Jack in a Box

Jack in a Box by Diane Capri
The Search for Reacher, #2

FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar have received a special off-the-books assignment: build a secret file on Jack Reacher. In this short story, Otto and Gaspar reveal a bit of themselves as they make every effort to put Jack in a Box. Reacher fans know that no one boxes with Jack and lives to tell about it. Will Otto and Gaspar be the first to succeed where so many have failed?

--Jack in a Box
by Diane Capri
Copyright © 2012 by Diane Capri, LLC
Published by August Books

Available only in Kindle format

My Review

FBI Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are still on the case of finding Jack Reacher.  In this short story, Otto is in Wisconsin, paying her respects to her dying grandmother.  Duty complete, she accepts a lift to the airport from one of her cousins, an Army captain.  Before she can exit the vehicle, he hands her a photograph of Reacher with rendezvous information on the back.  When she asks, he tells her he knows Reacher by reputation only and was given the photo to deliver to her.  He doesn’t know anything more than that, other than she needs to watch her back.  She flies to D.C.

In his Miami office, Gaspar receives an envelope with the same picture and the same information.  Assuming she received the same photo, he heads for D.C. and the rendezvous.

At the appointed place, they meet to discuss the situation.  This setup doesn’t feel like Reacher’s style, but who else could be behind it?  At the appointed time, they meet Susan Duffy from the DEA who warns them off the case.  Reacher has friends, she warns, and those friends can destroy your career.  She leaves and once again, Otto catches a glimpse of a man that might be Reacher, but then an attempted robbery shifts her attention and when she looks back, he’s gone.

There.  I just saved you $1.99 and a wee bit of space on your Kindle.

You’re welcome.

Seriously, that’s the whole story, save for learning a bit more about their backgrounds and, of course, that they’re not giving up their assignment.  They also figure out where to go next in their search. 

The writing in this story is an improvement over Don’t Know Jack, but the story is so short, it’s hard to judge.

Do I regret spending my hard-earned money on this?  Meh.  One less chai tea latte.  No big loss.  Will I buy the next story when it comes out?  Sigh.  Probably.  Guess I’m just a glutton for punishment.

I give this story THREE STARS.