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  • Past Tense

  • By: Lee Child
  • Narrated by: Jeff Harding
  • Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (3,262 ratings)
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Past Tense cover art

Past Tense

By: Lee Child
Narrated by: Jeff Harding
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Summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Past Tense by Lee Child. 

From number one best seller Lee Child, the thrilling new blockbuster featuring hero Jack Reacher.

Reacher, the eternal drifter, happens by chance on the small New Hampshire town he remembers his father was supposed to have come from. But when he starts looking for his dad's old home, he finds there's no record of anyone named Reacher ever having lived there.

©2018 Lee Child (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks

What listeners say about Past Tense

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Jack Goes Back to Basics!

In Past Tense Lee Child has reached back to the essence of some of the most classic Reacher stories. Jack drifting from anywhere to pretty much anywhere arriving in the middle of nowhere and trouble ensues. It's not so much if you're looking for trouble you've come to the right place as much as you've found the right guy. Here Reacher stumbles upon the birthplace of his father and of course a simple enquiry reveals a whole lot more and Reacher's robust application of his moral compass soon lands him in trouble. It's classic Reacher, Child's completely unforgettable character doing what he does best.

Jeff Harding to me is the voice of Reacher, gloriously gravelly tones that just crunch through Child's direct, simply structured prose. The now expected, almost slow-mo fight sequences broken down to almost fractions of seconds and the classic Reacher logical thought processes. For me at least Reacher doesn't need some huge international espionage setup etc, he just needs bad guys to fight. That said, if there is one weakness in the last few books it is that the bad guys aren't quite tough enough. I like Reacher beating up the bad guys but recently he's had it too easy. To quote the awful corporate world that I sadly exist in Child needs to set Reacher some stretch goals if he's to be the best vigilante he can be.

This is very much a stripped back to basics Reacher thriller with some interesting filling in of Reacher's back story and some clever mystery thrown in. More like this please, just beef up the bad guys a bit more!

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Reacher: Back at his best

Classic Reacher - no globe trotting just a wandering Jack Reacher seeking out trouble and bringing justice to those who cause it. Brilliant.

Jeff Harding - sublime as always. The quintessential voice of Reacher.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

His best to date?

I know I’m not the most unbiased judge as I love this series, but some are better than others. This one is better!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Back to his best work, I finished it in two days

The business, I finished it in two days, unmissable, I could not put it down. A great improvement on the past two novels

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Reacher's back!

He's back to being the right doing, hard hitting, ex MP, son of a marine that make us love him.
after the last book I was bourdering on boredom.
this one's a real page turner though.
I'm really glad he's back.....

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a good one

I have read all the Reacher books and this one is excellent up there with Bad luck and Trouble. Jeff Harding is his usual brilliant best. Thoroughly Recommended

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really great read

I do enjoy Reacher and Jeff harding is a perfect narrator. Reacher is brutal and compassionate in equal measure. Listened happily over 2 days.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

back to old skool Reacher

best Reacher for a while. narrated well as always


reminded me of some of the earlier ones

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Sub Par Reacher

New Reacher novel. I love Reacher. He's my hero. But...as they say, here's the thing. Lots of description. I mean, a lot. Plenty of dialogue. A lot. Plenty of action? No, not much. 24 chapters in, only two scuffles. Literary style - annoying. Reads like a sedated James Ellroy pastiche. Staccato. Telegrammatic prose style. Lots of short sentences. Dullsville. Literature for illiterates. I like Reacher in action, not inaction. End of chapter 24. 'Nothing much happened'. You don't say. The rest of the book? Chapter 37 is good and kick starts the much needed action sequences which are over quicker than an anonymous bad guy's life expectancy. By the way - Reacher as righter of wrongs and avenging angel has now become more of serial killer given the final body count so how on earth can he be morally acceptable and enjoyable? The guys become a psycho killing machine not a hero. Overall this is very disappointing, not so much phoned in as telegrammed. Must try harder.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Awful Narration.

I am a big Jack Reacher fan, having read all the previous books.
This is the first one I have listened to on Audible.
The plot is not the best, but I would still have enjoyed it had it not been for the narrator.
Simply dire narration. Monotone, peculiar inflection with the stress on the last word of each sentence, and a metronome like cadence.
Dreadful.

I found myself finishing the book as quickly as possible, to find out what happened, and why, without any real enjoyment.

I see that Jeff Harding has narrated all the Jack Reacher books, so obviously SOMEONE likes his style. Perhaps he is like Marmite. Not for me, sorry.

John Slattery is 100% better, in my humble opinion.

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4 people found this helpful