Finished Tripwire by Lee Child. This is the third book in his popular Jack Reacher series, about a tough-as-nails, ex-military policeman who wanders around the country.

In this one, Reacher is digging swimming pools in Key West when a private detective comes to town looking for him. Soon after, the detective is murdered, so Reacher backtraces his steps to see why the guy wanted to contact him so badly. Soon, he’s in New York and involved with an elderly couple looking for their son, who went MIA in Vietnam. But there are people out there who don’t want Reacher to find out what happened to the missing son — and they’ll do anything to stop him.

I really enjoyed Killing Floor, the first book in the series. I was a little disappointed with the second one, Die Trying, mainly because Child switched Reacher’s POV from first to third person. But the change allows him to have multiple plot lines going, like he does in Tripwire. In addition to Reacher, we get the villain’s POV, along with a housewife, her CEO husband, and Jodie, Reacher’s love interest. All of them have an important part to play in the story, and Child handles all the action and characters well.

But Reacher is the star of the book. He’s a great character. Tough, confident, determined, and a little grumpy on occasion. Reacher knows how to get things done, and he’s not afraid to use violence when the going gets tough. Which it often does, since this is a hard-boiled thriller. 😎

There are a lot of plot threads going in this one, as Reacher moves closer and closer to the truth about what happened to the missing son. The answer isn’t quite what you expect, but it all builds to a satisfying conclusion. 

My only real quibble with the book was that things came together a little too perfectly in places. For example, Reacher flies all over the country, but he always makes his flights on time and they’re never delayed — something that’s a big plot point at the very end of the book. Of course, the book came out several years ago, but still. You’d think the law of averages on a flight being delayed or cancelled would catch up with Reacher sooner or later.

But if you want a solid thriller with a cool protagonist and lots of action, check out Child’s books. Thumbs up.

Up next: Dark Dreamers, featuring novellas by Christine Feehan and Marjorie M. Liu.

Books in my TBR pile: About 14.

Finished The Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu. This is the third book her popular Dirk & Steele paranormal romance series. Warning: There be spoilers ahead.

This one’s about psychic Dean Campbell, a D&S operative who’s chasing a vicious killer in Taipei. At one of the victim’s homes, he finds a picture of Mirabelle Lee, the girl he loved as a teenager — and thought was dead. Dean races to save Mirabelle, who’s now an archeologist. But they’re soon caught up in a hunt for two pieces of red jade that will have great power when brought together. And both Dean and Mirabelle start having vivid dreams of seeing the jade before — and fire and death …

Shadow Touch, the second book in the D&S series, was one of the best books I read last year, and I was expecting another great read from Heart of Jade. I didn’t quite get it.

Heart of Jade is a good book, full of Liu’s lush, descriptive writing and interesting worldbuilding. But it didn’t blow me away like Shadow Touch did. Mainly, because of the plot. Dean and Mirabelle were carjacked one night, and both of them were shot. Dean went after their assailant; Mirabelle was taken to the hospital. Each one thought the other was dead. This felt a little unbelievable and contrived to me, especially given how in love they were. Liu offers an explanation for it at the very end of the book, but it just didn’t gell for me.

Then, there’s the other part of the plot. Dean and Mirabelle are basically soulmates, and a piece of the red jade is in each one of their chests. Their vivid dreams are of a past life, when a great evil took over (old) Mirabelle and (old) Dean had to kill her to keep the evil from using the jade in both of them. And of course, Dean is faced with that choice in this life, as an evil possesses Mirabelle when they finally realize the jade is in each one of them.

Maybe it’s me, but soulmates and past lives just aren’t my favorite plot devices. I also had a little trouble with the ending. Basically, throughout the whole book, there is an evil spirit/person/thing possessing a dragon shapeshifter and getting the dragon to do its dirty work, like hunting Dean and Mirabelle. But Liu never tells us who the evil spirit/person/thing is at the end of the book. I’m hoping it’s a plot thread that’s resolved further in the series, but I would have liked a little more information in this book.

Don’t get me wrong. This is still a good book. Liu’s elegant writing alone is worth the price, and I really liked some of the secondary characters, like Koni, the shapeshifting crow. Liu also gives readers a real feel for her exotic locales, and she has some nice action scenes. It just wasn’t as good as Shadow Touch. Still, I’m looking forward to the rest of the D&S series. So thumbs up.

Up next: Tripwire by Lee Child.

Books in my TBR pile: About 15.