PAST TENSE

by Lee Child, Penguin Random House

Another day, another hitchhiking journey gone astray for Jack Reacher, who finds himself yet again being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The series is always reliable as a fast, good read and this one is no different – in fact, it’s one of the more memorable of the past few Reacher novels. This time, the small US town our hero finds himself in has ties to his upbringing, and we get to know his family side more. But the B-plot, of a couple trapped in an increasingly sinister motel in the middle of nowhere, is where the book shines. I have been put off in the past by the nasty violence in some of Lee Child’s books and while this one has a lot of gun violence, it’s far less torture-filled than previous novels. A ripping beach read.