Jack Reacher is the main character in Lee Child’s book, Tripwire. This is the 3rd book, in at least 23, that Child has written. I was not familiar with this author before this book, but I was left feeling glad that I had found him. He is “Jim" Grant, best known by his pen name Lee Child, a British author who writes thriller novels, and is best known for his Jack Reacher novel series.
Reacher is in Key West, digging pools by hand and working a 2nd job as a bouncer for a topless bar. A private investigator, Costello, comes looking for him but is killed. He was hired by a Jody Garber who turns out to be the daughter of General Leon Garber, Reacher’s mentor father from his past in the Army.
It had been 15 years since he had last seen Jody, then she was 15 years old and he was 24, and they loved each other then, and it blossoms again, this time for real. He starts to help her work on the General’s last project and that leads them to Victor Truman "Hook" Hobie who has a big secret that goes back to Vietnam.
An early warning system has been a way of life, for over 30 years, for Hobie, and it consists of two “tripwires” that notify him when he has to get ready to move. The first is eleven thousand miles from home and the second is six thousand miles away and for the first time both alerts arrive on the same day.
Reacher and Jodie follow Costello's trail and information on her father's last project. It leads them to the National Records Center in St. Louis and to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii and into looking at forensic remains of solders.
Victor Hobie is a moneylender, and he takes his customers for everything they have using torture and violence to enforce his terms. His current customer and targets, Chester and Marilyn Stone, represent a very big payoff for Hobie if he can close the deal before he must leave town. He draws Jodie into the closing using attorney status as a pretense and he hopes to take everyone out before he leaves, including Reacher.
It is hard to write a review for this book because so much happens that it is just exciting to be surprised at. It is a book you will not want to put down and will be anxious to get back to.
Lee Child (Left) Stephen King (Right)
Ok, I will have to tell you why I read this book. Stephen King has said that we ought to always have something to read with us. Apparently he meant it since he is reading at this Red Sox Game. I noticed the book and likewise noticed he had read most of it and bought the book. Great book. I had never read this author before. I was impressed with his writing style.