While on his usual routine of traveling from town to town, Reacher stops at a small town because he remembers that his father had lived there at one time and he wanted to find out more about his history. Inadvertently, he discovers that 2 individuals traveling from Canada to NYC have been trapped in a "hotel" that is going to offer them off as "human victims" to hunters. He helps the individuals escape, and in the process, he finds out much more about his father's life. An excellent addition to the stories about Jack Reacher; for fans of the series and of thrillers in general.

Twenty-third in the Jack Reacher thriller series revolving around an ex-MP roaming the countryside, exploring what he spent so many years protecting.

This eARC was sent to me by NetGalley and Dell for an honest review.

My Take
It's so Reacher, recommending that hole in the rosewood closet...*laughing*

It surely is an interesting way to start a genealogy search, expecting that your relatives may have had federal warrants out on them. Then there's his lack of computer skills: He usually clicked that mouse twice, seemed to be as good as a double tap.

It's a complex story with Child using third person multiple points-of-view with three primary groups of characters: Reacher of course, Patty and Shorty, and the men running the motel. The minor POVs are the "anonymous" ones who take a complicated path to get to town with our following their individual trails coming in. Not to worry though, it's very easy to follow, even if it is a tricky one. I will say it's fascinating how Child weaves in all the different conflicts, making me wonder which new character and his vehicle went where, how he pulls Reacher in.

I'm also wondering why it is that anyone in the area would be so interested in keeping the men at the Motel informed...hmmm...

I was not liking Mark and company to start. I mean, what kind of innkeeper tries to humiliate a guest?? And yep, it just gets so much worse. Child did a bang-up job of ratcheting up the suspense with me dying to know what could possibly be the reason for Mark and co's actions. I knew it had be bad, but...what? As for the reasoning, er, I mean excuses they come up with...jesus. I gotta say, it's scary that there's a community of like-minded people out there. It makes sense, since there are a lot of sick people out there.

And Child continues to confuse. Wall Street was a better market? Consumer feedback? Word-of-mouth in chat rooms?

The primary conflict is Reacher's search for family — and doesn't that turn out unexpectedly — with secondary conflicts courtesy of the repeat of the beating seventy-five years ago, only this time, daddy has a harsher reach, and then there's the stew in which Patty and Shorty are cooking. And Patty reckons it's only fair since she does work in a saw mill, grave humor, that.

In the end, it boils down to a code: If you do a bad thing, he'd make sure you only did it once.

The Story
It was happenstance for both parties: Reacher saw that sign and remembered that his brother had always wanted to check out the family homestead, and Shorty and Patty, well, that Honda Civic had needed work.

Both parties found a refuge: Shorty and Patty got lucky when they saw that Motel sign, and Reacher got a room at a B&B. Not so lucky, since he needed to rescue a lady in distress which led to taking down the distresser. A connected one.

Well, the cops aren't interested in any drive-by shootings, and they're mighty eager to get Reacher out of town before those hitmen arrive.

All in all, it'll be an experience.

The Characters
Jack Reacher, a former major with the Army military police, decided to explore the America he had been protecting. Along the way, he fights wrongs and puts things right, keeping his dad's code in the forefront of his mind. The former Captain Joe Reacher had been the older brother. Stan Reacher had been Reacher's dad who married a Frenchwoman, Josephine.

Family legend has it that Reacher's dad left Laconia when he was seventeen to join the Marines. There's an ornithologist at the university who believes he's related and that Stan is still alive. It was Cousin Bill who introduced Stan to birdwatching. James, a tin mill foreman, and Elizabeth, a bed sheet finisher, Reacher would have been his grandparents. Mark Reacher could be Reacher's nephew. Reacher's great-great-grandfather was one of seven brothers.

Shorty Fleck, a potato farmer, is with Patty Sundstrom, a sawmill worker; both born and raised in Saint Leonard, New Brunswick in Canada, heading for New York City to sell a treasure and start some water-related business in Florida.

The Motel is...
...in Saint Leonard and supposedly undergoing refurbishment to re-open later in the year. Mark is working the desk and his partners: Robert, Steven, and Peter. A passive-aggressive bunch who can't quite hold onto their mask.

Karel is from Macedonia and is a car mechanic and tow truck driver. He's good, and I don't mean in a good way.

Laconia, New Hampshire
Elizabeth Castle is with the city records office. Carter Carrington is a census geek and the town attorney. Jim Shaw, the chief of detectives, and Detective Brenda Amos, another former army MP, are happy to help. Patrolman Davison and Officer Davenport could be the same guy.

Happens all the time, there's another twenty-year-old loud mouth bully who got beaten up whose daddy is also rich, from laundering money.

Bruce Jones is a cautious guy. A former teacher, the Reverend Patrick G Burke, had a lot to say about tin pollution. Then there's that fraudulent apple farmer with too much pride. Mr Mortimer remembers Ryantown, remembers the Reachers. From what he remembers, I can understand why Stan took off.

Some 75 years ago...
...the local loudmouth bully son of the local rich guy was found beaten up and unconscious. Marcus Ryan had owned a tin mill and built accommodations for the workers, called the place Ryanton.

The Cover and Title
The cover has a solid royal blue background with a woodcut-style graphic of an exploding star above a long low building behind a rail fence. To the left is a red neon sign reading "Motel" with thin rays of red shooting out from behind and in front of the sign. The test is all outlined in red with the top info blurb, the series information and the title in white and the author's name in yellow split between the series name.

The title is where Reacher sees that genealogy. It's Past Tense for him.

Love Jack Reacher mysteries. Always fast moving, well written, and keep you up late finishing Lee Child's suspenseful endings.

They say you can never go home again. For Jack Reacher, it wasn't going home again, but a detour to visit the town where his father said he had been raised.

In the search for info on his father and where he'd been raised, he angers folks as he is want to do and he finds himself involved in search for who he is.

At the same time another mystery is developing, and as you read the book you are asking how exactly Reacher is going to get involved.

It's another fantastic Reacher read. I love the way Reacher's mind works mathematically and logically.

Another terrific outing for Jack Reacher, who never goes looking for trouble but always finds it= and solves it. This time a random choice to explore his father's past leads him to a complicated and intriguing mystery. At the same time, Shorty and Patty, two young and naive Canadians on their way to New York to sell a treasure, find themselves marooned at a creepy motel on the outskirts of the same small New Hampshire town. You know these three are going to come together but how? And what's in the suitcase? (You'll wait for that answer!). There are some great characters here, including Reacher's police contact Amos, the town attorney Carrington, his new buddy who drives him around, and so on but the best of all are the main three. Don't sell either Shorty or Patty short. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is a fast, highly entertaining read. If you've not read the series before, feel free to start here. You're in for a good time.

Another great book in the Reacher series. I'm continually impressed that Lee Child continues to find interesting and dynamic new stories to tell. Fast paced and excellent as usual.

If you haven’t read Lee Child,s Jack Reacher series, you are really missing an outstanding character and outstanding suspense. In Past Tense, Jack is back - this time derailing is travels to explore his family history. As usual, he finds trouble. Jack Reacher is an exciting yet down to earth character with a strong sense of morality. Past Tense was impossible to put down (I had to find out what was happening next) and now I’m waiting for Lee Child’s next masterpiece.

I admit I haven't read ALL of the Reacher books but I have read quite a few and I do believe this is one of the best.

In this outing, ex-MP Reacher decides to travel from Maine to San Diego and starts hitching a ride. When he reaches New Hampshire, he sees a sign for Laconia which triggers a memory and an interest in digging up some family history.

As only Reacher can, he makes friends and enemies quickly and is soon embroiled in some nasty business (which makes for some very exciting reading.)

In a side story, a young couple traveling from Canada have car trouble and end up spending the night in a remote motel. No, it's not the Bates Motel but I swear you can hear the scary music....

Both threads come together nicely at the suspenseful and satisfying conclusion. If you enjoy an action-packed thriller, this one is for you. I believe it can be read as a standalone if you haven't been reading the series. But I can also highly recommend the series, not only for the great action but for its strong, intelligent, well-fleshed-out characters. Reacher lives by his own rules, it's true, but he has a strong sense of right and wrong, justice and fairness. You'd definitely want him by your side in any fight!

I received an arc from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. Many thanks!

This is my first experience reading a book written by Lee Childs. I will start by admitting that I am not a fan of action thrillers. That said I will say that keeping that in mind, for an action thriller, this book was really really good! I personally feel Reacher is a bit too much untouchable to be realistic, but I have to admit it was fun reading the fighting scenes even for me. I love psychological thrillers where the reader gets messed with there heads and I feel there was a bit of that as well with the hotel visitors, I kept wondering, what is the game plan there? So although I don't usually read this genre of book, I will say I do think I have found a new author I will be reading again. Thumbs up for Past Tense!

I really enjoyed this story. There is mystery surrounding Jack's family. As he is traveling, he comes across a town in New Hampshire. He realizes it is the town where his father was born. Or is it? Now Jack isn't sure. There is a couple traveling through New Hampshire from Canada and they have car trouble. There is an out of the way motel, so they stop to get help. Everything seems normal, but it isn't. Why are they being detained? And the big suitcase they are toting around, what is in it? So many things going on. Good story.

This is book 23 in the Jack Reacher series, but don’t let that scare you away. This book works well as a standalone, and you won’t feel as if you were left in the dark at any point. I can honestly say that because I have not read the other 22 books.

The author pulled me into this story from the first page. The characters are well described, and the author even adds those little touches that truly bring them to life. In this story, Jack leaves Maine to travel to California for the winter. Along the way, he notices that he can easily take a trip through Laconia, where his father grew up and find out more about his dad’s past. In the process, he gets involved in more than he bargained for, and at times it looked like he would not make it out of the area alive. There is also a secondary story in the book that has quite a hook: a young couple, with car trouble, ends up being held captive in a motel they stopped at with no way of knowing why. I was reading every opportunity I had, wondering how it would all turn out.

The author, Lee Child, has an intriguing way of detailing the fight scenes: he gives a moment-by-moment look at what Jack is thinking as he comes up with a strategy of how to deal with the other person’s moves. Throughout the book, these thought processes come into play on other occasions.

One thing I really appreciated about this book is that the author wrote this book for an already popular series and didn’t feel the need to weigh it down with curse words. We need more books like this!

More edge-of-your seat action from Lee Child. Jack Reacher once again finds himself in the middle of a strange situation. True to form, Reacher once again manages to find trouble when he sets out to help others.

A young couple, having car issues, finds themselves stranded at a rather strange motel in the middle of nowhere and there are some suspicious things happening. In the meantime Jack Reacher is walking/hitch-hiking his way across the country from Maine to California when he becomes side-tracked in Laconia, New Hampshire where his father was born. Reacher decides to spend some time researching his roots. During his stay his antenna perks up and he starts tracking some suspicious occurrences.

This is a gripping, fast-paced book and if you like Jack Reacher you will certainly enjoy the story. You can, of course, read it as a stand-alone even if you haven't read any others in the series. It will be quite easy to follow. The writing is direct without a lot of unnecessary embellishment - kind of rugged like the character (and this is not a criticism; it really enhances the story). I look forward to another Jack Reacher adventure soon.

Thanks to Lee Child and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through Netgalley for an advance copy.

The book was ok. I am a huge fan of Jack Reacher but this book left me just bored. There were a few plots going on and one of them was Jacks father and trying to find his heritage. The book made me loose my attention on most of the pages as there was no connection between any of the characters. It felt like a cross between the mafia, the movie jeepers creepers and the find my family thing they do on discovery. It was a ok book and I look forward to the next book.

Received this book as an ARC for my honest review.

I’m not an avid Jack Reacher reader, having only read the first in the entire series, but I knew I would enjoy this one anyway. I love that I can pick up a novel anywhere in the series and still feel like I know what’s going on.

In this novel, there are two stories going on that eet up in the end: Reacher is researching his father, and Patty and Shorty are locked up in a hotel, waiting to see what will happen to them.

Both parts of the story were well written and very intriguing, and I enjoyed reading each as they developed. The situation at the hotel was especially interesting to me, and Reacher is such a badass in everything he does.

I definitely enjoyed this one!

A good mystery to escape the everyday life. We all the movie about Jack Reacher this was a good change of pace. when Jack decide to stop at the town where his father was born how much can happen during one day? If you are Reacher a lot.

Wow, another awesome Jack Reacher book and it's a good one! It's past and it's tense. These are two separate and parallel stories, and you wonder, when or will they connect? They do! Great book, I will definitely recommend, can't wait for the next Jack Reacher ride! #pasttense #leechild #netgalley

Huge fan of the “Reacher” series. I enjoyed this particular story. It was personal, thrilling, historical a great read all around.

Reacher is planning his next route and decides to take a turn, bringing him to the hometown where his father had once lived. There, much is revealed about his family’s past. And, the side story taking place is also rather intense.

This story kept me intrigued, never wanting to put it down. I suggest you add this one to your TBR pile!

Another day in the life of Jack Reacher. He stumbles into dark practices as he finds himself in a place to explore some of his family history. Reacher fans will enjoy it--no surprises here. Jack has to bring his game to beat the bad guys. Secondary characters step up and do their part. Lots of bodies on the ground as the bad guys get what's coming to them. Jack prevails, then goes on his way with his tooth brush in his pocket.

I'm a bit prejudiced in favor of Lee Child's books, having read and liked them all to varying degrees. This one is near the top of the heap. There are two distinct story lines, and you'll have no idea how they connect until more than halfway through the book. I love a plot that keeps me guessing and this one did. In the end, the answers weren't all that startling, but I didn't figure it out and that's what matters.

We also get a little more background on Reacher's family, of which there's been precious little in all the books Child has written. Those answers aren't revealed until late in the novel. And even when we have all the answers, or as many as we're going to get, a hint is dropped that we might find out still more in a future book.

All in all, a terrific read. Well worth your money AND your time. Get it.

*ARC via netgalley.com*

Intriguing story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Unusual characters that will be intriguing to figure out. Reacher always comes to the rescue.