61 Hours (A Jack Reacher Mystery)

by Lee Child

2014

Status

Available

Publication

Alliance Entertainment (2014), Edition: 1st

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE BLOCKBUSTER JACK REACHER SERIES THAT INSPIRED TWO MAJOR MOTION PICTURES AND THE STREAMING SERIES REACHER “Reacher gets better and better. . . . [This is the] craftiest and most highly evolved of Lee Child’s electrifying Reacher books.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times   A bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses.   Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed—but so is the woman he’ll risk his life to save.… (more)

Media reviews

Booklist
Coming off Gone Tomorrow (2009), one of the very best among his 13 high-octane thrillers, Child keeps his foot hard on the throttle. There’s always a ticking clock in the background whenever our off-the-grid hero, Jack Reacher, finds a wrong that needs righting, but this time the clock drives the
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narrative. When a lawyer arrives at a South Dakota prison to visit a client, we’re told that it’s five minutes to three in the afternoon, “exactly 61 hours before it happened.” Meanwhile, Reacher wakes up from a nap to discover that the tour bus on which he’s cadged a ride is spinning out of control on an icy bridge. By the time he helps the injured senior citizens aboard the bus, there are 59 hours left. But we still don’t know what we’re waiting for. The clock continues to tick as Reacher, now without a ride, lands in Boulton, South Dakota, and finds himself helping out the local police as they attempt to protect a key witness in an upcoming drug trial. Then there’s the matter of the peculiar underground installation outside of town, formerly a military outpost but now apparently housing a meth lab. As the hours fall away and the tension builds, we learn more about the installation, the local cops, and a Mexican drug lord whose own clock is ticking in sync with Reacher’s, but we’re still not prepared for what happens when the sixty-first hour arrives. One expects a novel organized around a clock to be plot driven, and that’s certainly true here. But, as always, Child delivers enough juicy details about the landscape, the characters, and Reacher’s idiosyncrasies to give the story texture and to lower our pulse rates, if only momentarily. Even without the apparently game-changing finale, this is Child in top form, but isn’t he always?
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2 more
Bookstore Magazine
61 Hours just may be one of the best novels in the Reacher series yet. Although not as fast paced as previous entries, it boasts "a Hitchcockian escalation of tension" that, despite the gimmick of a countdown, becomes all the more powerful because of it (Telegraph). It is also more of a
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"closed-town mystery of the sort that Agatha Christie favored," though, of course, Reacher remains the same uncanny, music-loving drifter fans have come to love (New York Times). Otherwise, Child exhibits his usual gift for characters (particularly the elderly librarian), sharp dialogue, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Although 61 Hours ends with a cliffhanger, readers need not worry: the 15th Reacher novel is due out this fall.
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Publisher's Weekly
After a brief stop in New York City (Gone Tomorrow), Jack Reacher is back in his element—Smalltown, U.S.A.—in bestseller Child's fine 14th thriller to feature the roving ex-military cop. When a tour bus on which he bummed a ride skids off the road and crashes, Reacher finds himself in Bolton,
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S.Dak., a tiny burg with big problems. A highly sophisticated methamphetamine lab run by a vicious Mexican drug cartel has begun operating outside town at an abandoned military facility. After figuring out the snow-bound, marooned Reacher's smart, great with weapons, and capable of tapping military intelligence, the helpless local cops enlist his assistance, and, as always, he displays plenty of derring-do, mental acuity, and good old-fashioned decency. While the action is slower than usual, series fans will appreciate some new insights that Child provides into his hero's psyche and background as well as a cliffhanger ending.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member deweys
Lee Child at his best. Jack Reacher is stranded in a small South Dakota town due to a snowstorm and as usual manages to find his help is needed. A little old lady witness to a drug deal is being protected from being killed by a Mexican drug lord is the basis of the novel. Jack assists the local
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Police Department protecting her and investigating the usual murders that seek out Reacher. This is one of my favorite Jack Reacher novels. The pacing was good, high suspense, some surprises. Loved it.
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LibraryThing member mikedraper
As I was reading "61 Hours," something was nagging at me. Then I remember reading the author's first book, "Killing Floor," and was surprised at the many plot similarities between the two books.

In both novels, Reacher is helping an overwhelmed police department in a small town. In "Killing Floor,"
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the action is in Margrove, Georgia. In "61 Hours," the action is in Bolton, South Dakota.

Both stories have only two members of the police department helping Reacher. In "Killing Floor," it is Capt. Finley, second in command, and Officer Roscoe. In "61 Hours," his allies are Chief Holland and Andrew Peterson, second in command.

In both stories, Reacher has to call the Washington, D.C. area for background information and help. In the first novel, he calls his brother's division of the Treasury Department, in the current novel, he calls the Commanding Officer of an elite military group in Rock Creek, Va., a group that Reacher had once commanded.

In both novels, a deadline plays a prominent role in the story. In "Killing Floor," the situation must be resolved before the following Sunday when the Coast Guard will change its surveillance procedure. In "61 Hours," the title itself, gives a time when an event will happen that Reacher has to stop.

In "Killing Floor," Reacher is saving the family of Paul Hubble. In the current novel, there is a witness to a drug deal, Janet Salter, a retired librarian. She is willing to testify and it would put an important person in the drug gang behind bars. Reacher must help protect her so the drug dealers don't try to kill her before she can testify.

The towns in both novels have gained by an outside source that is partially the reason for the problem. In "Killing Floor," a wealthy corporate owner bought a piece of property and established his facility in the town. He gives weekly payments to the town merchants and they look the other way when he or his workmen don't obey the law. In "61 Hours," a prison is built on town land. The town was in competition for the land and had to make certain promises to get the deal.

I enjoyed both novels and always enjoy reading about the adventures and attributes of Jack Reacher. I feel that "Killing Floor," was much more superior for its uniqueness.

Whatever the case, Lee Child is one of the best story tellers and thriller writers in literature.
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LibraryThing member MaryWJ
a pretty standard Reacher book, with a surprising cliffhanger ending...
LibraryThing member librarymary09
Another fantastic, gripping Jack Reacher thriller from the talented Lee Child. And featuring a librarian!
LibraryThing member Romonko
This is the 13 or 14 book in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, and to my way of thinking it is by far the best. And that is saying a lot since all the previous books have been phenominal in their own way. But this one is different. I think the counting down of the hours (from 61) helps to build up
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the tension, as well as all the stuff that is going on in the book. And then there's the ending, and I'm not going to say anything about that in order not to spoil the suspense for those who haven't read it. Suffice it to say that this ending is like no other thriller ending that I've ever encountered. The setting is South Dakota in the middle of a raging blizzard and it happens that Reacher find himself in a small town hotbed of intrigue and murder. Things are really heating up in the small town of Bolton, and it all seems to be originating from the huge prison facility that is located close by. This book should be read by all thriller lovers. Even if you're new to Jack Reacher, you can still enjoy the story, and I can bet that once you read it you will want to read the rest of the back titles. Excellent stuff!
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LibraryThing member TerryWeyna
Jack Reacher has been one of my heroes for about the last decade, ever since I first discovered Lee Child’s protagonist in his long-running series of thrillers. In much the same way that Robert B. Parker’s Spenser and Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone became so real to me that they were
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practically friends of the family. This loner, who owns nothing but the clothes on his back, a portable toothbrush and an ATM card to a bank account that keeps him in funds, always seems to find trouble – and to fix it.

In recent years, Reacher’s adventures have gotten a bit less compelling, seemed a bit too similar to one another, and sometimes fell over the edge into nihilistic violence that were just a bit too much for my taste. This devolution seemed complete in Gone Tomorrow, in which Child seemed to have been bitten by the “bestseller bug” that afflicts so many ultra-successful thriller writers: short chapters (usually three to five pages long) with short paragraphs, plenty of sentence fragments as stand-alone paragraphs to build tension, and a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. It makes for a quick read, true, and Gone Tomorrow was definitely decorating the bestseller lists when it came out a little more than a year ago, but it’s the junk food of the literature banquet. If Child started out giving us the gourmet version of a thriller, now he was writing the equivalent of a fast-food burger.

Gone Tomorrow starts when Reacher is riding a subway car in Manhattan and sees a woman who shows all the signs of being a suicide bomber. From there, it lurches into an investigation of terrorism in which Child is taken into the confidence of several different law enforcement agencies and tasked with averting an enormous threat to the United States almost single-handedly. Reacher promises to get the job done, no matter what it takes.

Gone Tomorrow improves as it goes along, but the whole novel feels like Child has reached the limits of what he can do with Reacher. He’s an excellent character with an interesting background, and his military knowledge never fails to add great color to strongly plotted books, but based on the evidence of Gone Tomorrow, I would say that it’s time for him to go into retirement.

Perhaps that’s why I broke my habit of years and did not purchase a signed copy of the 2010 Reacher novel, but instead got on the waiting list at the library for my shot at it. I may reverse that decision, because 61 Hours is a fine book, a return to form for Child – maybe even as good as some of the earliest in the series. It is so good for many reasons, including its unexpected and unresolved ending; Reacher’s failure to have no-strings-attached sex with the nearest available female; and Reacher’s seeming cluelessness this time around, as opposed to his usual secret inside knowledge that allows him and him alone to solve the mystery. Certainly it’s not the fairly lame device of counting down from 61 hours until the climax.

The story is set in South Dakota in the middle of the winter. I’ve been in South Dakota at that time of year, and I assure you that the cold there is nothing to mess with. Reacher, who usually manages to get himself to southern climes during the winter months, is completely unprepared for the arctic air and the far below zero windchills. The weather plays an important role in this book, and it’s actually nice to see that Reacher struggles with it, a lot. He’s also in a place where his lack of wheels is a serious problem; he can’t always get to where he’s needed in the blink of an eye, and he can’t take care of everything with a single well-placed punch. It’s refreshing to see that Reacher is human after all.

Reacher winds up in South Dakota because a bus he’s on crashes in the middle of a blizzard, and he has no way to move on until a replacement bus gets there – which won’t be for several days. All of the motels and hotels in town are at capacity because it’s visiting day at the new federal prison, so the passengers have to be fobbed off on town residents. All of the passengers are clearly harmless, elderly people on a group trip to see Mount Rushmore at a time of year when no one else wants to go, which is why they can afford it. Reacher is the anomaly, someone who saw a half-empty bus and made a private deal with the driver for a trip west. No one really wants to put up this rather suspicious character except for the Assistant Chief of Police, Andrew Peterson.

Not surprisingly for a Child thriller, Reacher gets involved in the murder case Peterson is investigating. As the bigger plot is revealed, Reacher uses his remaining military connections to figure out exactly what’s going on at that abandoned Air Force site just outside town where a bunch of bikers are dealing methamphetamine. Even more, Reacher becomes integral to the protection of a federal witness to a meth sales transaction.

What I found most notable about this book, though, is that Child has returned to a strong style and method of storytelling. Perhaps he has been reading Robert B. Parker’s Spenser mysteries, because he tells a good portion of his story through dialogue, a technique Parker honed to perfection. Advancing a plot substantially through dialogue is much harder than you might imagine, but Child does it well, in much crisper fashion than his previous books. Chapters and paragraphs have heft here, and the “instant bestseller” format of Gone Tomorrow is – well, gone today. 61 Hours is a much better book.

61 Hours ends in a cliffhanger, with the promise of a new novel coming out October 19, 2010. That’s a much shorter gap between thrillers for Child than usual, which makes me all the more curious about what October will bring. I’m glad I didn’t give up on Child after Gone Tomorrow, and I’m glad there will be a new thriller from Child’s pen in a mere three months.
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LibraryThing member OpheliaAwakens
With the exception of the annoying countdown which didn't seem to transfer from the TV screen on shows like "24" to the page very well, I found this book very enjoyable. The ending left me more irritated than eager for the next book in the series. I did find the main character intriguing enough.
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This is your standard thriller, no real surprises and maybe a little more depressing than most.
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LibraryThing member ANeumann
Not Child's best effort, but enjoyable none the less.
LibraryThing member phoenixcomet
Well written, well paced and open-ended so you want to know what happens next. Jack Reacher ends up helping the local police protect a witness from a drug lord after being stranded in the South Dakota town of Bolton in the dead of winter. He has 61 hours to complete his mission. The countdown is
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well-executed.
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LibraryThing member katiecva
Wow. I flew through this book and loved every minute of it. When I read the synopsis that it takes place during a blizzard, I was skeptical that there would be much action, but Reacher is up to his usual smart, tough self throughout this book. The new character, Susan, who now runs the 110th is
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written smartly and it feels like she will be back with the cliff hanger at the end. I highly recommend this book if you are already a fan of Reacher as well as if it's the first Reacher book you'll be reading.
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LibraryThing member MSWallack
Another very enjoyable Reacher novel. Many of Child's Reacher novels turn the locale of the action into a veritable character. Sometimes that works; other times it becomes a major weakness of the book. In 61 Hours the town of Bolton, South Dakota and the weather conditions are very well described
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and come alive as central parts of the story.

A Reacher story requires two elements (what I like to call 'Reacher Being Reacher'): (1) he needs to kick some proverbial ass every so often; and (2) he needs to talk his way through solving the mysteries and puzzles that confront him. If either of these is lacking, then the reader isn't gettng the full experience. Unfortunately, while #2 was very much in evidence, there wasn't enough of #1 until very late in the story (which has been a problem in a few of the more recent Reacher books). Oh, well. Nevertheless, the story was still entertaining.

This was also the first Reacher book in a long time where we've really seen some growth in the character, maybe even some change in direction. It will be interesting to see where Child takes that.

I will note that Child both surprised me and didn't surprise me. He did a few things that I didn't think he would. Bravo. But I was also able fairly early on to narrow down who the hidden antogonist was. That was a bit of a bummer. Of course the final surprise (on the book's last page) was pretty good.
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LibraryThing member auntmarge64
The latest and one of the best of Jack Reacher series, about an ex-Army MP commander living a wandering life with no possessions, as usual finding trouble he can't resist getting involved in. And this time there's a powerful cliffhanger ending.
LibraryThing member norinrad10
As a long time fan of this series, I can say that this is the "what a good writer am I" entry. There really is no story here and it unfolds very predictably. However, Child is such a good writer and Reacher such a good character that you'll stick around until the end. I'm kind of curious to see
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what unfolds because there is another Lee Child book on the way for October. If you've never read Lee Child before I'm not sure that this is the place to start. If you are a long time fan, it won't chase you away.
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LibraryThing member claydragon
This is a hard review to write without giving things away but I'll try. But be warned tehre are a couple of spoilery things mentioned.

61 Hours by Lee Child is another Jack Reacher novel, and like previous books in the series it's about Jack taking on the seemingly impossible odds and surviving and
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possibly helping others survive as well.

This time Jack's in South Dakota, freezing in the middle of a snowstorm. He ended up hitching a ride on a bus full of senior citizens who were on a tour. When the bus crashes due to bad weather, he finds himself in Bolton, SD. Which is the location for a newly built prison and the apparent headquarters for a gang of meth dealers. And this is where the story gets a little complicated. One of the meth dealers is in prison, and the key witness is under police protection. The deputy chief of police seems to be the only one that trusts Jack, and he asks Jack to help keep the witness safe. One thing that bugged me was the police chief, and how wimpy he seemed, but that is kind of explained a little later in the book.
The title of the book comes from the fact that as the book opens you have a countdown so you know approximately how long it takes for Jack to do the things he does and the events to take place.

One thing I really liked was the way that we learned more about Jack's Army background, and his personal history than we have in the previous books. As "usual" he connects with some of the people of the town quite a bit, especially the witness. He even seems to start a relationship, over the phone with the woman who now has his old position in the military, but we'll have to see if it continues. As usual, he is able to see things and reach conclusions that the local police can't/don't. One of the one characters makes a comment something like he's (meaning Jack) is the sort of guy who sees things seconds ahead of the rest of the world, and it's true. Jack's reflexes and skills are put to the test in this one.

While this is a stand alone book it doesn't exactly end here. It ends with a cliff hanger and a few pages later you see the notice - "Want To Know What Happens Next? Look for Lee Child's next new thriller - coming 10-19-2010. And that cliff hanger is a real OH MY WORD moment. ::grin:: I've already listed the book (title unknown) down on my calendar so I can be sure to get it.
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LibraryThing member carlienichole
Amazing book. The story had me glued to the end. It is very accurate and knowledgable. It was so intesne and exciting. I never wanted to put it down! Reacher is an amazing character that from the beginning you have to like. He's so intelligent and independent, you want to be like him. I want to
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know what happens next!
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LibraryThing member UnderMyAppleTree
61 Hours is a fast-paced thrill ride providing an entertaining, escapist read.

Jack Reacher is hitching a ride on a tourist bus when it crashes in a snow storm in South Dakota. Forced to wait out the storm in a nearby small town he soon discovers that this is not your ordinary quiet little town. A
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gang of bikers are cooking meth, dead bodies are turning up, a jail-break is rumored to be eminent and a witness is being threatened by an unknown assassin. Reacher, a ex-military man, an MP, is drawn into the affair and agrees to help out risking his own life in the process.

Jack Reacher is the kind of guy you want to have around when trouble is brewing. He sees things the local police don’t pick up, his army experience and connections give him an advantage and at times his knowledge seems too good to be true. And that’s what I liked about him, he gets things done whatever it takes.

I enjoyed this book. The writing was crisp and clean, the dialog snappy and the story line easy to follow. The suspense builds as the plot unfolds. It’s one of those books that make you stay up too late because you want to know what is going to happen next.

This is the 14th novel in the Reacher series but it is the first one I have read. While having read previous novels would probably have helped me understand Reacher a little better, it wasn’t necessary for me to enjoy this book. You can read the books in any order. The author provided enough background detail for me to easily follow along. That said, I now want to read the rest of them if they are as good as this one.

One additional point to mention: Although I would consider this a stand alone story there are several unanswered questions at the end of this novel that presumably will be continued in the next book, Worth Dying For, which will be published later this year.
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LibraryThing member YogiABB
I just finished reading 61 hours on my Kindle. 61 Hours is another novel by Lee Child featuring Jack Reacher, the 6'5" ex Military Police Officer ascetic who is rough and tough with quick one-liners. Reacher travels around the country carrying only an ATM card and the clothes on his back. He buys
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new clothes every three days. Typically he travels from place to place by walking.

This time though things are different. I mean some things are the same. He has a real mean bad dude named Plato to deal with. Plato is mean. He is also only 4' 11" tall. One 6' guy called him a midget. That dummy woke up in a hospital downsized to 4' 10". Yeah, who's a midget now, midget?

But this book is different. It is set in South Dakota in the winter in 30 degrees below zero weather. Not only that Reacher isn't walking he bummed a ride on a tour bus. Uh, a tour bus full of old people? Oh Jack, what are you doing? Then the tour bus crashes and Jack finds himself stuck in this small town for several days, about 61 hours. He has to protect people and go after bad guys but its like he's different. The cold bothers him, he even shivers. He gets all moony with a lady who has his old MP job back east. Jack Reacher has turned into a weenie. I mean even I have been in minus 30 degree weather. Big deal.

I don't like this new Jack Reacher one bit. This is supposed to be brain candy for guys, not moping self reflection. I attribute the change in Jack to his wearing panties with too much rayon in them. Somebody told me that too much rayon in cold weather is bad for guys wearing panties. It binds them up too tight or something. I don't know.

Whatever the cause is I didn't much care for this Jack Reacher. No taunts or wise cracks or anything. He doesn't say one witty thing in the whole novel. I give this novel about 2.5 stars out of 4. Its OK but not up to par.

Come on Lee Child, Jack Reacher needs to man up!
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LibraryThing member susanamper
Jack Reacher, the wandering Johnny on the Spot, turns up in Nowheresville USA via a bus stuck in a snow storm with a bunch of senior citiens. As in most towns Reacher seems dumb enough to visit, this one has a secret, and it's dangerous, and in 61 hours something is going to happen. Basically what
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happens is nothing. The 61 hours is a gimmick. There is a 61 hour countdown clock and when it runs out, the book is over. No armageddon, no revelation, no nothing. Reacher needs a rehaul.
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LibraryThing member kraaivrouw
I love Lee Child. He's a highly dependable writer of thrillers and his Jack Reacher series never disappoints, even now that he's fourteen books in. While this isn't my favorite Reacher book, it's a good one filled with motorcycle-riding meth dealers, Mexican drug cartels, corrupt town officials, a
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bus full of tourists, and the deadly South Dakota winter. As always the action is non-stop and Child has a real talent for keeping the reader turning those pages until the bitter end.

There are times when I fantasize about having Jack Reacher's life - no fixed address, no real possessions, just wandering about the country from adventure to adventure. Then I remember that he never seems to have a book (a problem for me) and that he's always getting into hairy scenarios involving grievous bodily harm and I decide it's okay to just wait for the next book. Sometimes living vicariously is preferable.
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LibraryThing member shazjhb
A Reacher book. A bit slow but still enjoyable read.
LibraryThing member Penandra
As a fan of Lee Child and Jack Reacher, I was pleased to be able to borrow this book from a colleague for the 4th of July weekend . . . unfortunately, since it was a borrowed book, my reading time was limited (unwilling to take it in the pool or around food), but that didn't stop me from finishing
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the book over the long weekend. It started out like the usual Jack Reacher, although if I were a new reader of the series, I would be a bit lost . . . not quite the introduction that Child's usually gives to this character, but since most of us are returning to an old friend, possibly not necessary.

While others seemed to have found that the countdown added to the suspense of the novel, I wish that it had only been used with the folks that knew about the deadline, not at the end of every chapter. I found it distracting when it was at the end of a chapter from the Reacher perspective causing me to wonder if he perhaps knew more than I thought he might. No spoilers here, though!

As in most Child novels, there is seldom much of a challenge in identifying the perp --- the suspense lies in Reacher identifying the perp and what occurs before he has that knowledge. I particularly liked not liking the villains in this story. What a disgusting little man.

I'm particularly grateful for the "Stop You're Killing Me" website so that I can track the publication of the next Lee Child novel (October 19).
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LibraryThing member emlzcole
Another great book from the Jack Reacher series. A quick summer read with plenty of action.
LibraryThing member TheoClarke
Another game-changing addition to the Reacher series. I was pleased that Reacher seems to have lost his irresistable sex appeal and delighted by the shocking denouement although I imagine that Jack will take one almighty bound.
LibraryThing member alicetroxel
I can see this "free" Early Reviewers edition is going to cost me a fortune. I am hooked on Jack Reacher. I wasn't even a bit turned off by the fact this was many books along the way in the Reacher series. I thoroughly enjoyed the character, and the story with its twists and turns really had me all
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the way through. I promptly went out to find the earlier books.
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LibraryThing member tgford
Wrong place, wrong time, right man.

This was the first book that I have read from the Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” series. I was concerned about it being the 14th in the series but I was hooked early. This book is able to stand on its own, all the back story is given to the reader as needed.
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There are no references to events from previous books that aren’t explained almost immediately. I was a little confused by the ending but maybe all the books end this way. Sort of a Sopranos fade to black style ending but it didn’t lessen the experience of reading the book.

It opens with a bus load of retirees and Reacher being stranded by a snowstorm in a small South Dakota town. Mix in a abandoned military installation, motorcycle gangs, prison unrest, a drug lord and a few other mysterious or unsavory characters and you have a delightful blend of murder, mayhem and action. It was a fun read and has inspired me to add the rest of the series to my “To Read” list.
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Language

Original publication date

2010-03-18

Physical description

4.49 x 1.22 inches

ISBN

0440243696 / 9780440243694

Barcode

1601661
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