Tripwire

The Book in 1 Sentence

An overly simple story that presents situations and plot points that break reality and forces you to believe Jack Reacher is Superman.

Brief Review

This is Lee Child's weakest performance in the Jack Reacher series so far, number 3, but is does manage to keep your interest with the expectation of the previous books. I enjoyed it, but felt it was overly predictable, intentionally perverse, and forced by publishers rather than for enjoyment.

Why I Read this book

I love the TV series and have enjoyed the books so far so this is just a continuation of the series.

In-Depth Review

It is crazy to listen to this book with the descriptions of the Twin Towers only a couple years before their destruction. Also the descriptions of the sway and noises inside while it is quiet are really good. In the summer of 2000 or 2001 (I can't quite remember) I stayed at the hotel at the base of the WTC because my dad had a work conference there and it was an interesting time.

Back to the book. Jack Reacher is Jack Reacher in this book. Moody, quiet, and assured of his actions. The issue I have with him in this book is his almost pedophiliac descriptions of the girl he is with. I need to make it a bit more clear. There lady interest in this book is in her mid 20s. However, they have known each other for 10+ years and "Had feelings for each other" when she was a young teenager and he was a LT in the Army. While as adults the age difference isn't crazy, but the way they talk about each other is creepy at times.

My other major issue is the big bad in this movie. I think he is a great big bad in the grand scheme of things. Smart, disturbing, and stereotypically overly egotistical. What got to me about this character was the emotional and psychological torture. I felt that the scenes with this just went too far. Also there was one scene in particular that I felt was bottom barrel human being just letting this guy and his cronies just strip him in a non-threatening manner. Just a dude being assertive was enough to eviscerate this guy.

I think that does go to show how well Lee Child can write. These scenes were uncomfortable to read. So kudos to him. Overall though, the rest of the writing felt lazy. There is a scene near the end that make Reacher the most powerful human being in the world and he is Superman of old. What I mean by that is back in the day when Superman was first being created, he would just get new powers every time he was in trouble. He couldn't fly in the beginning, he wasn't bullet proof. Stuff like that. Reacher in this book is the same way. Has massive damage to his head, gets shot multiple times and has 0 down time. Superman.

Rating

As much as I enjoyed the overall story, I wanted to finish it mostly to get beyond the childish writing. Reacher was outrageously perfect in this book and the reminiscing about being attracted to a teenager was terrible. The biggest hang up was who the girl was, not her age. There is a comment about the age difference, but its a "oh I talked about it so its fine." This book was so far removed from the first too that it feels like a ghost writer. Its a 5. Worth reading for the continued story in the series, but you can probably skip it. In fact, I think you should.

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