Tripwire by Lee Child

Tripwire by Lee Child
343 pages; 14 hrs., 31 min.

Jack Reacher is keeping a low profile in Florida.  He digs swimming pools by day and works as a bouncer at night.  Then an investigator comes asking for him, and before Reacher can figure out what he wants, the stranger is brutally murdered.  As he follows the PI's trail, Reacher becomes more and more interested in who was looking for him and why.  The search leads him to an old friendship, Vietnam War records, and long-lost skeletons on his way to unscrambling the clues and finding the answer.

The story is complex and I found it mesmerizing.  However, an evil character who enjoys torturing his victims is too disturbing for me.  This is book 3 of the Jack Reacher series, and I will definitely be taking a break before beginning book 4.

Rules of Engagement by Joe Weber

Rules of Engagement by Joe Weber - 399 pages

Rules of Engagement is the book that is the prequel to a novel I read earlier this month, Targets of Opportunity.  In this book, we see the beginnings of Brad Austin's military career and his loan to a Naval carrier-based F-4 squadron.  The first half of the book consists of one dogfight after another; thus a slow start.  Then once the middle is reached, the story picks up.  Brad meets and falls in love with a girl on leave.  While on a mission, he ignores the rules of engagement that set the tone for the beginnings of the Vietnam War.  The latter half of the book deals with the fallout of these events.  Throughout the novel, we see the comradery between the squadron mates, especially his radar intercept officer and fellow pilot Nick Palmer whom is the other lead of Targets of Opportunity.

Targets of Opportunity by Joe Weber

Targets of Opportunity by Joe Weber - 335 pages

This older book I found among the discards was worth reading.  The novel spins the tail of Brad Austin, a Vietnam War era pilot, and a mission he and some fellow pilots are undertaking.  In conjunction with the CIA, the team is using a captured MiG-17 in battles to target the North Vietnamese fighters and strafe their bases.  The clever deception, while initially working, soon shows its problems.

In addition to being an interesting read, the novel was penned by a former Vietnam War fighter pilot.  Based on this, I figure the terminology, comradery, and description of both the country and bases are pretty accurate.

Tripwire by Lee Child

Tripwire by Lee Child --- 343 pages

I've been going back to read the early Jack Reacher thrillers by Lee Child; this is the third book in the series, published in 1999, when Child was still filling in the details of the character he created.

Reacher's down in Key West when the novel begins, digging pools by day and working security in a strip club by night to make some money. When a private investigator from New York City shows up looking for him, he sees no reason why he should get involved. Until two thugs also come looking for him and have to be actively discouraged from sniffing around. And then the P.I. turns up very, very dead, and the killers have gone to some trouble to make sure the corpse can't be easily identified.

Suddenly Reacher sees definite reasons to get involved. He heads for New York. His only lead is the P.I.'s client, the person who wants to find Reacher. A Mrs. Jacob. That name means nothing to Reacher --- yet. But Mrs. Jacob turns out to be someone who means a whole lot to Reacher. And the people she's trying to help --- a bewildered, elderly couple looking for answers in the death of their only son, still MIA in Vietnam after thirty years --- prod his conscience.

One man, hiding behind a web of violence and deceit and greed, knows the truth about what happened thirty years ago in Vietnam. Cunning, vicious, and prepared to kill, he lays his trap and waits for Reacher to take the bait.