets up with Jodie at work, she reveals she has successfully been made a partner at her law firm.

"[5] The Visitor was nominated for the 2001 Barry Award for "Best Hardcover Novel", but ultimately fell short to Deep South by Nevada Barr.