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Tripwire (A Jack Reacher Novel)

Author: Lee Child
Publisher: Bantam Books Ltd
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

24 reviews
Sales Rank: 285

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.4

ISBN: 0553811851
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553811858
ASIN: 0553811851

Publication Date: February 3, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ex-military policemen Jack Reacher is lying low in Key West, digging up swimming pools by hand. He is not best pleased when a private detective starts asking questions about him, but when the detective, Costello, turns up dead with his fingertips sliced off, Reacher realises it is time to move on. Soon (as in Child's two previous excellent thrillers Die Trying and Killing Floor) Reacher is up to his neck in lethal trouble involving a vicious Wall Street manipulator, a mysterious woman (of course) and the livelihood of a whole community. Even the fate of soldiers missing in action in Vietnam is stirred into the brew. But this is not a book by one of the new breed of US thriller writers: Child prides himself that, as an Englishman, he writes American thrillers that are utterly convincing in milieu and toughness of action, without a trace of English sensibility. This new one is no exception-- every bit as lean and compulsive as its predecessors, it also builds on the freshest aspect of those books: Reacher may be a tough, epic hero, but he always remains human and vulnerable. Here's one for that long plane or train journey.

--Barry Forshaw

Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Reacher at his best July 6, 2008
This is classic Lee Child, when the Reacher formula was still working at its very best. Ex-military policemen Jack Reacher is lying low in Key West, digging up swimming pools by hand. He is not best pleased when a private detective starts asking questions about him, but when the detective, Costello, turns up dead with his fingertips sliced off, Reacher realises it is time to move on. Once again he is thrown into a mess not of his own creating, but being a modern day night in shining armour, he cant help but get involved. Soon Reacher is up to his neck in lethal trouble involving a vicious Wall Street manipulator, a mysterious woman (of course) and the livelihood of a whole community. Even the fate of soldiers missing in action in Vietnam is stirred into the brew. But this is not a book by one of the new breed of US thriller writers: Child prides himself that, as an Englishman, he writes American thrillers that are utterly convincing in milieu and toughness of action, without a trace of English sensibility. This new one is no exception-- every bit as lean and compulsive as its predecessors, it also builds on the freshest aspect of those books: Reacher may be a tough, epic hero, but he always remains human and vulnerable. It`s a great formula for thriller lovers, and if you enjoy this Genre, try the Soft Target trilogy by Conrad Jones.Here's one for that long plane or train journey.

1 out of 5 stars

Very good except...... October 20, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

An excellent thriller, tense, many twists and turns, but Lee Child rests his story on old stereotypes and easy characters. The main complaint I personally have is that yet again we have the demonisation of a disfigured man as the bad guy and the healthy white guy, as always, the hero. Maybe some day a gifted writer like Lee Child may come up with a reversal of roles and actually make a 'deformed' character the hero and the all white macho male the villian. I wait in great anticipation :-)

2 out of 5 stars

Nowhere near his best... August 6, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

I think this is the third Lee Child book I've read and it is by far the worst, mainly because it's kind of boring. Not an awful lot happens, the "twists" stand out a mile, not a lot of deduction happens and by far the worst crime, one interesting subplot peters out rather than merging with the main plot in the finale.

Read it if you're a completist, but don't start the Reacher series with this, as you won't continue with it. Killing Floor and The Hard Way are both much better.

1 out of 5 stars

The hype June 12, 2007
1 out of 11 found this review helpful

I don't understand what the hype is all about regarding Lee Child and his character, Jack Reacher. I think I've read too much Andy McNab, Harlan Coben, James Lee Burke and others who KNOW what they're talking about to be able to put up with Child. Lee Child simply doesn't know what he's talking about, whether it's guns or surveillance or action or sex or whatever. His books are heavy with padding--meaningless description. His characters are one dimensional at best. His plots are simple and unnatural. But the main problem still is that Lee Child simply hasn't had contact with reality--hard, violent, brutal reality--and writes with a naivete that is merely stupid.

5 out of 5 stars

This is how 'low brow' thriller writing should be done... May 8, 2007
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Jack Reacher novels are always pretty good. Child's got a knack for keeping what are essentially quite similar stories fresh and interesting.

Here, however, he turns it up a notch and delivers probably the finest Reacher novel I've read.

While the novel is not going to win any awards for great literature, the so called heavyweights like Dan Brown and Michael Reilly could take a leaf out of Lee Child's book when it comes to penning a good thriller.

The story begins when a man sent to find Reacher by a woman Jack's never heard of turns up dead behind a motel in Florida with his fingers cut off. Reacher's curiosity is piqued and he journey's to New York to find out why the man had to die, and what it has to do with him.

His search brings him face to face with his own past, and with Victor `Hook' Hobie.

Hobie is far and away the best villain to feature in any Jack Reacher novel I have read so far. A man with a secret that he will go to any lengths, no matter how brutal or sadistic, to protect. For the first time, you feel that Reacher has met an adversary worthy of the name, and as the book winds towards its climax, it grabs hold of you and won't let you go.

An essential read for Child fans and a great book in its own right to keep the Reacher virgin entertained, I honestly can't recommend this book enough.