Summer is over and Jack Reacher plans to travel from Maine to San Diego to spend the winter. But when his ride unexpectedly ditches him in New Hampshire, Jack finds himself near the small town of Laconia where his father grew up. Jack decides to spend a couple days researching his family tree, but finds no mention of the Reacher name in the local census. Meanwhile a young couple, Shorty and Patty, are on their way from Canada to NYC to sell something valuable when their car breaks down near Laconia and they opt to spend the night in an out-of-the-way motel, setting off a series of unbelievable events.

This is the 23rd book in the series! Lee Child is a master at creating a suspenseful, sinister small town atmosphere from from events that appear ordinary at first glance. It felt like a Stephen King character was lurking in the motel! How the two stories tie together is amazing. And, on top of everything, we learn some long buried secrets about the Reacher family.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book. Pub date 11-5-18.

Readers who mark their calendars for the unveiling of each new Jack Reacher novel will not be disappointed with this latest entry. It features the familiar beginning: Jack's just hitchhiking to his next random destination when he ends up in a specific place, and mystery and trouble happen to find him. While this reader found some events implausible, it didn't lack for action and Jack's trademark cool.

I’ve been reading the Jack Reacher series since Lee Child wrote his first. How wonderful it is after finishing #23 in the series to say it’s definitely one of my favorites!

Jack Reacher, our 6’5” ex-military hero is on a journey from Maine to California and decides to take a pit stop in Laconia, New Hampshire to check out his father’s birthplace. Scanning through records at town hall and researching census from long ago bring him in contact with a lot of different characters - some nice and some not-so-nice. I always like to see the not-so-nice come into play as this means some action is to be expected. I’ve got to tell you I love his hand-to-hand fighting skills that emerge and the surprise of his foes. Bring on all the details! My father had us watching every war movie and John Wayne film since I was a kid. I love, love, seeing Reacher beat up the bullies. Bring it on!

What I really liked about this book is the duel storyline. Two young Canadians, Shory, and his smarter girlfriend, Patty, break down at an isolated, creepy motel not far off from Laconia. Unbeknownst to them, they are about to enter hell. They are in desperate need of Reacher’s help. The two stories converge with a lot of action and excitement. Meanwhile, there are some other nasty folks around that our hero gives a mighty fine lesson.

A definite stand out for me is the female ex-MP, now Laconia cop, Reacher interacts with throughout the book.

If you have never met Jack Reacher yet, but would like to meet a man that likes intelligent women, doesn’t take any crap from anyone, and will protect those that are in despair, read this book. It doesn’t matter that you haven’t read the others in the series. Start here!

5 out of 5 exciting stars

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and the fabulous Lee Child for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads on August 12,2018

Thank you, Net Galley, for this early copy of 'Past Tense' to review.

As always, Lee Child does not disappoint. This Jack Reacher book is superb. Well written and the plot has you staying up late to keep reading. I enjoyed it all the way to the last sentence.
It is fast paced and really a nail-biting story.
Excellent!!!!

You can't always have a winner, but hey, the man has delivered so many great ones, we should cut him a bit of slack "Past Tense" starts out with Reacher seeing a sign to a town he's never been - the birthplace of his father, As usual, he's in no hurry and decides to stop, At the same time a couple from Canada have car trouble and get stranded nearby. Actually the storyline of them finding a motel, (even though you'll
want to scream at the book "don't do it, we've seen that movie,"), is rather intriguing. While the Canadians find themselves trapped in another movie , (does anyone remember "The Naked Prey" from the sixties.?), Reacher is finding no trace of dad despite his childhood stories,
Hmmmm...something is up. No worries, there will be plenty of violence, Jack Reacher will have fights where he overpowers large groups of big men and he will still press his pant under the mattress. This not a bad book but certainly not his best. I confess that I started to skim.
.

I recieved this book free for an honest review. I have read all 22 Reacher books by Lee Child, one of my favorite authors. Reacher, a mountain of a man, is the guy you want on your side when things go wrong. This was a really good story basically following two story lines. First, Reacher comes to the aid of a woman being assaulted, Reacher gives the man an option to walk away. He made the stupid choice of challenging Reacher. The bad thing was his Daddy is the towns "rich guy" and they hire Boston mobsters to kill him. The second part of the story, four young men open a hotel with a devious plan. One of these Men bear the same last name. Without giving the rest of the story away, Reacher decides to intervene. I enjoyed this story very much and wait for the next in the series. As always, well done Mr Child.

In my opinion, best one yet! There is a part of Jack Reacher that I love - just wanders around with no care in the world sticking his nose in other people's business - what a life! Then there is the side of me who says - Who does this? Reacher again sticks his nose in someone else's business while looking for a distant relative and of course finds trouble. He does get some closer about some family and moves on in Jack Reacher style.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read this advance copy in exchange for a review.

Jack Reacher is hitchhiking from Maine to San Diego, but he doesn't get far before he chances on a sign for Laconte, NH where his father was born. His father had never discussed his childhood so Reacher is curious to find the home plate and maybe learn something about his grandparents. Of course he soon runs afoul of local gangsters.

There is a second storyline involving a young Canadian couple traveling to Boston when their car breaks down near Laconte. The out of the way rural motel where they stop turns out to be a trap, but why they are being held is a mystery. Their storyline is in many ways more interesting than Reacher's. The two plots converge in a dramatic showdown in the end.

Being a genealogist I enjoyed Reacher's foray into family history and the two parallel storylines. My only complaint was Reacher's tendency to preach at times and diagram his every action. But overall it was a good read, although not as good as his earlier books.

Great addition to the Reacher series. Especially liked this one as you got a little insight into the Reacher family. Not a full5 stars only because of how long and drawn out the book seemed in the first half.

With this new novel the author has brought back the "old school" version of the primary character and it works! I like this version of the traveling man much better than the more contemporary version we've seen in the last five or so years. He arrives, makes friends, sees injustice, and rights a wrong. Justice served, old style.

awesome installment in the reacher series. loved the backstory, wish the dad story would have worked out a little different. the motel story was pretty intense, loved it. easy four stars.

Lee Child just keeps getting better and better with his Jack Reacher odyssey.
In this latest episode, Jack returns to his Father's home and relives memories of his Past.
You don't want to miss this insight into the Psyche of JR.

Jack Reacher is my favorite character of all the “recurring character” books I read. Past Tense took me a little bit longer to really get embedded into the story than some Lee Child books, but once I was in, I was all in!! I very much enjoyed learning more about Reacher’s past. Reading about him all these years and learning so little about his family, his childhood (other than moving around as a military kid), we have never had much information. This book starts to open up that window into his early years. I loved learning about a new side of him and having some insight into what makes him tick. Loved this book and I hope there are more to come soon. I have read every Reacher book and will continue to read them as long as they are published. Maybe I’m a little biased, but five stars from me.

I so enjoy Jack Reacher, and this one was no exception. At first I wasn't sure how it was all going to come together, but it does, in total Reacher Style. He ends up in his father's hometown, which was interesting and nice to get some more insight into his past. Look forward to the next adventure.

This really was the first of the Reacher novels that I did not enjoy. I found it boring and ridiculous. Perhaps if Child had kept to one story (Reacher's involvement with the town), it wouldn't have gotten so annoying.

As a big Lee Child fan who has read all of the Reacher books I am disappointed in this one. Two plots run separately throughout this novel. Childs usually connects storylines and did not do that for most of this novel. Mobsters out to get Reacher provoke him to perform his usual greater than life crime solving throughout the book. I did not care for the parallel storylines that seemed superficial for most of the book. When it finally came together Reacher deals with the issue in his typical and predictable manner.

SPOILERS

I don't think you need spoilers for a Reacher novel, but just in case.

This was really satisfying. Are the Jack Reacher novels great literature? No. Are they satisfying? Yes! You know Reacher will get the bad guys, which he does, but it's always satisfying to have him do so. Along the way he learns more about his ever tangled family tree, stops a people hunting outfit (I know! But Lee Child does handle it with as deft a hand as one can) and I really like Patty and Shorty. Especially Patty, because she is a badass.

And you know, it's hard to sustain a series especially over 20+ books, but Child has and does and at this point there's a certain beauty in how he keeps everything going--concise but yet enough to keep you reading.

Just like Jack Reacher, I'll come back to see what's next.

Absolutely loved it! See Goodreads review link below.. Thanks for letting me read it as an ARC. My library will be purchasing several copies.

First, I love Jack Reacher, and am in awe of Lee Child, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting at Thrillerfest. In Past Tense, Reacher seeks to fill in some of the blanks from his personal history, which has been masterfully dripped in over the twenty-plus novels. Meanwhile, there is a mystery/thirller afoot nearby featuring a hapless couple trapped in a creepy motel.
It seems to me in past books, there is at least some overlap of the plotlines throughout, whereas here, there is none until the climax.
Reacher is true-to-form, but if I hadn't read the others, I'm not sure I would have liked him. He was almost "too Reacher." His glib comments accepted by everyone he meets, even without a preamble.
It's interesting how comparisons work...compared to most any other thriller, Past Tense was superb, but compared to the others in the series, this was my least favorite by a significant margin. It moved a little too slowly, and I didn't really buy Reacher's "danger," knowing how amazing he is. The other plotline I somehow guessed right off the bat, and found the characters a bit annoying, though they did get better.
So all in all, a good book, but I would not recommend this to anyone unfamiliar with the series, for fear they would miss out on all the rest.

st, thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the Advance Readers Copy of PAST TENSE. In many ways, this was the prototypical Reacher novel - drifting along, Reacher walks into one form of trouble while another is brewing on a parallel pathway. It takes quite a while for the 2 story lines to converge, but before they do, there are the typical Reacher vs. one or multiple assailants fights, as well as many instances of his keen observations and deductive reasoning. While this edition does nothing to prevent me from dropping almost anything when the new Reacher novel comes out, it did take longer to gain traction and transition into the un-put-downable book that I'm used to seeing from Lee Child. About 60% of the way into the book, thing start to get really good, and from then on, it WAS hard to put down. However, I am a bit disappointed that the story line reminded me of a classic short story by Richard Connell that I first read in high school.
That said, I'll continue to reach for Reacher as soon as the next book comes out!