Tripwire (Jack Reacher, No. 3) Reviews

• Jack's Back

  
  By A3LZGLA88K0LA0 on 2000-09-18
  When you enter the world of Jack Reacher, Lee Child's indomitable ex-MP, you never know what to expect. You can certainly expect exciting action scenes, plenty of fisticuffs, and a large dose of graphic violence. "Tripwire" is no exception. The book is an excellent read. Reacher finds himself caught up in the investigation of a star helicopter pilot missing in action in Vietnam and assumed dead. The boy's parents, in grief for thirty years, send a PI to find Reacher, only to have the PI killed hours after meeting with Reacher. From that point on, the plot twists and turns, always sustaining your interest. Although the ending is easily predictable from the start, it's fun riding along with Child on the inevitable denouement. Hook Hobie is an extremely nasty villain and presents a formidable challenge to Mr. Reacher. His henchman are likewise pretty despicable. Some of the supporting characters are really well written, particularly the victimized Marilyn Stone and her real-estate agent friend, Sheryl. Marilyn displays quite a bit of spit and vinegar and loyalty to her milktoast husband, and plays a hard game with Hobie, for a while. Sheryl, meanwhile, displays a tremendous amount of loyalty to her friend.

  A great book but some additional points of concern or discussion. I have found it hard to accept Jack Reacher's obvious inability to function "normally" in the world. A drifter at heart, he doesn't seem to want to belong in anyone's world----he falls in love at the drop of a hat, but is not willing to make any commitments, always seeming self-centered in his inability to be "tied down." He doesn't have a job, he's never had a home of his own, and he avoids reality as it were a plague. While this makes for a dynamic and "legendary" type of hero, it leaves Reacher the man hollow and almost apathetic. Finally, in "Tripwire," his romance with Jodie awakens Reacher to these facts and as the book comes to a close, he starts acting like a human being, thinking of settling down, having a house, etc. I'm sure "Running Blind" will pick this up and hopefully develop it. Jack Reacher is a great character, and I like him, but if he becomes a little more human, it will make him even more likeable.

  Disappointments: What happens to Marilyn, Chester, and William Curry. They are pivotal victims in the climactic scene, and at its resolution, we don't know what happens to them. The Stones part in the novel are integral to the plot, and we come to care about what happens---especially to Marilyn. This lack of resolution is downright criminal, Lee!

  Also, where did Hobie get his contacts in Hawaii and Hanoi? It's never explained---they just exist. Hobie doesn't seem to have a "worldwide" scam going, just a local one.

  And what about Tony, his mysterious "is he gay?" aide? What is their relationship, and how did it begin? Tony intimates he's known Hobie for a long time, but there's never any connection between the two. Tony obviously cares a great deal for Hobie, but there is no development of this relationship.

  Maybe minor quibbles, but I feel valid ones.

  At any rate, if you've followed Jack Reacher this far, as I have, you will undoubtedly want to read "Running Blind," which I will start soon!
  
  

• Yeah, but he can't iron a shirt

  
  By A2DSXA1E02C86D on 2000-10-21
  This is the third novel by Lee Child featuring his tough guy hero, Jack Reacher, the previous two being DIE TRYING and KILLING FLOOR. Jack, once a hard-boiled Major in the U.S. Army's Military Police, has been (in all three novels) drifting from here to there to no place in particular, and getting enmeshed in unusual situations that force him to fight assorted scum. His modus operandi makes him a worthy drinking buddy and soulmate of the Clint Eastwood 1970's screen character, Dirty Harry.

  In TRIPWIRE, Jack inherits from Gen. Leon Garber (ret.), his former Army commanding officer recently deceased, the task of tracking down for an aged and ailing couple the fate of their pilot son, Victor Hobie, still MIA many years after the Vietnam war in which he flew helicopters. Perceived by the reader, but unbeknownst to Jack, Hobie is now a sadistic, extremely vicious, burn-scarred amputee now operating in the Big Apple as a high end loan shark to financially desperate CEOs. (Or is he?) His specialty is torturing and killing the family members of his debtors should they default. One sweet teddy bear.

  Having read the previous two Reacher yarns some time ago, my memory may be suspect. However, I recall the action in those two being more constant and sustained. In TRIPWIRE, the plot develops with more serenity (such as it is), with the tension for the reader being the knowledge that Jack and Hobie will eventually face off against one another - the classic confrontation between the Guy Wearing the White Hat vs. the Guy Wearing the Black Hat. The only thing lacking is the famous Eastwood squint.

  Being sufficiently Neanderthal to have loved all of the Dirty Harry films, it's no surprise that Reacher has swaggered into my pantheon of fictional heroes. Child's fourth thriller in the series, RUNNING BLIND, is definitely on my Wish List. However, I remain puzzled and just a little disappointed that Jack, at 38 and supremely self sufficient, remains without a clue when it comes for him to do his ... laundry. I'll bet even Dirty Harry knew how to press and fold a shirt - those were the days when my heroes were made of iron.
  
  

• Enthralled, yet disapointed.

  
  By on 2001-02-27
  I'm a big fan of Lee Child. His first book, "Killing Floor", was an excellent read. His second novel, although not as good as his first, was still a book I couldn't put down until I had finished it. However, on reading his third book, I was extremely disapointed to find that Lee Child seem's to have gone all "Hollywood" and "mainstream" in that he seems to be reaching for the female readership at the expense of his loyal male following, whom his first two books were aimed at.

  Jack Reacher is Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry. A Charles Bronson or Arnold Swarzennegger. Alas just as Swarzenegger sold out in order to reach the female audience with his kiddie films etc, Lee Childs has turned parts of his third book into a slushy, soppy romance. Not only do we have the obliqitory "Hollywood" sex scenes but the excitement and anticipation of this action thriller stops and starts because action hero Jack Reacher can't stop thinking about his girlfriend whom he falls in love with. This is extremely disapointing. It really spoils the book and dilutes the main character.

  In the first book Jack Reacher was a "John Rambo", a drifter with no emotional attachments wandering from town to town trying to make some sense of his life and his past. In this book, Lee Child has lost his sense of direction with his character.

  I hope that Lee child doesn't start borrowing his mother's bedtime reading otherwise Jack Reacher might start changing nappies, denying his masculinity and want to search for his feminine side. Worse, I fear that Lee Child may turn into a male version of Babara Cartland.
  
  

• Average; But it's still Jack Reacher!

  
  By A38OJ05KCLIDXQ on 2005-01-15
  The book starts off well, in classic Lee Child fashion. Reacher is a drifter in Key West until a P.I. finds him. Reacher denies who he is when asked, but then the P.I. turns up murdered. Traveling back to New York to find out who hired the P.I., he meets up with someone from his past--the daughter of his mentor. The love story and action are intense, but the story of a missing-in-action Vietnam soldier, Victor Hobie, isn't very compelling. With a good plot twist at the end, Child almost redeems himself. Not the best work, but it's still a Reacher thriller!
  
  

• Child missed on this one.

  
  By A2KOS7S5ZL9QSI on 2003-12-07
  Having read KILLING FLOOR and DIE TRYING, I eagerly picked up a copy of TRIPWIRE. It is easily the weakest of the three. The villian, Hook Hobie, is like something out of a Marvel Comic book. Every time a character meets him, Child describes him all over again in the same terms, from the half burned face, to the J shaped hook where his hand should be.

  Reacher's relationship with Jodie seems rather strange. Especially when Reacher admits to being attracted to her when she was a child, it sounds downright creepy. I was,however, glad to see him ready to give up his paranoid, wandering lifestyle.

  The plot was barely interesting and any avid reader of mystery thrillers will figure it out long before Child tells us. I was glad that I picked this book up from the library. I would have felt cheated if I actually paid for it. I hope this isn't the beginning of the end for Mr. Child.
  
  

• Former MP Reacher Searches for Truth About MIA Vietnam Vet
  By A8FV5VTA9HQ7U on 2000-07-27
  After loving Lee Child's first two novels, I am very sorry to report my disappointment with this his third effort, "Tripwire." He took approximately 100 pages to set the scene, which I would forgive but once that was done I still was easily able to put down this book - quite a departure from his previous works. The hero, Reacher, seemed somehow more seedy and more of a loser than we want him to be. He lacked direction or dedication or something, which he previously had displayed with great enthusiasm. Jack Reacher just wandered through this 'mystery' and was more interested in realizing the love he had only dreamt about in his earlier years. That was a very nice aside, but I felt no sense of action or terror in the journey to complete the mission and find the murderer. The villian was evil enough, but more disgusting than frightening. Also, in a well written mystery I am seldom able to determine the 'answer' prior to the final accounting. I was ahead of the author this time, and just waited for Reacher to figure it out. Please, Lee Child, I know from your first two books you do have a gift for writing; do not rush to print to satisfy your publisher, agent or whoever dictates when your novel is ready. You can and have done much better.
  
  
• A book to test the farthest limits of credibility.
  By on 2000-05-08
  Visualize Jack Reacher as ole' Stoneface, for these books read as if they are custom written for films starring Arnie Swartzie himself -- if he would stoop to it. This book is particularly dreadful. The hero stops a .38 bullet coming at him from the other side of the room, with the thickness of his pectoral muscles? Come on, Lee Child! Even if it were possible, it is socially irresponsible to point it out. Too many kids think it is possible to get up after a hail of gunfire already; don't compound the situation.
  
  
• This is my worst buy of the year.
  By on 1999-11-17
  Page after page of descriptive detail that has little to do with a plot that is not plausible and characters that are completely unreal.
  
  
• Some interesting premises, but too many errors...
  By on 1999-08-05
  I really enjoyed the first two Reacher books, but this one had far too many errors involving travel that got in the way. For example, Reacher frequently buys airline tickets with no identification--this is impossible today. All airlines require a picture ID when buying a ticket, and they would be especially suspicious of someone paying cash. Likewise, he travels business-class on domestic routes, but virtually no airline currently has business class sections on their domestic routes. Finally, he describes buying a first-class ticket and flying from Dallas to Honolulu. Coincidentally, I was in a first-class seat from Dallas to Honolulu as I read this section and, while it was certainly nice it was no where near as luxurious and spacious as it is described in the book. Perhaps the author just needs to do a bit more research next time.
  
  
• Lacking Suspense
  By A3E24FMSXLZEEG on 2001-06-25
  I had to force myself to finish this book. The cheapskate side of me did not want to throw money down the drain. There was a profound lack of intrigue and suspense for a "suspense thriller." The characters lacked depth and were very one dimensional. The antagonist of the story has a hook--I find this to be very comical. Jack Reacher is a character without any real human flaws--every pseudo flaw the author tries to introduce is quickly rationalized or explained into niceness--thus loosing the attempted effect. Practicaly every other chapter described how big and manly Jack is and how small, and petite his lady partner is. This is a "Harlequin" style story for men. The story did not inspire me to care about what happens to any of the characters--which is critical in a suspense novel.
  
  
• A big disappointment.
  By on 1999-07-29
  A big disappointment. I enjoyed the first two Jack Reacher stories but found Tripwire hard to finish. The plot was not believable. I know that it is necessary to suspend your disbelief somewhat to enjoy a thriller. But I found most of the book to be filler, just a means to get to the next violent scene.

  Two people wonder into various government offices across the U.S. and get treated like VIP's? Underlings are actually running to get information for these outsiders? It doesn't work that way when I need something from the Feds. Seems like 60 Minutes has stories on all the time describing how uncooperative these agencies are.

  The bad guys are too evil to be believable. But we are supposed to believe that the baddest guy in the whole wide world is put on hold by a rich housewife? He holds her captive for two or more days and nights, he fancies her, she is prancing around in next to nothing, and a guy who is so evil he tortures people to death for fun doesn't take advantage of her?
  
  

• I'm in the minority...
  By A1TWTULVD6F22O on 2002-03-13
  of readers, because I think that Tripwire represents an evolution of Child's storytelling, and is better than his first two novels. Of course, that is probably because I'm a woman who wanted to see Dirty Harry evolve, as well....nevertheless, here's what I thought of Tripwire...

  "Tripwire" is the third outing for Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and the first in which the much-decorated soldier finally appears to want to put down roots in his post-military
  saga.

  Lee Child cures most of his writing style issues in his story of a brutal and sadistic villain, Hook Hobie, and his way of life following his unlikely escape from a firestorm in Vietnam.
  Hobie is a devastating foe, and his willingness to kill and pursue pain in order to cover up his past knows no bounds. His motivation, once his identity is known to Reacher, is still a mystery, that remains so until the end of the book. Caught in the crossfire is Reacher's former commander, Garber, and through his death both Reacher and Garber's daughter Jodie are caught up in the killing fields of Hobie's need for cover. The situation is made more complex by the military regime's need to also continue the cover up, but for different reasons. Reacher's reaction to Jodie is a central force in the novel,
  His feelings for her go back fifteen years. This might be the central lynchpin that has Child turning his future story line around from Reacher the wanderer to Reacher, the same investigative force in civilian life as he was in the military.

  Child, whose willingness to describe savagery and weaponry in detail in past novels, does not change his focus, but does change the level of detailed description, in a positive way.
  His eye for the upstate New York landscape and the level of descriptiveness he uses in his setting in Tripwire much improve the plot. It's a big plot, with great flashback sequences to Vietnam and to the early days of Reacher & Jodie's relationship, and interesting and well-researched detail into the counterfeit currency trade.

  Lee Child scores big and leaves the reader anxious for his next Reacher novel, "Running Blind."
  Enjoy.
  
  

• Suspenseful Reacher thriller with horrible villain !
  By A1XGJ7TLP5Y3XC on 2004-05-31
  Child's third Jack Reacher novel, featuring our ex-MP investigator hero who likes to travel around anonymously, serves up more of the action-packed intrigue we have come to expect from the first two entries in this fine series. Reacher is digging pools in Key West, with a part-time strip-club bouncer job, when a New York PI comes looking for him. Refusing to reveal his identity, Reacher is soon sorry when the man turns up dead a few hours later. Having learned that a mysterious "Mrs. Jacob" hired the man, Jack sets out for NYC to find out what's going on. The "Jacob" woman is soon enough revealed to be Jack's ex-boss's daughter -- one who had a crush on Jack that was secretly reciprocated. Soon the secret is out and the romance is on!!

  Meanwhile, in the big city, the Stone family, owners of a third-generation optics firm, is dealing with an unscrupulous (to say the least!) money lender, "Hook" Hobie, who uses his prosthesis to do bodily harm to anybody and everybody that crosses him. Hobie is such a horrid villain that we're in dread of him all book long, creating a suspenseful wish to have Reacher off him as part of the climax -- would he?

  While some might quibble this novel has a few flaws the editors might have caught or tried to straighten out a little, we readers are so busy keeping up with the chasing of clues and tracking a sub-plot involving missing servicemen from Viet Nam, that we're motivated to buzz along right 'til a satisfying finish wraps up most [but not all (!)] of the main character situational outcomes. And like all the other Reacher stories we've sampled so far, a heavy serving of entertainment and enjoyment needed no dessert!
  
  

• A DISAPPOINTING THRILLER
  By AW1D6P2T7TF4 on 2000-07-15
  Jack Reacher has settled in Key West, digging pools. One day Reacher is approached by a Private Investigator with alot of questions...within hours the Investigator is killed. Reacher wants to know who sent him and why, and who is behind his murder. The search for these answers will lead Reacher to New York, and there he will need the help of a woman from his past. As the two uncover the pieces of the puzzle they will come face to face with Hook Hobie, a disfigured, madman, who will stop at nothing to get rid of Reacher.

  Lee Child is an expert at fast pacing and keeping the reader in suspense. "Tripwire" is a fast read, but a confusing read at the same time. I was a disappointed with this novel, the plot did not hold my interest, and the theme of Vietnam thrown into the mix was distracting. For a great read by Child, check out "The Killing Floor".

  Nick Gonnella
  
  

• Child delivers Again
  By A243M0FWT3BWKQ on 1999-11-27
  Third in the Jack Reacher series. I really enjoyed this addition, I learned more about Jack Reacher's background and history. Jack, again, gets involved with a beautiful woman, from his past, to determine what happened to a MIA from the Vietnam war. Excellent read ! Suggest you start in the beginning of the series with the Killing Floor.
  
  
• Can't wait for the next one
  By on 1999-10-11
  I guess I read books for a different purpose than many of the reviewers here. I don't really care about the technical flaws in the book. I read to take my mind off of the day-to-day stuff that is going on.

  I'm a big fan of Lee Child and can't wait for the next Jack Reacher installment.
  
  

• A good book, but still a notch below Killing Floor
  By A1ZZV7I2PP81ON on 1999-10-27
  I literally just finished reading Tripwire, and it was a good book, easily up there with Lee Child's other Jack Reacher books, but still not quite as "oh my god" awesome as Killing Floor. The villian this time was (without giving anything away) a fairly common type of character, whose true nature I saw coming well in advance of the final couple of chapters. Even so, this was a good novel, but not quite the "can't put it down to go to sleep" type of read that Killing Floor was. Maybe Lee Child will be like William Gibson, in that everything he writes after his first novel will be damn good, but just never able to measure up to that first work. That said, I'll still keep buying everything the guy writes.
  
  
• A can't stop Jack Reacher Mystery
  By AAF5PEMY7R49Y on 2000-10-12
  I have now read all of Lee Child's books thus far, and am looking forward to the next one. In Tripwire, Jack Reacher has bummed around the country long enough to need to earn a little spending money. He is happily uncommitted and digging swimming pools in Key West, Florida when a private investigator comes looking for him. A short time after he stumbled across Jack in a bar, the investigator is killed. Jack returns to New York looking for anwers to the questions of who had hired the guy to find him; what they wanted to know; and why was he killed. His old mentor's daughter, Jodie was the one looking for him, and he locates her as she is attending the funeral of her father. Her father had been involved in an investigation that was leading into a military coverup when he had a heart attack and died. He had been trying to help two old people find out what had happened to their son in Viet Nam. Jack takes on the job of completing the search, the suspense builds as he gets closer to the bad guy, and we are introduced to the long time love he has had for Jodie who was way to young for him back when he was in the military. The new twist in this book happens when Jodie's father leaves his house along with all the resulting responsibilities to Jack in his will. Will he have to give up his life of anominity and drifting as the spirit moves him? It's a great read.
  
  
• Not compelling enough to read again
  By ARYEAKJSIATCP on 2002-01-23
  I nice yarn with lovely areas of suspense. But a little to "American" for me. If you are after a simple thriller this is for you.
  
  
• Fun but deeply flawed
  By on 2002-07-09
  This book was a pleasant read, but it was deeply flawed by numerous glaring factual improbabilities or impossibilities. For example: (a) the villain dumps stock of a closely held private company on "the Exchange," although only stock of public companies can be sold on a stock exchange, (b) the company's bankers are blissfully ignorant of the company's financial situation and panic like frightened rabbits as soon as its stock takes a momentary dip, (c) developers are apparently prepared to give the villain millions, on a few days notice, for real estate on which there are 500 existing homes, (d) the hero bursts, unarmed, into a room containing two armed drug dealers, knocks them out with his bare hands and steals one of their guns (please don't try this at home); (e) the villain has tortured and killed scores of people in his office at the World Trade Center, taking the bodies down the freight elevator in packing boxes, without apparently once raising any suspicions from, say, the janitorial staff, (f) the hero stops a bullet, fired at close range, with his massive chest muscles, and so on.

  Authors working in the thriller/mystery genre often need to take a certain amount of poetic license with the facts of life to make their stories work, but Mr. Child has taken so much here that Tripwire is only a step or two above a comic book and dances perilously close to insulting the reader's intelligence.
  
  

• Another great Reacher escapade!
  By A2HOVO2DUAJ0WY on 2002-07-22
  Lee Child writes some amazing books! I first read The Killing Floor and really couldn't put it down. I tend to read things out of order (even though I really don't plan it that way), so I've now read Tripwire before the second Jack Reacher novel. However, that one won't be far behind!

  I made the mistake of reading some of the reviews here while I was in the middle of the book. I was fascinated by the plot twists and couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. Then I read about all of the "factual errors" in the various scenarios. That sort of soured me on the book a bit, and then I realized that even though there ARE factual errors in the book, the book is FICTION and doesn't have to be factual. All in the all, when you get to the end, I think you'll see that what Reacher finally discovered COULD have happened.

  I don't ordinarily find books that merit 5 stars, and I do read a lot of books, but I have to tell you, if you can get past occasional wordiness in descriptions and certain inconsequencial factual inconsistencies, I believe you'll enjoy watching the drama unfold and wend its way through a stunning conclusion!
  
  

• Early Jack Reacher Has Room for Improvement
  By A25E44CFFC4B7T on 2006-09-15
  Unlike most people, I found Lee Child and Jack Reacher only a short while ago and after reading the two most recent Reacher novels, decided to go back and read the earlier ones. This was the first of the earlier ones I have ventured through and I must admit that the ones I read previously were way ahead of this one. The Reacher character is still there. Tough, resourceful and finding trouble at every turn.
  
  However, the story dragged at first as one tried to figure out how two disparite story lines would finally connect and then as it picked up only some of the story was completed.
  
  It's still well written for what is there but this is another author that has clearly gotten his act together as time has progressed. I am not put off however. and will continue to read the earlier efforts and I would recomend that to anyone who has found and enjoyed the character.
  
  
• Reacher is my Hero
  By on 2000-07-12
  I have read all of Lee Child's books (including The Visitor), in order. All are excellent. If there are four books you buy this summer make sure they all have Lee Child's name on the front. I guarantee you will enjoy them.

  If you are a hardened Reacher fan, you will note how Jack's character and thinking are developing. The book sets the scenes in the first few chapters, and jumps around, but not confusingly. The story flows once the scene has been set.

  This is another classic Reacher novel. You will love it. I defy you to put it down, in fact if you get more than half an hours sleep I will be surprised.

  Enjoy. Make sure you order The Visitor (Running Blind in the USA) now, because I know the UK got it earlier.
  
  

• Another GREAT Jack Reacher Story!
  By AOV9AIX4UE5BB on 2000-05-10
  I am deeply, madly in love with Jack Reacher. Just this description alone on page 9 had my panties tingling:

  "He was six feet tall, and he had weighed 220 when he left the Army. A month after joining the swimming pool gang, the work and the heat had burned him down to 210. Then the next two months he had built back to 250, all of it pure hard muscle. . . He was burned a deep brown by the sun and he was in the best shape of his life. Like a condom crammed with walnuts, is what some girl had said."

  I enjoyed the plot twists which kept me guessing up until Jack took a bullet for his true love. . . Ah, fiction, where would us girls be without our big, bad-boy, macho IMAGINARY heros? Thanks, Lee Child, for another great Reacher thriller. Looking forward with much anticipation to your next one! ;-)
  
  

• Great Once Again
  By on 2000-07-07
  This is the third book I've read by Lee Child that features the ever-exciting Jack Reacher. Not only is the plot line excellent and impossible to predict, but seeing Reacher in his element made me happy to live vicariously through him. There's never a dull moment or a skimmed-over page.
  
  
• Fantasy for the middle aged executive
  By A1UGPA6XSVWM3E on 2000-05-07
  I had avoided Lee Child before because I'd figured that his novels would be of the ultra-macho "Bravo Two Zero" school. The Anthony (I think) Award made me decide to give him a try (coupled with the money back offer here in his UK homeland). This is an airport novel designed for the folks in the cheap seats to fantasise about first class travel. It's also for the guy with a paunch who wishes he could stand up to his boss - preferably with some killer martial arts technique. He also dreams of protecting a gorgeous blonde from the bullets that fly off his manly chest. The bad guy reminds me of the problem I had with Mason Verger in "Hannibal", he seems like Mr Burns with a claw. The surprise about his character change isn't much of a shock. Plus points it's a quick and easy read but if you prefer crime to all-out action then think twice.
  
  
• There are heroes. And then there's Reacher.
  By A680RUE1FDO8B on 2000-02-03
  Reacher, the protagonist in "Tripwire" is a hero. A salt of the earth guy with solid morals and streetsmarts. He really doesn't want to get involved with anyone else's life - and doesn't want anyone involved with his. But once people lacking his decency force their way into his life . . . well, they get hurt. And you feel good because they do. Real good. Granted, there are few bumps in the plot, but they easily tossed aside because you want to move on to the next page and the one after that to learn what happens. Reacher is in one of those fallow periods every man would love to have . . . no fixed abode, no obligations, no responsibilities and no thought of tomorrow. He's digging swimming pools in Key West. Someone from up north is looking for him . . . and the regulated mayhem begins. Reacher is not all action. He thinks. He feels. And best of all, he's human. You can finish "Tripwire" and feel exhilarated because you've just spent some time in the company of a genuine hero. And in this day and age of Clinton morality, that's a real change. A welcome one.

  Jerry
  
  

• The Delays in getting hold of this in Aust were worth it !!!
  By on 1999-06-05
  After 3 set backs in release date for Australia, it was worth the wait and the trip to the major retailer's ever day for the last 3 weeks. Jack is getting a litter older and (hard to believe) a lot more fascinating as a Character. Lee Child has excelled again!!! In the tradition of the killing floor and Die Trying he has brought Jack Reacher to life once more not in some dull Sequel but a fast flowing and absolutely compelling read. The down side is we will now have to wait for what seems an eternity till the next chapter in Jack's continuing quest appears on the shelf. Well done Mr Child and take your time with the next one (We will Wait )you have set yourself extremely high standards.

  And Congratulations on the Anthony Award well Done !!!
  
  

• One of 1999's best thrillers
  By on 1999-05-19
  Veteran Jack Reacher moved to Key West to get away from everything. Instead of using his military training as an MP to score an equivalent civilian job, Jack works as a pool digger. However, his idyllic life abruptly ends when Costello, a private investigator, arrives to ask him questions for a New York based client, Ms. Jacobs. The very next day Costello is found dead with his fingertips removed.

  Thinking he might be next, Jack applies his former military training to begin a search for the mysterious Ms. Jacobs. He soon learns that she is the daughter of his recently deceased former Commander. Jodie hires Jack to complete the final task of her father, which leads him to such danger that it makes his stay with the army seem like a stroll in the park.

  Though TRIPWIRE has a little of everything, the action never lets up as the various and often times vicious subplots tie together into a winning thriller. Jack and Jodie are a warm couple. However, the support cast steals the show, especially an elderly duo worshipping the memory of their son who died in Nam and a vicious villain who relishes dishing out pain. Anyone who takes pleasure with a cerebral tale needs to pass on this one. Those readers who want non-stop action starring a heroic figure will love Lee Child's terrific third tale.

  Harriet Klausner
  
  

• Pretty decent overall
  By A2MWW43FYSKAED on 1999-12-13
  very entertaining, wouldn't buy this one in hardcover but it was a fun read. Tad bit predictable but nice characters.
  
  

• Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, No. 1)
• Running Blind (Jack Reacher, No. 4)
• Die Trying (Jack Reacher, No. 2)
• Without Fail (Jack Reacher, No. 6)
• The Enemy (Jack Reacher, No. 8)