Tripwire - Lee Child

Tripwire is the third novel in Lee Child's series of books written around the fictional character of Jack Reacher. Digging Swimming Pools by hand in Florida Jack Reacher is about as fit as he as ever been. Loving his life as a drifter Reacher is not looking to be found in fact since being honourably mustered out of the US military Jack Reacher has become somewhat a loner. He enjoys being as untraceable as any American can be and so does his very best to leave no paper trail. He has no driver's licence, no picture ID and no dependants. For all intents and purposes Reacher prefers to stay in the shadows and being invisible has become somewhat a habit. ...  Read the complete review

“Tripwire” is another book from Lee Child in the Jack Reacher series. It is the book that I have taken the longest to get round to. I will try and explain what initially put me off reading the book despite my fondness for Child’s writing. I think it was the back cover which mentioned that the story would explain what happened to some soldiers in Vietnam. This didn’t really appeal to me and I was a little surprised as it didn’t really tie in with Child’s usual style. However, this was more a case of me mis-interpreting the wording as although it is a fairly important part of the story, it is on small scale and not the ...  Read the complete review

I am going to contradict myself now. In a previous review, I stated that I like to read books in order, to gain a picture of a character through the author's eyes. Most modern crime authors have a central character who features as the main one on each book, and Lee Child is no exception. His character, Jack Reacher features in most of his books, as the ex-forces supersoldier turned loner. And here is my contradiction: I have read two of his books, neither of them in order. And this is the beauty of Child's books: it is very easy to read them as stand alone novels, as the main character, Reacher, is a constant enigma in many ways. He spent many years in the ...  Read the complete review

The back of this book is a little bit deceptive. It spends most of its time talking about a private detective and his employer Mrs Jacobs. You would think that that was the key to the whole book (well in a way it is I suppose or else it wouldn’t be part of the book at all!!) but really that is not what the book is about. Jack Reacher is a retired Major from the army where he was an MP. He is tough, big, strong and does what he pleases. He has no fixed abode and is spending time travelling the country relaxing and working as required. After the death of an ex-colleague, Reacher is persuaded to take on the case that was left in the lurch. What ...  Read the complete review

Yet again, Lee Child has come up with the goods. He just gets better and better. In Tripwire we see our hero Jack Reacher, an ex military policeman who has retired from the U.S. army with the rank of Major, digging a swimming pool in Key West. After a lifetime of discipline, Reacher has embraced the life of a loner – no commitments, no possessions, and no immediate plans for the future. That is until a private detective called Costello appears asking questions about him. Determined to maintain his privacy Reacher conceals his identity – but then Costello turns up dead with his face beat to a pulp and his fingertips sliced off. ...  Read the complete review