61 Hours - Lee Child’s Jack Reacher Novel

Lee Child has been producing one novel a year with Jack Reacher as the protagonist. I believe I have read almost all of them. Like the others, this one was devoured in a minimum of time, a novel that is hard to put down. Child starts off with a staccato pace and continues it throughout the book. Unlike some books where there is a lull in action, Child continues his fast pace and holds the reader’s interest until the end.

For those who have never read a Jack Reacher story, he is a six foot five inch 240 pound nomad who doesn’t want roots or possessions. Travelling without a suitcase or other luggage, his modus operandi is to wear his clothes for three days, buy new ones and discard the old clothes. He figures that the approximate $10,000.00 annual cost is less expensive than owning a home and all the baggage it entails.

A retired Army Major who was in command of a special ops group, he is forced to call upon his contacts to help solve a mystery in a small town called Bolton. Not intending to go to Bolton, he was leisurely riding in a tour bus when it went off the road while avoiding an oncoming vehicle in heavy snow. Learning that the town is afraid of a nearby motorcycle gang camped on the outskirts of town, he delves into their habitation and the fear that they are producing hallucinatory drugs.

Working with the Bolton police department, he gives them the benefit of his years of military experience in deep secret work. While he can’t stop the onrush of assassinations, he does see it to a fiery conclusion and where the good guys win out!