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Adam's Reviews > 61 Hours
61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14)
by Lee Child
by Lee Child
Adam's review
bookshelves: action-adventure, mystery
Mar 12, 11
bookshelves: action-adventure, mystery
Read from February 27 to March 12, 2011
After reading 61 Hours, I'm left with one burning question. Does Jack Reacher ever brush his teeth?
Lee Child goes into a lot of detail about how his hulking protagonist drifts around the United States with literally no possessions -- not even a backpack -- and how he buys a new set of clothes every week and throws away the old set. But does he ever brush his teeth? Does he bathe? Does he shave? If he doesn't shave, does he have a beard? He's not described with one.
If Child were more vague about Reacher's life on the road, I'd never even consider these things, but he goes into such detail about Reacher's clothing-buying habits that he creates a whole new set of questions.
He goes into detail about a lot of things. Sometimes he's almost like someone with Asperger's Syndrome. He describes tire ruts in snowy, icy roads so often in this novel that it's nearly fetishistic.
61 Hours has a built-in stopwatch. As Jack Reacher attempts to protect the life of an elderly woman who is to testify against a drug gang, everything leads toward some nebulous event that is going to occur 61 hours after a bus crash lands him in the small town of Bolton, South Dakota, in the middle of subzero weather and a snowstorm. Many chapters end with the line, "Five minutes to xx in the morning. Xx hours to go."
61 Hours starts out strong, but nearly three days is a long time to keep your audience engaged, and too much of the middle three-fifths of this book feels like padding.
The last 50 pages are pretty good, but not spectacular. Jack Reacher is a two-dimensional good guy facing a one-dimensional bad guy, so this book never involved me enough to feel as if I couldn't wait to finish it.
I like a lot of Child's attitude and his way with a thriller, but so far for me his series hasn't met the expectations set by all the raves from his rabid fans.
Lee Child goes into a lot of detail about how his hulking protagonist drifts around the United States with literally no possessions -- not even a backpack -- and how he buys a new set of clothes every week and throws away the old set. But does he ever brush his teeth? Does he bathe? Does he shave? If he doesn't shave, does he have a beard? He's not described with one.
If Child were more vague about Reacher's life on the road, I'd never even consider these things, but he goes into such detail about Reacher's clothing-buying habits that he creates a whole new set of questions.
He goes into detail about a lot of things. Sometimes he's almost like someone with Asperger's Syndrome. He describes tire ruts in snowy, icy roads so often in this novel that it's nearly fetishistic.
61 Hours has a built-in stopwatch. As Jack Reacher attempts to protect the life of an elderly woman who is to testify against a drug gang, everything leads toward some nebulous event that is going to occur 61 hours after a bus crash lands him in the small town of Bolton, South Dakota, in the middle of subzero weather and a snowstorm. Many chapters end with the line, "Five minutes to xx in the morning. Xx hours to go."
61 Hours starts out strong, but nearly three days is a long time to keep your audience engaged, and too much of the middle three-fifths of this book feels like padding.
The last 50 pages are pretty good, but not spectacular. Jack Reacher is a two-dimensional good guy facing a one-dimensional bad guy, so this book never involved me enough to feel as if I couldn't wait to finish it.
I like a lot of Child's attitude and his way with a thriller, but so far for me his series hasn't met the expectations set by all the raves from his rabid fans.
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Reading Progress
| 03/03/2011 | page 168 |
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Kemper
(new)
Feb 27, 2011 11:24am
Have you read any others of these? I read the first one Killing Floor and absolutely hated it. But I've been told that the series improved after that so I've been debating about whether to give them another try.
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Oy...Kemper, I've developed a real love/hate relationship with Jack Reacher after reading the first three novels in the series.
I like the Reacher character, and -- in general -- I think the series is good.
However, the writing was always a problem for me. Everything was overexplained and the redundancies were out of control.
So far, though, 61 Hours has been awesome. Lee Child dedicated this book to his editor, and it has really been free of all the annoying tics that bugged me in his first three Reacher novels.
Kate Miciak. That's his editor. He dedicated the book to her. I've got nothing to complain about so far.
Great thriller...
Could I just jump to 61 Hours without reading any of the others? Or should they be read in order? Other friends have rated this highly, and I'm curious. But I keep flashbacking to Killing Floor. Ugh..
Kemper, there's no reason to read these in order. Jack Reacher is a drifter who has no attachments. I jumped from Tripwire (which I disliked more than Killing Floor) to this one, since I'd heard good things about it, and nothing seems to have changed in Reacher's life, even though I've skipped over ten books in the series.I think Lee Child gets a concept for a thriller and then throws Reacher into the mix, not the other way around. They have about as much continuity as Sergio Leone's "The Man With No Name" trilogy. I really don't think it matters what order you read them in.
Thanks. I may have to give 61 Hours a try, just to see if I'm all upside down on this Lee Child thing.
This is my second Reacher novel and I've had the same questions! How does he gain the trust of the sheriff if he smells so bad? Does he break into hotels to take a shower? His clothes must get a lot of bloodstains and rips it doesn't seem like there's a Walmart in Bolton.
I agree, some times I have to wonder how Reacher gets bye on a day to day basis. Questins like hygiene and toiletries are never actually asked or answered, instead they are simply implied.
Except he never uses it. The way some chapters are described their would be no chance of him being able to use it.
You guys are cracking me up. I love this series, even acknowledging all your criticisms. Not sure why. But let me see what I can answer for you. He doesn't usually have a beard. He likes small-town barbershops. His only possession is a toothbrush, and funny enough, this is the first book in the series that didn't bring that up. He buys a new outfit every week or so, and only spends real money on shoes. He showers quite a bit actually, again, this is the first novel in a while where he didn't really have the opportunity.
I can see where you would perceive Reacher as 2-dimensional, especially if you've only read a couple of the novels, and particularly if you haven't read them in order. In this regard, you really need to read the meat of the series, meaning 5-10. You meet old military buddies in several of them. A prequel has you meeting his brother and mother.
I remember not loving Killing Floor, but continued reading because...I have no idea why. Finally got hooked around #4 or so. But why should you have to read four novels to get hooked on a character?
I am especially laughing at your opinion that you don't really have to read them in order, when you haven't, so how would you know? There is nuance to his thought-processes and attitudes that you are missing because you've skipped stories. Have either of you tried Noah Boyd's Bricklayer?
Heather, I read Killing Floor and I'm pretty sure he never mentioned his folding toothbrush. Ditto for Tripwire, although that was the book where I found out about how he buys new clothes at the Gap every week or two and doesn't shower every day but when he does get a chance to shower he showers for nine hours, then shaves, and showers for another five hours after the shave and then moisturizes for approximately two days nonstop. Or something.I think it was in Gone Tomorrow that I finally read about his folding toothbrush, so that was cool.
I usually read series in order (or try to) but I have a friend who was into Reacher so we'd trade books back and forth. I read Killing Floor first, but then jumped around in the series.
So ... who else is looking forward to the movie with Tom Cruise?
Ha! Just kidding.
Bet your not minding so much when there's a chick in that shower with him for five hours...I REFUSE to watch Tom Cruise muck up my mental image of Jack Reacher! Why would I pay $9 to watch a midget of a man brush his his teeth and shop at the Gap for pants?
Carrying a tooth brush in his pocket is often mentioned. Brushing his teeth is mentioned. Underware is never mentioned either when buying clothes or changing after a rare shower. Does he even wear underwear?
