’61 hours’ by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #15)****

Reading dates: 04 October – 01 November 2020

I have such short concentration these days, with my early mornings, my writing (we are nearing the end of chapter 2 of the hysteria book), my teaching load … I can only read crime fiction in bed, and only novels with short chapters.

This is the almost perfect thriller although the cold landscape did put me off, as we are going into winter. The snow in the North Dakotan town is so vividly described I needed my hot water bottle when reading it. The beginning scene with the bus accident is one of my favourites I have read, showing Reacher’s character and resourcefulness, while also teaching the reader what to do in these situations. It is a good Reacher novel, one of the best I have read, solid plot and no boring padding, but the ending lets it down a bit, as it is basically a climax with a ‘to be continued’. We’ll see if the next book resolves it, but something tells me that will not happen.