“Tripwire,” by Lee Child

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 8
2. Prose 8
3. Plot 8
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Another marvelous Jack Reacher novel. This is only the third one I’ve read, but it didn’t seem quite as strong as the others. The prose is often oddly terse, but that’s a stylistic aspect that enhances the flow of the story. At 559 pages, this one is almost too long, the plot points seemingly further apart than usual, despite the “page-turner” quality of the writing. Reacher’s character comes across as not quite so sterling in this novel, killing the bad guys at will without waiting for them to make the first move. The basic premise is hero-against-villain, with the villain – almost a “super-villain” being the classic facially scarred psycho complete with a hook in place of one of his hands. Hokey on its face, I know, but good writing makes it work. Reacher doesn’t “ride off into the sunset” on this one, apparently having finally met his dream girl. I probably won’t try to read them all, but many more Reacher novels will definitely find a place on my bookshelf in the future.