Give it a pass

Give this one a pass. The story is marred by too torture-y a villain, made almost laughable because the narrator Jonathan McClain made the serious error of using a voice exactly like the Austin Powers' villain Dr Evil. The girl is more than usually bland, her character mainly delineated by her extreme thinness, and the romance is anemic. Child must have been tired when he got to this one, and in many passages he simply repeats sentences—at one big reveal, Reacher actually has someone repeat a piece of news (which we've seen coming for about an hour) four times. Four times. Skip to the next, this one was a dud.

55 people found this helpful

Slower pace than first 2 books

I found the narration to be involving and nicely done. Some others have voiced displeasure with the narrator, but he does an excellent job of giving each character a distinct voice that is consistant through the entire book. Makes it very easy to disinguish who is who in conversations. This is the third book in the series and it moves at a slightly slower, more controlled pace than the first two. Sort of gives us a more detailed view into Jack Reacher's mindset and motivations overall and I for one, enjoyed that. There was a decent twist to the story and if you're paying attention you will figure it out pretty early on and if not, then it's a nice enough surprise at the end. On to book four now.

45 people found this helpful

Buyer beware!

Two of the three books rolled out and purporting to fill the gap in the Jack Reacher series were already available on Audible read by Dick Hill. This one read by Jonathan McClain is not totally awful but it is a pale imitation of the real thing. If you are a Jack Reacher fan from the previous books available in the Audible series, you will be sadly disappointed.

39 people found this helpful

Frequent Listener

I continue the saga of the Jack Reacher series, this one was performed very well by Mr. McClain. I think I read a review that was a little rough on this narrator in the series, I would have to say that Jonathon did an excellent job in my eye. I really like this series, different than a normal cop and robber story line, but still every bit as engaging. I think of this as a Columbo on steriods. A bit odd, but great story lines and character development. Good work.

34 people found this helpful

Warning

If you're a Jack Reacher fan, you might already have this in your Library. After I downloaded it and listened to it, I found I had a Dick Hill version of Tripwire I downloaded in 2009. It doesn't seem to be available in the Audible store, but I'll take Dick Hill over this narrator any day. McClain isn't a bad narrator, and if I didn't already feel that Dick Hill IS Jack Reacher, I would have probably liked him OK.

If you think Tom Cruise is going to make a believable Jack Reacher in the movie, you might like this narrator, and if you don't already have this book in your library, and you're a Jack Reacher fan as I am, you might not have any choice but to go with this book. The Dick Hill version doesn't seem to be available.

It was difficult to rate this book. McClain is an OK narrator. It's just that he's not Dick Hill, and after downloading this version, I discovered I already had the Dick Hill version. Luckily, after 3 years and 700 or so books, the story was fresh. I had forgotten most of it. I might go back and listen to the Dick Hill version to compare the two. Since I already had that one, it was a waste of a credit.

31 people found this helpful

Good book but missing part of critical chapter .

I liked everything about it until Chapter 17 cut off mid sentence leaving out critical information to the conclusion of the book. I went back twice to see if it was just a player error but no luck. Disappointing.

27 people found this helpful

What you expect from Jack Reacher

Where does Tripwire rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It meets expectations for a Jack Reacher book. If you liked the first two, you will like this book.

18 people found this helpful

A formula that keeps on working

Yes this is a Jack Reacher novel. He still owns nothing, replaces his dirty clothes with new ones, has a girl in the picture and a few references to past books. Beyond that is a whole new adventure. Well paced. Exciting. Just plug in new data into the formula and you have another good Jack Reacher novel. If you like these books, you won't be disappointed. If you are trying it out for the first time, you won't be disappointed. I'll keep listening as long as Lee Child keeps writing! Would like the original narrator to come back though.

17 people found this helpful

Story Alive!!

What did you love best about Tripwire?

The narrator

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jack Reacher is an interesting character-Tough but kind.

What about Jonathan McClain’s performance did you like?

His various voices just brought the story to life. He made the story exciting!!!

17 people found this helpful

Lee Child write fun novels, not great literature

At age 43 British TV executive Jim Grant started writing novels using the pen name Lee Child about a retired US Army major turned vagabond he named Jack Reacher. After 21 novels, several short stories, and two movies it a good bet that more Americans can identify Jack Reacher than can name the US VP. Lee Child is very much a commercial writer; he writes for commercial success. I have no issue with that because the Reacher character is intriguing and the novels are all great fun. Child/Grant has built a large following so all of his novels are guaranteed best sellers. Lee Child is clever.

I have listened to all Jack Reacher novels at least once. Although some of the novels do build on the previous one, others skip around in the chronology of Reacher's life so reading them in order is not especially helpful.

My only issue with Tripwire with the narration which is completely satisfactory, but Dick Hill, not Jonathan McClain, is the voice of the Reacher novels and he is who I want and expect to hear when I listen to a Reacher audio novel.

16 people found this helpful