61 Hours

Lee Child can weave an interesting tale about Jack Reacher but may drive readers who are familiar with proper sentence structure and use of punctuation to the brink. I know that’s the case for me. I purchased the entire Jack Reacher series of books after seeing the first season of the series. I never would have read so many of his books if I hadn’t already paid for them. I have often wondered why, with all the money that Lee Child must have brought in from his writing, he can’t seem to afford a staff who will proofread and correct the many mistakes throughout his books. Same goes for his publisher. I held onto hope with each successive book that he might learn something about writing and make his books easier to read. I hoped, with the addition of his brother on the last couple, that the books would improve but seemed to get only worse. Sometimes, 2 whole pages of back-and-forth banter are written with nothing to occasionally let you know who is speaking, so multiple readings may be needed at times to sort it out. I think almost all, if not all, of the pages have sentences with commas where none are needed, periods where commas are needed, clauses used as sentences, and a new paragraph starting from a clause that belongs in the previous sentence of the preceding paragraph. As I said, hard to read if you understand basic sentence structure. There are often times where I wish Lee had done one iota of research to get facts right. I refer to passages in the stories where it was apparent that Lee Child had no experience or knowledge; I guess, more or less, the writing is off the top of his head. Some problems are: 1: He thinks the flashing emergency lights of vehicles in the western states are the same as in much of the New England states (blue on fire trucks and red on police). 2: He didn’t know what the average shoe size in America is actually 10 ½ (stating it as 9) 3: He thinks a large man like Jack Reacher would have what Lee evidently thinks of as a large foot size of 11, instead of something closer to 14 or 15 (I am 6’1” and wear a 13.) I assume Lee has a small foot. 4: Lee has never been near a fast-moving train, thinking there is violent ground movement when the train is even over a mile away and hurricane force winds near one traveling 60 mph. 5: He seems to think that all gas stations and quick marts sell khaki pants and various shirts, packs of socks, and underwear. 6: Jack Reacher can knock anyone unconscious and very often dead with one punch. I can remember only a couple times when it took two. 7: He thinks face bones will “shatter” from a Jack Reacher punch and can knock out a gorilla or even an elephant. Jack also never has injuries to his hand or elbow from such amazing blows. 8: Jack Reacher’s hands are said to be as large as a dinner plate and his fists as large as Thanksgiving turkeys…really? Yes, his books are hard to read for these and other reasons caused by lack of oversight by his publisher and lack of staff. Please, I hope never to find out he has a staff that lets this stuff through. Good storyteller, other than the lack of research on details and no idea as to sentence/paragraph structure.. Rating would be five for the story.

What a guy, that drifter who travels light and never looks back. Jack Reacher's legions of fans are going to have a whole lot to like in "61 Hours," Lee Child's latest in the series (14 with number 15 due in October), which began in 1997 with "The Killing Floor," and has been burning up the best seller lists every since.His latest takes place in a one-horse town on the frozen Northern Plains in South Dakota amid a fierce winter blizzard. The thriller is as sharply etched as the crystals of frost on the parlor window of the Victorian mansion where much of the action unfolds.Reacher finds himself snowbound after a tour bus heading toward Mount Rushmore fishtails off the road outside the town of Bolton, S.D. The bus is carrying 20 elderly tourists from a Seattle church group, "cotton-headed women" and their "geezers" and one six-foot, five-inch super hero not from Seattle and "not handsome like a movie star, but not ugly either."There's a fierce blizzard on the way. The stranded tourists and Reacher are transported to the town for the duration. All the motels are full because Bolton is the site of super-max prison and the next day is visiting day. The elderly toursits are farmed out to town residents but no one wants to take in a solitary drifter who travels without a coat in the dead of winter.There is always a woman to parry and thrust with in the Jack Reacher adventurers. In "61 Hours" there are two and the most interesting of the them is schoolmarmish Janet Salter, 70-ish, who comes across as Aunt Bee doing a mind meld with Dr. Spock. Thanks to Salter, we learn a few new things about our action figure in addition to the fact that he's "the sort of guy to see things five seconds before the rest of the world."She asks Reacher about his preference for traveling light: "Is it a phobia? Or a philia? Or a consciously existential decision? Your disavowal of possessions is a little extreme. History tells us that asceticism has powerful attractions, but even so ascetics owned clothes, at least. Shirts, anyway, even if they were only made of hair." And for the final word on the matter, "You could afford to carry a small bag, I think. It wouldn't change who you are."Reacher ends up as Salter's houseguest. Salter, it turns out, is under the protection of the town police after witnessing a drug deal involving a nasty group of methamphetamine-dealing bikers who have taken over a long-abandoned Cold War-era military installation west of town.The extreme cold, the mysterious military installation, the just-opened correctional facility, the band of bikers are all part and parcel of the action and the requisite surprises that occur over the next 61 hours, zero minutes. Add to the countdown a very short but very treacherous and powerful Mexican drug lord named Plato and all the pieces are in place for pages of seat-of-the-pants storytelling.Although we get a pretty good idea of what it means to be stuck in blizzard, it is clear as crystalline lake ice that Child has not spent enough time in one of the Plains states burrowed in for the winter. "The Crown Vic's dash was showing the outside temperature at twelve degrees below zero. If he switched the engine off he might never get it started again. He had read a book set above the Arctic circle where you had to thaw the engine block with blowlamps." Twelve below? Heck, that's almost balmy as far as car starting goes. At twenty below we start to think about plugging in the engine block heater.The action at times takes on the frenzy and programmed feel of a video game. You also sense it is constructed using a finely tuned and well burnished formula that Child has worked out long ago. But no matter. Formulaic or not, Child is masterful and in top form in "61 Hours." This 14th Jack Reacher thriller succeeds in out pacing and in throwing out more twists and genuine surprises than any of the 13 before it.

I'm working my way through the Jack Reacher books in publication order. 61 hours is number 14 in the order. This means I have ploughed my way through about 50/60 hours perhaps more of the adventures of Jack.I feel therefore qualified to make a reasonable assessment of these books. And that assessment is everyone should have 'Jack Reacher' in their lives.He has helped me through 'lock down', taken me to impossible land, satisfied all outcomes wanted and given me all the mentioned hours of escapism and pleasure.Mr Child incorporates most of the requirements that I love into his prose and writing. Short chapters, fluent prose, not too many big words that no one else understands. The character he has created in 'jack' is so unbelievable that he is believable in his superhuman way, a kind of genius from Mr child.'Jack' in his 'Dirty Harry' way always gets the baddies.If you are thinking about getting into these books and my humble opinion is worth anything, go for it.

Lee Child has a basic formula and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. For those not familiar with Jack Reacher, then basically good guy meets bad guys(s) and kicks the **** out of them. 61 Hours is no different as plots go but Child's insight into how Reacher thinks through each scenario he finds himself in, never fails to draw me in. That's why i enjoy his books so much and keep coming back for more. I accept they won't be to everyones taste but worth a punt IMO.

I watched the film "Jack Reacher" before reading any of the books - Had it of been the other way round, I probably wouldn't have watched the film.I bought "Never Go Back" with "Killing Floor" at half price almost on a whim. I started with "Killing Floor" and am currently on "The Affair" having bought every one of the series and have pre ordered anything not yet in print.Why? I found that the character was so believable AND readable plus in each of the books I found Lee Child had inserted and described in such absorbing detail, small almost irrelevancies that were as good to read as the main storyline that they became, not just fillers as other authors insert, but real and very readable. I can't praise the series enough - each and every book has really brought back my love of reading - "Thank you", Lee Child - brilliant!!

Another classic probably I e of my favourites so far in the series. You feel like you know the characters, even start to feel cold with descriptions of the weather! Thought it took a while to work out who the bad Apple was but as always Jack got there in the end.

Certainly LC has responed to criticisms concerning Reacher's (maybe) unbelievable deductive powers. In this story he is human, and better for it. We are led to believe a cliquey small-town PD lets him have the run of the place. And we are spared his remarkable prowess with the ladies; after all, it's far too cold......Like many of you will have, I worked out the villain inside plus the secret of the building far too early - come on Lee, we aren't 'S*n Readers!'Massive errors - without revealing plot lines, we are first led to believe a Private Jumbo Jet can fly without a proper flight plan, with no official destination thousands of miles into USA airspace! Post-9/11....come on LC, we deserve better!And the subject building - incredible and almost impossible to construct as described. If it existed, it would puzzle more people than how the Ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids ever did.Aside from this, the usual page-turning prose which LC excels at, and we are left with a cliffhanger for the first time...'Authors licence' exceeded here quite frequently which is unusual for LC, but I feel we may well have a classic to follow this. I hope so anyway.