PAST TENSE by Lee Child

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PAST TENSE
Lee Child

Reviewed by Magdalena Johansson
Posted January 3, 2021

A detour will change Jack Reacher's life. He's on his way to California from Maine, but he doesn't come far. On a road does he see a sign to a place where he has never been, but that he has heard of. It's the town where his father was born. Jack decides to stop by for a day or so. What's the harm? Meanwhile, two young Canadians check into a local motel in the same area where Jack is after their car breaks down. However, checking out is not that easy...

PAST TENSE, book 23 in the Jack Reacher series, and the fourth book I have read in the series. I really like the structure of the books, how every book can be read as a stand-alone with Jack stumbling over some new mystery. This time the mystery is very personal. Jack's in a town where his father was born. However, they have never heard of a Reacher living in town? Wrong town? Or is there some greater mystery? It's the mystery angle I love about the Jack Reacher books. Every town that Jack visit seems to have secrets, people with skeletons in the closet. And, he's the catalyst that starts it all...

PAST TENSE has a strong and engrossing story that kept me captivated all through the book. I like the fact that although we did get a lot of answers are there still some mysteries concerning Jack's family at the end. Who knows, maybe that's a story for another book...

SUMMARY

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Family secrets come back to haunt Jack Reacher in this electrifying thriller from “a superb craftsman of suspense” (Entertainment Weekly).

Jack Reacher hits the pavement and sticks out his thumb. He plans to follow the sun on an epic trip across America, from Maine to California. He doesn’t get far. On a country road deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been: the town where his father was born. He thinks, What’s one extra day? He takes the detour.

At the same moment, in the same isolated area, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians had been on their way to New York City to sell a treasure. Now they’re stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. The owners seem almost too friendly. It’s a strange place, but it’s all there is.

The next morning, in the city clerk’s office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He’s told no one named Reacher ever lived in town. He’s always known his father left and never returned, but now Reacher wonders, Was he ever there in the first place?

As Reacher explores his father’s life, and as the Canadians face lethal dangers, strands of different stories begin to merge. Then Reacher makes a shocking discovery: The present can be tough, but the past can be tense . . . and deadly.