Honestly, I'm not at all sure how much I'd like Jack Reacher if I met him in person because he doesn't pull any punches, but I'm certain I'd want him on my side in a fight for the same reason. And in this, the 23rd book in the series, he gets plenty of opportunity to practice his considerable skill.The story begins as Reacher walks and hitchhikes near a remote and tiny town in New Hampshire on his way to wherever else the wind (or more accurately, any driver who gives him a lift) takes him. When he recalls his late father Stan saying he grew up in the town, though, Reacher decides to pay a visit to the family homestead - if he can find it, that is.
Concurrently, Shorty and Patty, a pair of grifters from Canada - on their way to New York with a get-rich-quick plan in tow - have car trouble. Just as the old jalopy is ready to blow, they spot a sign pointing to a motel in a heavily wooded area of (you guessed it), New Hampshire. Yep, there's a halfway decent room available - but very soon, it becomes obvious that this isn't your average Motel 6. In fact, they may have happened upon their very worst nightmare.
Chapters follow the progress as Reacher tries to find what appears to be nonexistent evidence of his father's old home and the couple try to find their way out of the mess they're in. As expected, the two storylines end up converging - but not before plenty of action takes place in both. Early on, Reacher gets on the bad side of a bad seed and his wealthy father; although the local police are for the most part on Reacher's side - after all, he's been both an Army guy and a fellow cop - they don't want Trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Problem. Just go on your way, they tell Reacher, hoping he'll heed their advice.
He'd love to, but he's got problems of his own (not the least of which is getting on the bad side of the folks he runs into when he finally locates the family town). Besides that, other local and otherwise innocent folks are finding themselves in potential danger simply because they helped Reacher; how can he possibly turn his back on them and hike away?
And so it goes, with excitement and action building all the way from town to the woods and back to an explosive end. If I have an issue, it's that I have a hard time believing in coincidences - meaning things that happen at precisely the time they should to make the story work. Life usually doesn't follow that kind of pattern - but then again, it's Reacher's life, not mine. In the end I'm happy, and I'll be looking forward to the next installment as usual. Meantime, I'm thanking the publisher (via NetGalley) for the opportunity to read an advance review copy of this one.
Past Tense by Lee Child (Dell, November 2018); 400 pp.
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