Lee Child Book Review: Past Tense

Past Tense by Lee Child
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wendy and I saw Child at an interview hosted by the NY Times Magazine at the Time Warner Center in 2009 (I think). We had just moved into the Upper West Side. We awoke very early on a Saturday and made our way to the Time-Warner Center for a 9 am start.

There are few authors for whom I would stand in line at an ungodly hour on a Saturday. This was especially true in NYC. By 9 am, the Dept of Sanitation hasn't hauled away the debris from a Friday night's revelry. The November morning was cold. Our line outside the Time Warner Center, then an unpleasant construction site, was not the garden spot of NYC--far from it. Several years later, I learned that Child also lived on the Upper West Side. I think we also took the occasional weekend morning meal at the same French place near 86th Street. So, we had at least that in common. :-)

I'm currently reading Past Tense, the most recent Jack Reacher novel. I've read all of the Reacher books, and I've come to view the character as an acquaintance. I'd prefer a friendship, but that's not Reacher's style. He can be unfailingly polite when circumstances warrant, although the context in which I usually find him seldom leads to polite behavior on the part of any of the supporting characters.<br /><br />Followers of Child's books know Reacher is a former military cop with a yo-yo tour of the Army's officer rank hierarchy. He certainly believes in law and order, although the means he can employ toward that end may not always represent the Army's idea of best practices. Effective? Yes. A role model for aspiring members of the (military) constabulary? Not always.

Reacher and I share one trait: We both over analyze, over think things. We do so because we believe in the old aphorism: Proper planning prevents poor performance. Obviously, his cerebral planning algorithms, and the life experience data lake on which they draw, are far superior to mine.

Did I mention that his pugilistic skills also outclass my own? How could they be otherwise? At age 68, I seldom find myself in the personal peril that is customary for Mr. Reacher. I go to the store for whatever, and I don't find a robbery, a mugging, or some other act of harassment or assault in-progress. Candidly, I don't always find what I set out to find at the store. So I often come away with less than intended. Reacher, however, always encounters more than he anticipated.

Even in my (much) younger days, a face-off with a rival was measured in the singular. To be fair, Reacher occasionally confronts a single foe. However, his more typical fight to the finish is a finish for his foes of whom two, three, four, and five is not uncommon. My foes looked like me. Which is to say they didn't look at all like Reacher. And they certainly didn't look like the ex-wrestler turned to fat and stubby arms in Past Tense. The outcome for me: A bloody nose. For Reacher's foes: Let's just say that Reacher is the best thing to ever happen for the community of Orthopaedic specialists.

We also walk a lot, Mr. Reacher and me. Here, too, we most often walk alone, but there the similarity ends. According to Mr. Childs, Reacher's shoes are substantial and in a size befitting someone who is just a tad over six and one-half feet tall. By contrast, mine are light, built for speed, and befitting a more modest five foot ten. Let me note: Being "built for speed" does not mean I walk at anything more than a brisk pace.

Reacher hitch hikes. I do not. I do not aspire to. To me, the interstate clover leafs and empty country roads at which Reacher looks for rides are best seen in a blur. Inside the car. Not standing outside in the elements calculating the odds of a generous lift. And calculate those odds he does. Were it me, I wouldn't be involved in a cerebral, probabilistic exercise. I'd be wondering, WTF?

Once in the thick of the plots devised by Child's, Reacher drives/rides to and fro--a lot. I do not enjoy spending that much time in an automobile. Then again, I wasn't a military cop--or any type of cop for that matter. Cops seem to spend a lot of their time in vehicles. Reacher is no exception. Further, the vehicles in which we find Reacher are not my taste. The dusty, beat-up Subaru in Past Tense not only sounds uncomfortable and unpleasant for a guy of his stature, but his choice of car companions is distinctly Reacheresque. They all have a rich back story and a challenging present. A very few are his former subordinates in the MPs. Those who are share his world view, analytics, and their procedural shortcuts produce unflattering annual performance reviews and military careers that seldom reach to the rank of Lt. Colonel or O-5. Major, or O-4, is as good as it gets. In fact, Reacher has an innate distrust of anyone in the MPs at the rank of O-5 and above. He suspects they performed unnatural acts to get there.

Now that I think of it, wanting to be Reacher's friend isn't a good idea for me. Even being his acquaintance takes me too close to the swirling vortex that is Lee Child's creation. He's like one of those traffic accidents I see all over Las Vegas.

God help me. I can't seem to look away.


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