Lone Star Jack

Diane Capri is back with the next Hunt for Reacher novel, trying to stay fewer than ten steps behind the elusive nomad. Turning to Texas, Capri tackles some curious situations and adds a few new characters who have caught my attention. FBI Special. Agent Kim Otto has remained front and centre in a series that appears to evolve with each new novel. I am eager to see where things are headed and whether, one day, Otto and Reacher will come face to face. <br /><br />While Jack Reacher remains on the lam, Special Agent Kim Otto has not stopped looking. However, even she needs a reset and finds herself back in Detroit with family. When she learns that her sister, Sunny, has a new man and that he’s stationed in Texas, Otto wants to know more, However, her impatient boss, Cooper, has tired of the Reacher delays and collects her for the next phase of their mission. Interestingly enough, they are headed to Texas, where Reacher has left a message and directed Otto to meet a lawyer from his past.<br /><br />Cooper has his own agenda and hopes Reacher will fall for a trap. Still, Otto wants to play it safe and see what the nomad has in store for her. Otto meets members of the Double Death Task Force, who have been investigating murders whereby the killer dies as soon as the act is committed. This could be part of a larger issue, particularly when a riot breaks out at a politician’s funeral. <br /><br />All the while, an unwitting Pilar Inez Mendoza finds herself in Texas. An illegal migrant who was promised a job in Texas, she finds herself in the middle of a plot that could never have come to her, even if she had been told about it beforehand. How will her desire to get to Pecos, Texas intersect with Reacher and Otto, all while remaining under the radar? Otto teams up with Michal Flint, an unlikely partner, to get to the core of what’s happening as she continues her hunt for Jack Reacher.<br /><br />I have long enjoyed these novels by Diane Capri, partly because she mirrors some of the work by the great Lee Child in the original Reacher series. Using Child’s <i>Echo Burning</i> as a basis, Capri weaves a story that has some wonderful elements and exciting twists. Capri has long ago proven her abilities and this is enough example of her great skills, sure to impress Reacher fans and those who enjoy her work, simultaneously.<br /><br />The narrative style of these books reminds me a great deal of the early Lee Child novels, which makes reading them all the more enjoyable. Capri uses her narrative to guide the reader through many a scenario, all of which keep developing until the final reveal, which is in itself only a prelude for the next adventure. Great characters, some returning and others new or one-offs, keep offer the reader something different to enjoy as they make their way through the race towards Jack Reacher. The themes and plots that emerge from both this book and Child’s previous novel help keep things exciting and enticing through to the final page turn, when the reader will learn so much about immigration an the struggle that is real on the American border. Plus, after meeting Michal Flint in this novel, my curiosity is piqued about learning more about him, through the two novels to date that Capri has penned with him as protagonist. I suppose that will be my next adventure. Bring it on!<br /><br />Kudos, Madam Capri, for another stellar piece of writing. <br /><br />Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at: <br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/">http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/</a>

This is the best book of the Hunt for Reacher series yet! In this companion series to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, FBI Special Agent Kim Otto continues to track Reacher on orders from Cooper, her untrustworthy boss. <br />Otto goes to Texas where she chases leads from a Senator’s funeral while criminals from both sides of the Rio Grande square off. Otto chases clues and suspects by car, helicopter, plane, and on foot in this terrific thriller.<br />Lovely plot twists and surprises in this installment. A memorable cast, snappy dialogue, and page-turning suspense propel the reader to just one more chapter…to the satisfying end.

This book is yet another great book in the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series. Over the last few years I have read all of the Jack Reacher stories and all of the Hunt for Jack Reacher stories as well. This will be the 50th. It is a good read. And the next in this series have already been announced. This is the tenth I have read since that initial binge read. First I read the 29 Jack Reacher Novels and short stories by Lee Child, and now Lee and Andrew Child. And then I read all the books in this series. This is the fifteenth novel in the Hunt for Reacher Series, and the eighteenth story featuring Otto. Otto still does not have a replacement partner on this assignment. She still has Gaspar in the wings helping out as much as he can. He is told to pull in a resources from his new organization to help again. The source book for this volume was Lee Child’s Echo Burning. That story is a one, and excellent source book. <br /><br />The cast of characters in this story is:<br /><br />Kim Otto<br />Carlos Gaspar<br />Charles Cooper<br />Michael Flint<br />Kathryn Scarlett<br />Martin Weber<br />Carmen Greer<br />Alice Aaron<br />Bobby Greer<br />Rusty Greer<br />Cesar Baez<br />Pilar Inez Mendoza<br />and<br />Jack Reacher<br /><br />FBI Special Agent Kim Otto is met by Cooper in her apartment giving her information and telling her they need to leave. They are headed to Huston Texas. As always the information Cooper shares is selective. But the big difference this time is he is going with her. Cooper is out in the field, and he has 2 agents for protection who are part of the Double Death Task Force. After a shooting at the funeral they are attending Otto is read into the case. Soon Michael Flint arrives at the safe house and has a lead for Otto to follow. The source of the lead is a surprise to Otto and will be to readers as well. Otta and Michael are headed to Echo County and the Red House. Things do not go as planned.<br /><br />Currently the Child brothers are releasing about 1 Reacher novel a year, and Capri is publishing 2. This one released a week after the latest Reacher novel, No Plan B.. This story has a lot of action and a lower direct body count. It is another good story in an excellent series. As always it leaves you desperate for the next instalment in the series. Capri has done a wonderful job in leading us on the hunt for Jack Reacher. And with each offering we get to know both Otto and Reacher better.<br /><br />

Lone Star Jack is another great add on to the Reacher series. Diane Capri has found a great way to expand each book by the Childs. This one is no exception always fun to see what agent Otto is up to.

FBI Special Agent Kim Otto continues her search for Jack Reacher, a retired Army MP Officer, who has no permanent address and seemingly travels the country with no particular destination in mind. For several months Otto has been directed by her boss, FBI Director Charles Cooper, to destinations where Reacher might currently be or has been sometime in the past. Otto doesn’t trust Cooper and has been wary about his real intent of gathering information about Reacher because he’s “being considered for a special assignment.”<br /><br />This journey begins in Otto’s apartment where Cooper gives her information about the place they are now headed, Houston TX, and where Reacher might be also. They attend a funeral for a prominent politician Cooper knew and then all hell breaks loose when someone opens fire and the church becomes a riot scene. Cooper, Otto and two other agents escape to a safe house. It’s there that Otto learns about an FBI Task Force called the Double Death Task Force. The Task Force is investigating murders of US residents who are killed by illegal aliens who then die in a variety of suspicious ways.<br /><br />Thus the adventure begins to take strange shapes as it becomes clear that Reacher is involved somehow in this mystery as are some other people like Michael Flint who’s sent to find Otto by her former partner Carlos Gaspar who’s had some phone calls from Reacher and has information for Flint and Otto.<br /><br />Diane Capri has woven another page turner with the hunt for Jack Reacher square in the center of the mystery. I highly recommend this book.

I'm so pleased to be an advanced reader for Diane I got so into the novel as the book started it took me awhile to remember I need to write down my thoughts as I went along! <br /><br />As the novel starts we are introduced to many new characters whose lives will eventually be all intertwined both with Kim Otto and Jack Reacher. Jack has met many of them in previous books by Lee Child but it will take Kim, Gaspar and Flint time to figure the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle! <br /><br />By the time we got to the church I could so invision the scene in my mind it was like I was watching a movie! Diane's writing has always been good but her words just flowed so well on paper (or kindle) it was like I was there. <br /><br />Definitely another winner for Diane and us! Hard to believe how many novella and books we are into as each book seems fresh and new and leaves you waiting impatiently for the next one.<br /><br />

Fully 4 stars. A two sit down read that goes fast and is filled with movement and action.<br /><br />The only thing I disliked a bit was the switching. Too often and always at abrupt change points.<br /><br />But all the protagonists end up in one place "The Red House" in desert border Texas territory.<br /><br />This seems dated in the border crisis numbers and context- but I still loved the plot. It was rather unique too. You need to go with the flow in fiction at times. Otto and Cooper's crew and the other individuals, like Pilar- made it a deeply seated tale. Viscous and brutal at points. There is a considerable body count. <br /><br />Reacher of course has a role. But, of course, you never "see" him and none of the dozen times two players ever do either. I like Alice the lawyer in these, as well. She looks OLDER than she is and is no cupcake. "Go Ask Alice" ploys and double speak regardless-she is an excellent continuing character too. Gaspar is on the horn to the others and at home with his family. I LOVE that he has left the FBI and is his own line of work agency now. Good move.<br /><br />Martin Weber as a character is above average too. Kim's sister's boyfriend is on duty on the border and away from MI. What does that portend for the future?<br /><br />Sometimes, just a few, I do get sick of Kim Otto's fears of flying and helo complaints. But I still love that Capri has not given up on the choice nicknames that her and Gaspar have given each other. In this age of revolting disdain- you never know what can easily be removed for someone or other's offense quotient. Kudos!

Really enjoyed this latest story of FBI agent Kim Otto. Once again she is without a partner, but she is able to rely on her former partner, Carlos Gaspar, for her backup. This time her boss, Cooper, accompanies Otto on this latest quest to find Jack Reacher, or does he? He is with her but, Otto is becoming more and more doubtful of the real intent of these attempts. The excuse for Cooper’s trip to Texas with Otto and two FBI agents is to attend the funeral of a prominent Texan, Cooper’s old friend. Although Otto is told that she is on another quest to find Jack Reacher for Cooper, this particular story is very different than the others I have read. We learn a bit about Otto’s family and we learn a bit about Cooper’s secret life. We find that the FBI is actually putting together clues from murders from all around Texas where the victim is murdered, and then the murderer dies. It takes Otto, Gaspar, and, this time Michael Flint, who has intertwined his skills with Otto’s, to put the pieces together of this very strange puzzle. And what does Jack Reacher have to do with all this craziness? This story seems to pick up not long after Echo Burning by Lee Child ends. Same location in Texas with the same evil family members, some of whom, unfortunately, survived their last encounter with Jack Reacher. So why is the FBI involved? Why is Cooper involving Otto? Again, an excellent story. Looking forward to the next.

Another fascinating story in one of my favorite series! Diane Capri never disappoints! Cesar Baez, a Mexican businessman is known as the legitimate part of his family empire. Upon the death of his father, the “family business” was divided between Cesar and his two brothers. His father’s dying wish was that all the brothers move away from crime and turn the entire business legitimate. The other brothers ignored his wishes. Cesar has a legitimate business yet has a hidden crime network. Wish I could give you a spoiler on that! FBI agent Kim Otto is still on Reacher’s trail. Although not FBI, these men are an asset to Otto, much more so than the agents that are actually part of the FBI. Reacher’s moves are a little bit more in the background in this book but is now more in contact with Otto and Gaspar. I found that an interesting twist and can’t wait to see what continues in the future books. It may not be by the book, but it seems that Otto now has her own dream team. This book is action packed with all of Ms. Capri’s famous twists and turns. I couldn’t put it down!

Lone Star Jack is the 18th adventure we’ve shared with FBI Special Agent Kim Otto...but in her life it’s only been 7 months! She continues her hunt for the elusive Jack Reacher. No spoilers, of course, but you can bet this shocker moves us much closer to the moment Otto will finally solve the central question of this series: Why does her FBI boss so desperately want her to find Reacher? For just over half a year, every effort to locate the man has resulted in attempts on her life and others, the early retirement of the only partner she’s felt she could trust, and many, many deaths. Now that Reacher us finally on the screen with an actor who looks and acts like the character, isn’t it time someone put THESE stories into production? This needs to be on the screen!