Tripwire is the third Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child and begins in Key West, Florida where Reacher has decided to settle down a bit after leading a mostly nomadic existence. He's working as a bouncer at a nightclub and is approached by a P. I. looking for him on behalf of a Mrs. Jacob. Jack doesn't recognize the name and lies, saying that he doesn't know anyone by the name of Reacher. Later, when the P. I. turns up dead and more men show up looking for him, Reacher decides to track down this elusive Mrs. Jacob and finds that she is the widowed daughter of his mentor, Leon Garber who is now dead and has left Reacher his house.
Together, Mrs. Jacob, or Jodie, and Reacher start looking into Jodie's father's last case, and they find that he was involved with helping a couple by the name of Hobie who had been swindled out of money trying to locate their MIA son, Victor Truman Hobie. There's a mystery surrounding Hobie's death that Jodie and Reacher must unravel together, but anyone who looks too carefully into the matter seems to wind up dead. As they explore their romantic feelings for each other, Jodie and Reacher are vulnerable to attack from an individual who doesn't hesitate to maim and torture people to get what he wants. In a stunning finale where Jodie is taken prisoner, Reacher must exert himself to the extreme and get her back before it's too late.
This is yet another action-packed, smart thriller from Lee Child, developing the character of Jack Reacher further. In the first novel, Reacher was an anti-social nomad, but now, he's beginning to fit into society and even developing a romantic interest. The thing that separates Reacher from many other action heroes is that he looks at every situation with fresh eyes and doesn't take anything for granted. Overall, this is an exciting book with a highly satisfying conclusion.
Lee Child is the pseudonym of British author Jim Grant who was born in Coventry, England. He attended the University of Sheffield, where he studied law, but he had no intention of actually becoming a lawyer. Next, he worked with Granada television as a presentation director for nearly twenty years before beginning his career as a novelist. Grant's wife, Jane, is a New Yorker, and Grant himself moved to the United States in 1998. He has written seventeen Jack Reacher novels which have won various awards, including the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, and the National Book Award.
"Reacher is enjoying life in the Florida Keys when a P.I from N.Y City, who has been hired to find him, ends up dead. Heading to N.Y. to find out why someone was killed he ends up reconnecting with an old friend. Does this reunion lead to problems? Also, drifter Jack ends up owning a house!!!!! That has got to cramp his lifestyle."
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James (5 out of 5 stars)