Past Tense by Lee Child: A review

Lee Child is now up to number 23 in his Jack Reacher saga. I've previously read four of the books, the first three plus number 14. I'm never going to read the other eighteen in order to get to Past Tense, so I've utterly given up on my rule of reading series books in order. Life is too short.

But I'd heard some good things about this latest one and I needed a non-demanding read as a palate cleanser so I decided to go with it.

As in all the books (I guess), we find Jack Reacher on the road and on the move. This time he's starting out in Maine and his destination is San Diego, but on a whim, he decides to go through Laconia, New Hampshire. The town was where his father was born and grew up and he's never seen it. He researches the town records, with help from a city employee, to find where the Reachers might have lived and heads out to find the site and walk the ground where his forebears lived.

Meantime, in another part of the county, a young Canadian couple is also on the move, headed to New York. But their vehicle is about to quit on them and they look for a place to spend the night. They find an out-of-the-way - WAY out-of-the-way - motel. It might as well have a sign out front saying "Bates Motel." They check in, but will they ever check out?

These two story lines proceed on parallel tracks until, finally, they converge near the end. The "Jack track" features several violent encounters between Jack and various bad guys. They always come at him in groups, usually four or five in a pack, and they are formidable. Jack himself is 6'5" and is immensely skilled and powerful. As a former military policeman for the Army, he is very experienced in dealing with unruly characters. Child always describes these encounters in loving detail, often going on for pages. He obviously knows his audience and what his keen admirers expect from him. After reading through the first couple of such experiences in this book, I admit I skimmed rather lightly over the others.

I remember reading somewhere recently that somewhere in the world someone buys one of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books every 13 seconds. That is mind-boggling and yet I don't seriously doubt it. These books are incredibly popular and I can understand why. They are easy to read and they are full of action for those who require that in a book. The plots move quickly and the reader can count on the good guys coming out on top, no matter how tough those bad guys might be.

Which brings up another question in my mind. I wonder what the body count is for all the characters dispatched by Jack Reacher over the years. Has anybody ever taken the time to total up? It would be interesting to know.

Lee Child has perfected his formula and I bet he could write one of these thrillers with one hand tied behind his back. They may not be much of a challenge any more, for him or the readers, but for what they are, they are fun reads. Past Tense was no exception.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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