31) Past Tense by Lee Child
Yes folks, it’s Jack Reacher time. I think I’ve been reading these at a steady one a year for a long time now – someone in Acton generally buys the most recent one and leaves it in May/June time at the station community bookshelf: which is how this beauty found it’s way into my hands just ahead of the holiday. Perfect.
Everything is here that you’d want – the laconic, clipped style; the fight scene(s) where Reacher overcomes insurmountable odds; the fleeting romance; the moral backbone; and a preposterous plot which this time involves a warped game, Reacher’s family history, and a motel with no lights on. Odd and oddly thrilling stuff.
If you haven’t read any of these, of course it’s not too late for you. He’s the hero the world needs right now (men want to be him, women want to be with him etc), and if we could just get him negotiating with the EU, or sorting Trump out, I feel like all would be well with the world. Short of that fiction, this fiction will have to suffice and this was classic, solid, Jack Reacher fare: and the pages whizzed past.
Score: 7/10
BUY IT NOW: Past Tense: (Jack Reacher 23)
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 