61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14) by Lee Child

61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14) Reviews

• 
  Ahmad Sharabiani

  61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14), Lee Child
  
  61 Hours is the fourteenth book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. It is written in the third person, and first published on 18 March 2010.
  
  Set in the town of Bolton, South Dakota, Reacher begins his latest adventure on a wrecked senior citizen tour bus after a near-miss with another motorist leaves the bus spinning on the icy road and trapped in a snowy bank. Immersed in a frozen landscape, Reacher works with local law enforcement to help the fragile victims. ...
  
  تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و چهارم ماه ژانویه سال2017میلادی
  
  عنوان: 61 ساعت (شصت و یک ساعت)؛ نویسنده: لی چایلد؛ مترجم: محمد عباس آبادی؛ تهران، کتابسرای تندیس، سال1396، در519ص؛ شابک9786001823176؛ فروست: سری جک ریچر، کتاب14؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده21م
  
  چهاردهمین کتاب از: سری «جک ریچر»، به قلم: «لی چایلد» با عنوان: «61 ساعت»، که برای نخستین بار در سال2010میلادی منتشر شده است؛
  
  داستان، در شهری سرد، و پوشیده از برف، به نام «بولتون»، در «داکوتای جنوبی» می‌گذرد، و با تصادف یک اتوبوس توریستی، که از قضا «ریچر» هم، از مسافران آن است، آغاز می‌شود؛ «ریچر»، پس از ورود به شهر، درمییابد یک باند مواد مخدر، در صدد از بین بردن «جانت سالتر» است، چون او شاهد یکی از معاملات آن باند بوده است؛ «جانت سالتر»، برای اینکه زنده بماند، تا شهادت دهد، به یاری نیاز دارد، چرا که قاتلی، در راه «بولتون» است؛ قاتلی کار‌ کشته، که تیرش خطا نمی‌رود، و در پی قتل «جانت» است؛ «ریچر»، نخست میاندیشد، که به راه خویش ادامه دهد، و شهر را ترک کند، اما «61 ساعت» بعدی، همه چیز را تغییر می‌دهد؛ او با رازهای مرگبار، و دشمنانی خطرناک‌تر از آنچه حدس می‌زند، مواجه است...؛
  
  تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 24/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 12/12/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
• 
  Jeanette (Ms. Feisty)

  I'm going with 3.5 stars on this one. There's only one reason I can't nudge it up to 4 stars, which I'll explain at the end of the review (with plenty of advance warning.)
  
  Jack Reacher novels fall into two categories. One is the big city, ABO, non-stop action, heavy violence thriller such as Gone Tomorrow. The other is the small town, slower-paced, watching and waiting type---more mystery than thriller. 61 Hours is in the second category, although it does get pretty exciting later on. I'm cool with both kinds, but the adrenaline junkies probably prefer the action-packed ones.
  
  A bus accident leaves Jack stranded in the fictional town of Bolton, South Dakota in the dead of winter. Brrrrrr! Cold and getting colder. Snow and ice and wind...and more snow. And of course, the town has problems only Jack can fix. Murders in town, a mysterious abandoned military site a few miles away, a biker in the local prison, and a midget called Plato down in Mexico all combine to give Reacher's solving skills a workout.
  
  Less action, but a lot of fun stuff here. I loved the interaction between Jack and the voice on the phone in Washington. Also the discovery of the original purpose behind the military site. Very cool and creepy. And there's a new angle on the old drug running plot element which caught me off guard and then made me laugh at the end with its final effects on the town. We also get to learn a little more about Jack's childhood, thanks to a certain snooper.
  
  This concludes the spoiler-free portion of my review.
  
  ***********WARNING! STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!**************
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  SPOILERS COMING.....
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The inconclusive ending was frustrating and unsatisfying, so I can't go up to four stars. I don't mind not knowing everything, but we should at least get to find out how Jack escaped from the explosion and see him exiting town with another successful problem taken care of. The last we see of him, he's trying to get out before the flare hits the fuel, and we're left hanging until October. No fair! I think Child made a tactical error with this ending, but I guess now it's all about selling more books more often.
  
  
• 
  Anish Kohli

  He called out, ‘Do you think you can beat me?’
  Reacher called back, ‘Do you think bears shit in the woods?’

  Want a straight forward read? Small crisp sentences? Great details? Some ass kicking? Deadpan humor? Riveting storyline and yet easy to put down? A book to work as a filler before you pick the next big series or a tome? Or a book that won’t require the complete attention of your faculties? A kickass lead? Cold hard calculations? Things going boom?
  
  Well, look no further! Lee Child is here to serve all of these needs thorough Jack Reacher, an ex-military police veteran, who lives the life of a hermit. Why, you ask? Freedom, Bitch!

  “He had said what needed to be said, and he hadn’t cared who he said it to. He had done what needed to be done, and he hadn’t cared who he did it to.”

  Its book #14 and I think we’re way past the point of explaining things in depth. If you have even a small thing for Reacher books, you’ll end up really liking this one! I have stuck around with this series for quite a while now and this book has to be one of the best in the series for me personally.
  
  Jack Reacher books come in varieties. They can be first person POV or third person POV. They can be completely action packed or slow burns with more of a head scratching element. Variety!
  This book is 3rd person POV and more of a head scratching one. But still pretty straight forward and there is a big BOOM towards the end!
  Reacher, as is the norm, finds himself in trouble for no reason and we all know he isn’t one to back down. Stuck in the town of Bolton (Ramsey?) by accident, figuratively and literally. He now must solve the curious case that Bolton PD have going on bcz well, that’s what Reacher does. He is the Judge, Jury and Executioner right after he is done playing the Investigator, Evidence Analyst, Defense Analyst, Firearms Expert, Threats Analyst, Security Advisor, a Courtroom and pretty much everything else! He is a Dog with a Bone! Dog on a scent and he won’t stop till he’s done. He’s got his own rules. He’s got his own standards and his own measure of things.
  
  
  No he isn’t. At best, he is an obsessing asshole who can’t let things go. I think Reacher is the closest thing I have read to what you can call an Anti-Hero. He doesn’t qualify, I think, but he gets close! Real close.
  
  The highlight of this book, for me, are two things:
  1. Even if for a moment, Reacher is sulky and low. Almost beaten. Something he rectifies and gets going again but that makes his character better. Not a tough guy through and through. A guy who plays tough. Sounds better.
  
  2. I think for the first time in this series, Lee Child has ended a book on a cliffhanger! All his books are self-contained but this time, seems like the author is in a mind of shaking things up. And all though it isn’t much of a cliffhanger but it is still there and that’s good. Now I guess I will be reading the next one sooner than I thought.
  
  I ended up dragging this book for months due to other more immersive reads and obviously due to all the ass-kicking real life doled out to me but this is actually a quick read despite the number of pages. Most people find or think Reacher books are slow and repetitive. I think that’s what actually makes them good and true to the character of Jack Reacher. He is a sloth until he actually has a reason to expend his energy. He is calculative and analyzing till he needs to act on it.
  
  This series, for me, is like a guilty read. I always resort to a Reacher book in times of despair and times when I feel like I might hit a slump. They keep me reading but never really ask for all my attention. And they always make me smile bcz it’s always amazing to see how much of an ass Reacher can be!
  
  So go on, try him out and you might like him. But take a piece of advice, you do not mess with Reacher. Ever! Period!
  
  PS: Casting Tom Cruise as Reacher? Dean knows how I feel!
  
• 
  Alp

  4.25 stars
  
  Another unputdownable read by Lee Child.
  
  As usual, this one didn't disappoint. I liked how suspenseful and gripping the story was. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this installment, the real page-turner, from start to finish.
  
  My only minor complaint is that the action scene near the end of the book lacked a bit of excitement and intensity. I was just expecting something a little more action-packed and heart-pounding.
  
  Nevertheless, it was a good and engaging read with a clever plot. If you’re a crime-mystery/thriller/suspense fan, then you shouldn’t miss out on this series.
  
  
  **This book can be read as a standalone.
• 
  James Thane

  Busses always seem to be dropping Jack Reacher off in the oddest of places where, inevitably, trouble is brewing.
  
  In this case, Jack has hitched a ride on a tour bus filled with elderly folks who, for whatever insane reason, have decided to visit scenic South Dakota in the middle of winter. The bus hits an icy patch and skids off the road leaving Jack and the other passengers stranded out in the middle of nowhere in Bolton, South Dakota, a tiny town with huge problems.
  
  A pint-sized Mexican drug lord has created a meth lab on an abandoned federal installation just outside of town. The outlaw bikers who run the lab are generally on their best behavior while in town and have given the local cops no reason to roust them. But just before Reacher arrives in town, one of the bikers is caught selling meth to a dealer from Chicago. An elderly woman witnesses the sale and the biker is arrested. The woman is determined to do her civic duty and testify against the biker, irrespective of the danger to herself.
  
  The local police know that the drug cartel has dispatched a killer to eliminate the witness so that their operation will not be endangered. But the Bolton P.D. is not really up to the task of taking on a wily drug lord and his biker henchmen and the situation is looking grim. Enter Jack Reacher.
  
  Jack will spend the next 61 hours attempting to do what he does best--outsmarting nasty villains while protecting helpless but civic-minded librarians. This is a book that moves at a somewhat slower pace than many other Reacher novels, but there are some very interesting characters, some plot twists that you don't expect, and as always, it's fun to watch Reacher in action. The action slowly builds to a great climax that will reward careful reading.
• 
  Scott

  "Relax - I'm not going to shoot myself. It's not my style. I'm just going to sit here until my head explodes." -- a glum Jack Reacher, on the phone w/ military criminal investigator Susan Turner, on page 320
  
  61 Hours - fourteenth in the long-running string of Jack Reacher action/adventure novels - is, just in my opinion, one of the better installments (up there with Gone Tomorrow and Bad Luck and Trouble) in the sturdy series. Why? Because things really spiral downward and become difficult for Reacher in the third act, with two upsetting deaths (the one was somewhat anticipated, but the other was a little surprising) of some solid and likable supporting characters, which briefly sends our protagonist into some understandable and all-too-human existential despair. Fortunately, he's able to shake it off and continue fighting the good fight as always. In his latest sojourn across the continental U.S., Reacher is temporarily stranded in a small community in rural South Dakota after a bus crash in the harsh winter weather. He is soon assisting the local police department when a mounting criminal conspiracy - involving the wonderfully odd mix of the county's prison system, an old / abandoned military installation, and a vengeful South American drug lord - threatens to cause some severe and fatal problems. Is Reacher up to the task? Of course he is . . . and it ends with a cliff-hanger!!!
• 
  J.D.

  I had to laugh. Those of us in the thriller game talk about building suspense with the "ticking clock": a hard deadline that the characters are up against. If they don't make it, all is lost. So what does Lee Child do? He imbeds an almost literal ticking clock in every chapter, ending each one with the reminder that there are "X hours to go." It's such an obvious device that it's like the magician showing you how the trick is done, but it still works-- you still gasp and chuckle with delight as you see the trick pulled off.
  
  The secret hidden beneath the snowbound wastes near Bolton, South Dakota, is one that a very scary villain is willing to kill for (or, if necessary, torture, mutilate, cripple, then kill for). Reacher's immediate problem, however, is keeping a flinty old lady alive after she witnesses a drug deal that implicates the minions of said nasty villain. More I will not reveal, except to make one observation: you do NOT want to make Jack Reacher mad. Ever.
  
  
• 
  Paula K (on hiatus)

  Terrific. Love all the Reacher books.
• 
  Rob

  Book 14 in the Jack Reacher series.
  
  This starts as a really slow burn that culminates in an inferno of volcanic proportions.
  
  After a bus accident, which Jack is travelling on, in the middle of nowhere, well not nowhere, Bolton South Dakota to be exact, in the middle of a wind blasted freezing winter, an accident that renders the bus inoperable Jack finds himself the unwitting guest of Bolton’s Assistant Chief of Police. It soon becomes apparent that all is not well in Bolton. A biker clan has taken up residence on the periphery of Bolton and their current business endeavour is the production of methamphetamine. This, as you can imagine, is cause for a great deal of friction between the locals and the biker gang.
  
  To make matters worse a local stalwart witnessed something that will get her killed. The local police are hard pressed to give the witness around the clock protection. So Jack being Jack he puts his hand up to protect the witness, a dear old lady called Janet Salter.
  
  Add to the mix a psychopathic Mexican drug Lord who is orchestrating the death of certain Bolton denizens from a thousand miles away.
  
  This story took awhile to really get going but once it does ‘kaboom’
  
  For me the only downside in the story was that from early in the story the local villain was just a bit too obvious.
  
  But for all that another terrific read from Lee Child.
  
  A recommended 4 star read.
  
• 
  J.D. Barker

  I've been reading them out of order but I gotta admit, I can't get enough of these Jack Reacher novels. The writing is tight, the plots are great, and pacing is dead on. Lee, if I send you a case of energy drinks and a lifetime supply of cigarettes, any chance you can kick it up to two novels a year?
• 
  Adam

  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.
• 
  K.J. Charles

  Went away for the weekend with a stack of books to read so obviously I plucked a Jack Reacher off the holiday-home bookshelf instead. As ever, enormously readable and very competently done though I really noticed a lot of authorial sleight of hand in this one (the countdown, which is very tension inducing but entirely author-led rather than plot-dependent, and the totally implausible set-up that conveniently gets rid of the police, which the author knows so well is a total cheat that he's got like four conversations about how it's totally definitely a situation that would reasonably occur.) Also loving the description of Reacher's hands as being the size of supermarket chickens, just picture that in your head a moment.
• 
  Amy

  I was bitterly disappointed in this book. Bitter, because I am a huge Jack Reacher fan and have never been as disappointed in one of his books as I was in this one.
  
  First, the setting. I found the cold interesting at first, because I've never been in such extreme cold before... until I realized that the author was going to go on, and on, and on about it. Each minute Reacher was colder than the previous minute. And we knew this because we were told it in almost every paragraph. Every description was the same. White. Snow. Cold. Some ice thrown in for fun. Very dull.
  
  Second, the action. Or lack thereof. Usually Reacher books are full of non-stop action, and fans of the series come to expect it. I know I do. Seeing how Reacher reacts in crazy circumstances is part of the fun of reading his books. 61 Hours, in that regard, was like watching paint dry. Nothing happened. Lots of talk, but no action. By the time you find a little bit of action in the very last pages of the book, it's too little & too late.
  
  Third, the plot. Could there have been a more dull, plodding plot? Usually Jack Reacher books are full of twists and turns. You think you know what's going to happen, then something else happens and you realize you were way off - usually this happens at least 4 or 5 times in one Reacher book. Not so with this one. I guessed "whodunit" in the first 1/4 of the book and ended up being right. I can't remember this ever happening in another Reacher book. Therefore, I found the rest of the book slow and frustrating as I waited for Reacher to figure it out too. Another note about the plot - I found the whole time thing very annoying. We're told multiple times in each chapter how many hours/minutes were left in the countdown (as the title suggests, it started with 61 hours).
  
  Fourth, the ending. I won't divulge anything or spoil anything for someone wanting to read this book... I will merely say that when I closed the book I was disgusted. Mostly disgusted at myself for wasting my time reading this book.
  
  I never thought I'd be writing such a harsh review of a book in one of my favorite series.
• 
  Mandy

  (Disclaimer: This review is written by someone who is a huge Lee Child/Jack Reacher fan. I will try and not let the bias creep in too much. Having said that, this book did not disappoint and I dare you to read it and find otherwise.)
  
  The clock is ticking....61 hours….enough time for Reacher to become fully embroiled in another action-packed adventure….you betcha!
  
  61 Hours is Lee Child’s latest book, the 14th for the Jack Reacher series. Reacher is an ex-military police officer who doesn’t really call anywhere home; carries very little, even opting to buy his clothes on a need-to-buy basis whilst discarding his old clothes; carries a toothbrush and passport and if possible nothing else; is strong, powerful and has quite an intelligent mind. Reacher is a man who can fix problems, more often than not, problems that don’t have anything to do with him…until he gets involved.
  
  The latest setting Reacher finds himself in is a small town in South Dakota. Being one who often finds transport and jumps onboard, not necessarily caring where he ends up but just heading “somewhere”, Reacher manages to get a ride with a group of old age men and women on a tour bus. Not Reacher’s usual fare but never fear, this is not the opening of a novel that will proceed to describe long chats over cups of tea and games of bingo. There is a horror snowstorm on foot when the group passes through South Dakota. Unfortunately there is an accident and they are all holed up in the small town for a couple of days. Fate works in mysterious ways though as it is not unfortunate for the law abiding citizens of the town, now they have Jack Reacher at their fingertips and Andrew Peterson (town policeman) intends to ask for Reacher’s help with a few things.
  
  Something big is going on in this small town. A little old lady is under police protection, due to stand trial as a witness to a drug deal in court. There’s a strange building out in the middle of nowhere. There’s Plato, a big man in the business of drugs, a small man in stature, a man controlling events from Mexico and this man doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. There’s something not quite right happening, a few peculiar events here and there, a few deaths here and there, a few things that just don’t add up. Well, Jack’s back and you can bet he’ll do his damnedest to find the answers….after all, it’s bloody freezing and he needs to do something to stay warm. The clock is ticking….61 hours….will this be enough time for Reacher to be the hero we know he is?
  
  I read 61 Hours whilst I was on holiday in Bali. Absolutely fantastic holiday read. I didn’t want to put it down; I just had to find out what was going to happen next. As always with Lee Child’s books I am engrossed from the first sentence and if you want to interrupt me whilst I’m reading you had better have a really good reason to do so. Mr Child just knows how to write to keep the reader entertained and interested. His main character Jack Reacher is a favourite of mine and Lee Child is my favourite author. What more can I say? His novels are always page-turners and once they’re finished you wish you hadn’t read so fast because now you have to wait for a new book to come out. Lucky for us 61 Hours ends with “To be continued 30/9/10” so we have two books this year! I cannot wait until the 30th of September.
  
  If you haven’t read any Lee Child books I strongly advise you to do so, immediately, if not sooner. Be warned though, once you start you won’t be able to stop and you will be just like the rest of us hanging out for the new release every year. There should be a warning on Lee Child’s books….highly addictive!
  
  
• 
  Richard Hunt

  I have been a big Lee Child fan over the past few years. However in my opinion this was the slowest most painful reading experience i have had in a very long time. The Reacher character is becoming tired and book after book the author seems to be rewriting the back story so that once you have heard his history once you will see it in every book. This is a plausible point, as not everyone will read all of the Jack Reacher books and they need to learn about the protagonist.
  However in 61 Hours you are given a lengthy character back history half way through the book, which is a poor edit, as you really need this earlier in the book so you can invest emotion and sympathise with the main character. It seems inserted as an afterthought. Also the book could have been cut by a third and not have detracted from the story at all. Seems Lee completed the book, thought it was too short and then during the editing phase bulked up the book by putting boring descriptions in which detract from what could have been a reasonable book.
• 
  Megan Baxter

  Let's get this straight - this isn't deep. It's not literary. But when I wanted a light read at my in-laws over Christmas, this was just about perfect. It's not taxing, but neither is it the incredibly short chapters and no-mystery-at-all of a James Patterson book. In fact, Child pulled off the difficult trick of making me think that my first instinct about the bad guy was wrong, and then having it be true after all. That's a good move - the staple of J.K. Rowling, when it came to Snape.
  
  Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision
  here.
  
  In the meantime, you can read the entire review at
  Smorgasbook
• 
  Tessa Nadir

  Fara indoiala, cel mai emotionant roman din aceasta serie. Lee Child are meritul extraordinar de a-i conferi veridicitate eroului sau umanizandu-l. Astfel, in acest volum, avem ocazia sa vedem un Jack Reacher care pe langa faptul ca este dur, neinfricat si invincibil, are si sentimente ba chiar sufera.
  Cunoastem asadar, ipostaze surprinzatoare pentru el, atunci cand pierde persoane dragi, cand este ranit si disperat. Cu toate acestea, asa cum il stim, protagonistul nu renunta niciodata la lupta, chiar daca trebuie sa-si infrunte dusmanii cu mainile goale in situatii imposibile.
  Finalul este tensionat, cititorul va avea emotii pentru reusita lui Reacher, se va teme pentru el si va crede, la un moment dat ca eroul sau preferat a pierdut lupta. Insa, indiferent de rezultat, autorul ne linisteste ca urmeaza o noua carte, ca seria va avea o continuare. Intrebarea e: cu Reacher sau fara el?
  
  
  P.s. Spoiler sau nu, va soptesc: e cu Reacher! :D
• 
  Lewis Weinstein

  Another great Reacher story. That's really all you need to know. Sit back, hold on, and enjoy the ride.
• 
  Fred

  The insurmountable & unstoppable Jack Reacher, the “x-military” officer & drifter has a new project in his life.
  
  
  NYT Best Seller #1 - June 06, 2010
  

  
  
  Jack Reacher Poster
  

  
  In Bolton, South Dakota, 5 minutes to 3:00 PM. “Exactly 61 hours before It happened”. A lawyer drove into a empty prison lot, with “fat lazy flakes” coming from a snowstorm 60 miles away. ( 61 hours - is the title of the book)
  
  Jack Reacher (the famous drifter & ex-military policeman) is traveling on a “Bus” stranded on a icy hill after almost being hit by a car & helps the people in the Bus escape/survive. The busy Town, it’s large 60 cell Prison, needs more guards, a small police dept. asks for his help to solve a crime.
  
  Reacher’s experience with “South Dakota’s weather in the winter was not famously hospitable” to survive. Winters cold with high temperatures averaging below freezing & low temperatures averaging below 10 °F (−12 °C) in most of the state.
  
  Reacher needs to find a link from the murdered Lawyer in the Prison Parking lot, to a Town Police murder, Bolton Politician scam to get Prison funds & finding a dead biker?
  He needs to find the relation between Bolton resident and/or Criminal leader, storing a ”meth” drug (Methylated amphetamine).
  
  Why is Janet Salter, the major witness & can Reacher protect her? Where is this South American “Godfather” drug character living in Mexico?
  

  
  

  
  A movie with Tom Cruise, starring as Reacher was reviewed again
  
  The hour “chapter” countdown used in the book is nice, e.g. Chapter 60 hours to go, Chapter 59 hours to go, 58, 57, etc. until 2 hours to go & the end of the book. And nice with few characters to track.
  
  Like other Reacher books - he travels with nothing, “always buys new”.
• 
  Jane Stewart

  Not enough action. Reacher did some unsmart things. Incomplete ending. But, because I like hanging out with Reacher it was ok.
  
  STORY BRIEF:
  Reacher is on a bus. Due to winter weather he is stranded in Bolton, S. Dakota. Local police are guarding an elderly woman who witnessed a drug deal. Reacher decides to help protect her.
  
  A biker gang has been living near Bolton in an abandoned army compound. The police believe they have been selling drugs (meth). The biker gang works for Plato, a Mexican drug lord who does very bad things to people.
  
  REVIEWER’S OPINION:
  Not the best Reacher story. There were a few stupid decisions that bothered me. For example, police personnel asked Reacher to do some things for them. Each time this took Reacher away from protecting the witness which Reacher should have planned for. That was out of character for him.
  
  Other Reacher books had more thriller and suspense. This was mostly noodling through the mystery. There was almost no action until the very end of the book. And that was not enough. I’d like to tell you the number of bad guys that Reacher took out in this book, but I won’t, to avoid spoilers. I’ll just say that his count was extremely low compared to other books, which made it less fun.
  
  I was very disappointed that the author DID NOT FINISH THE STORY! I believe the author ran out of time or hit a writer’s block. The reader doesn’t know if Reacher is dead or alive or how he survived if alive. (Hint: We know he lives because there are sequels.) The sequel “Worth Dying For” begins a couple days after “61 Hours.” WDF has a brief comment about how Reacher survived at the end of 61H. But it wasn’t enough for me.
  
  I loved the short back story about the military doing psychological research on little kids. They filmed kids’ reactions while watching a movie with a monster. When the monster appeared on the screen all the kids leaned back in their seats with fear on their faces - except for 6-year-old Reacher. He was the only kid who reacted with aggression instead of fear. He had drawn his switchblade open in less than a second and was leaning forward in his seat to attack the monster. Another LOL for me.
  
  NARRATOR:
  The narrator Dick Hill was very good.
  
  DATA:
  Unabridged audiobook reading time: 13 hrs and 11 mins. Swearing language: I don’t recall any. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day mostly S. Dakota with a little Mexico. Book copyright: 2010. Genre: mystery suspense thriller. Ending: mostly good but unfinished.
  
  THE SERIES:
  Following is a list of the Jack Reacher books in order with my ratings. All the books could be read as stand-alones, but I suggest reading them in order, maybe saving the lower rated ones for last.
  
  4 ½ stars. Killing Floor (#1)
  4 stars. Die Trying (#2)
  4 stars. Tripwire (#3)
  2 ½ stars. Running Blind (#4)
  4 stars. Echo Burning (#5)
  3 ½ stars. Without Fail (#6)
  4 stars. Persuader (#7)
  3 stars. The Enemy (#8)
  4 ½ stars. One Shot (#9)
  3 stars. The Hard Way (#10)
  3 ½ stars. Bad Luck and Trouble (#11)
  2 stars. Nothing To Lose (#12) too many low ratings
  4 stars. Gone Tomorrow (#13)
  3 stars. 61 Hours (#14)
  4 ½ stars. Worth Dying For (#15)
• 
  Cortez III

  Knock The Chill Off With This Thriller
  
  First off, let me say that if I had any notion of a vacation in winter, I’m not going to South Dakota. Lee Child’s thriller, 61 Hours, finds Jack Reacher the victim of a bus accident in sub- zero weather along a lonely stretch of highway with a busload of senior citizens. Being the Good Samaritan that he is, he assists the bus driver as much as he can as well as the other passengers. Takes a bit, but they finally get the help they need, which leads them to the town of Bolton, SD.
  As is his custom, or better said Mr. Child’s custom, this unexpected detour lands Reacher in the midst of a brewing storm, literally on two counts: One, an even nastier weather system is on the way to make its acquaintance with the locals, not too much skin off their noses as they���re used to it for the most part. Moreover, number two, a stealthy plot beneath the frozen city’s surfaces churns in town and the much warmer south of the border locale of Mexico. Trouble’s coming and someone wants a few people dead that are impediments to rather lucrative and quite interesting loot. That loot borders on the legal/illegal gray area and blurred line. Read this story and you’ll understand that statement.
  
  Without divulging too much for those who haven’t yet indulged in this Child thriller, Reacher’s chief concern is someone hard pressed to defend herself against some sly opposition who only want her dead and out of their way. I think what amazed me the most with this book was how Lee Child painted such a picture of the landscape that felt as if you’re actually in that environment. How he sustained that with his prose gifts and hooked me in with the suspense that built with the unstoppable countdown, hence the title, 61 Hours, is to read a true master at his craft. Writers remember to include weather in your stories. This is a lesson in how the surroundings can be a character. So anyway, when the clock inevitably strikes twelve if you will, a whole lot of stuff hits the fan, the ceiling, the roof and everything else in sight.
  
  The characters are well drawn especially the local towns people. Considering the ‘story’s’ construct, perhaps Reacher’s opposition wasn’t as strong as in other adventures. But Child creates a rather ingenious character that fits the ‘landscape’ construct that makes for a compelling mano-a-mano battle. In addition, a very interesting but personal Reacher subplot further plumbs the depth of his character for his many fans to contemplate. It left me wondering is it possible for Jack Reacher to, let’s just say, stay in one place for a bit or aka, settle down like most of humanity. Well, here’s hoping against that one. Hey, no offense to the flirty professional person in question. However, we fans of Jack Reacher accept him as a direct, spare, brilliant deductive reasoning, take no prisoners, human Terminator. Look more than forward to losing myself in the next Reacher adventure.
• 
  Laurie

  Love the Reacher man, although this one may have given me chilblains. Do not start this book unless you have a warm blanket to hand. Brrr!
• 
  Book Addict Shaun

  61 Hours might be one of my least favourites in the series so far, but it was still an enjoyable read the ending saved the story for me. Once again Jack Reacher finds himself on a bus heading through the middle of nowhere. This time it’s South Dakota where the temperature outside is below freezing, and the bus he has hitched a ride on almost crashes. When help arrives from the local town, Reacher heads straight on in to his latest shitstorm.
  
  After fourteen novels Lee Child still writes a gripping tale but there are similarities to be drawn with the earlier Reacher novels. There is some repetitiveness here. Reacher coming to the rescue, saving everybody and heading off at the end of the story for his next adventure. Though the ending here for Reacher isn’t as clear as normal. 61 Hours takes places across those 61 hours and you’d expect the story to be action-packed because of that, but it isn’t. Instead it’s a real slow burner, I found myself glazing over certain parts and with knowing the real action wasn’t going to arrive until the 61st hour, it made the rest of the story feel quite dull.
  
  A lot of my enjoyment in these books also comes from the characters Reacher spends time with in the story. The ones here didn’t have much to offer and the storyline of the elderly lady refusing to enter witness protection just bored me, I’d rather read about Reacher getting his rocks off again than him being psychoanalysed by an old woman because of his refusal to carry a bag around with him. I love small town settings and the one here was again well-imagined, and the plot had the usual twists and turns you expect from this series, though with one twist being a complete and utter cliche. There was one character that stood out and who offered further insight into Reacher’s character and that’s a woman named Susan who is currently doing the job Reacher did back before he left the army. His scenes on the phone with her were probably some of the most insightful in the book.
  
  As said in my review of Gone Tomorrow, I can’t see myself ever not enjoying a Reacher novel, but some I will like less than others and that was the case with 61 Hours. It’s a good instalment into the series however it isn’t one I’d recommend new readers pick up first. Onwards and upwards we go as I continue with this series.
• 
  Ed

  Let the countdown begin! Jack Reacher, what can I say? He's the hard-nosed homeboy you want to get your back. Even in the middle of the winter in the middle of the wilds of South Dakota, he can outwit a meth kingpin and come out smelling like roses. The dialogue here strikes me as snappier than usual. This time out he also sparks a long-distance romance with the current commander of his old crack MP outfit. We also learn a lot of personal details on Jack's background. Is this also covered in the previous titles? I don't recall. So, if you enjoy the ride--even if implausible plot but always rollicking fun--then climb aboard the Jack Reacher rocketship. I know I will again.
• 
  John

  Not sure how my review disappeared? In this story Reacher uncovers a gang of methamphetamine dealers operating out of a mysterious abandoned U.S. military facility. The villain is called Plato who is trying to sell his business. This is one of Child’s better stories with all the bad guys. Set in winter it feels cold reading it and the ending is spectacular if somewhat unbelievable and far fetched.
• 
  Mayke ☕️

  This is my first Reacher book.
  I needed one of these thrillers to sit back, read, and relax.
  
  There was enough going on not to get boring, and at a certain point I didn't know who to trust anymore.
  
  The only thing that bothered me was the cold. Reacher kept addressing how cold it was and how he didn't feel his face anymore. We get it, okay. I expected more from such a tough guy. Apart from that, the snow and the weather makes this book great as a December read.
  
• 
  Maddy

  PROTAGONIST: Jack Reacher
  SETTING: South Dakota
  SERIES: #14 of 14
  RATING: 3.5
  
  In the fourteenth book of the Jack Reacher series, our peripatetic adventurer finds himself on a bus filled with senior citizens that has just slid into a ditch in snowy South Dakota. It will be a few days before a replacement bus will be able to continue their journey, so everyone on the bus is taken into the homes of the inhabitants of Bolton, SD. As you might expect, Reacher is not spending his time counting the cows during the wait. Instead, he is immediately recruited to help the local police department solve a murder. The police in this town have a lot on their plate due to the recent construction of a prison that has swelled their population and resulted in an influx of visitors. It’s all a bit dysfunctional, as the police department has expanded dramatically; and there’s a mixture of old and new employees who aren’t all very skilled at what they do.
  
  One important assignment that the police have is to protect an elderly resident, Mrs. Salter, who is the sole witness willing to testify against a local biker gang. There’s one problem with the situation, an agreement with the prison that if their siren sounds, every police officer in the town will respond to the call. If this were to happen, Mrs. Salter would be left alone and likely killed. Reacher steps in to assist. This is one instance where the miserable weather is a help, in that the only approach of a possible assassin would be from the front of the home, since the entire property is snowbound.
  
  But bigger things are brewing. Throughout the book, there is a countdown, beginning at 61 hours, for something that is going to happen, although we don’t know what that is. It seems to involve a remote local site that is currently being used by a biker gang likely making meth, who mysteriously vacate one evening, and a Mexican drug lord. The entire countdown premise was a flawed concept for me. Normally, this device is very suspenseful, in that we are expecting some cataclysmic event to happen which is generally foiled by the hero at 3 seconds to go. But in this case, there is no indication of what the event will be, so the reader is unable to build a sense of horror at what might happen. In addition, the countdown is conducted continuously throughout the book—Five minutes to eleven in the evening. Fifty-three hours to go…..Five minutes to six in the morning. Thirty-seven hours to go. This rapidly became irritating.
  
  On the positive side, Child does a fabulous job of describing the barren, freezing setting. Even someone as intrepid as Reacher has a hard time functioning in such an unforgiving environment. There’s also a hint that he may be ready to invest in a real relationship. The possible love interest currently holds the same position in the Army that Reacher did in the past, which leads to some interesting insights into Jack’s history.
  
  Child has also changed the formula a bit. No females were bedded in this book, which was a nice change. Jack actually reaches some incorrect conclusions about various events. And the conclusion is unresolved, with a cliff hanger ending. Even without that, I’d be anxiously awaiting Book 15, as this series is always on my Must Read list.
  
  
• 
  Alexia561

  I've read every Lee Child book there is and adore Jack Reacher. You have to feel for the guy, as he just wants to keep his head down, stay out of trouble, and keep moving. Yet he keeps getting pulled into situations where he has no choice but to help strangers, as he can't walk away from doing the right thing. That's why I love Reacher, as he's one of the good guys.
  
  This is another great Reacher book and if you've enjoyed the others, I'm pretty sure you'll like this one as well. The only thing I didn't care for was the countdown throughout the book, letting us know how many hours were left. Could have done without that, but it's a small thing and don't think it would bother anyone else but me.
  
  Child is a very good writer, and Reacher is a very good character. You know that if you pick up one of his books, you're going to get a good story. Great pacing, good plot, and believable characters. Was a little surprised by the ending, which I hadn't seen coming, and can't wait to see what Child has up his sleeve for the next book! Highly recommended!
  
• 
  Tannaz

  
  "عادت کردن به چیزی به این معنی نیست که ازش خوشت میاد."(شصت و یک ساعت-لی چایلد)
• 
  Jim

  This is the latest of the Jack Reacher series of crime/mystery thrillers and the first that I have read.
  
  Lee Child has a sparse, easy style that moves along nicely. This, and the others I have read , gets a 4-star rating, because to get five stars a novel has to be "great" in the way that enduring literature is great (a feat that is rare in the genre).
  
  As thrillers go (I've read a handful of Ludlums and Clancy's Hunt for Red October) 61 Hours is near the top - with some nifty plot twists and whodunnit aspects that make for a small challenge to mystery fans.
  
  This novel does not end neatly - with some loose ends that I expect will be cut or tied in the follow up to be published in Oct. 2010.
  
  
  
  
  
  THE JACK REACHER CHARACTER
  
  Jack Reacher was not your garden-variety military policeman. He was a superior detective with nearly superhuman skills - physical, deductive, and intuitive.
  
  Here's a biography that speaks to his consistent, if unconventional, morals.
  
  "Reacher", as his French mother called him because Jack didn't seem to fit, lived at many different Marine bases, mostly overseas. He enlisted in the Army and served on missions only hazily alluded to with hazily alluded killings. During the latter part of his service he was an MP.
  
  To police hard men the cop must be harder. Child does not belabor this bit of exposition because it is plain from Reacher's size (6-6 and variously 230-260 pounds) and superior hand-to-hand dirty-fighting ability. Four-to-one (four ordinary brawlers to one Reacher) only begins to constitute an even fight. He learned to fight dirty as a child, defending his older, not-ruthless brother at the many marine bases where they lived. So far his worst injuries were suffered in prison as he dealt worse injuries to two or three others (and the rest backed off).
  
  In one novel, Reacher recalled that he mostly finished near the top and once won in series of world-wide military long-range shooting competitions. This foreshadowed the rare instance in which hitting targets at 1000-yards was important to the plot. More often he makes do at seemingly "long odds" with pistols. In those cases 4-to-1 is nowhere near an even fight.
  
  Reacher has a chivalrous and deadly ethic. He often endures hardship and mortal risk to avoid hurting the innocent.
  
  A notable example was when he permitted himself to be captured without a fight by the bad guys as they also abducted a blond FBI agent - reason being that if they'd started shooting on that busy Chicago street others might be shot. (view spoiler)
  
  He flouts the law - instead he is guided with his own moral compass - one that is more true, more admirable than legislative bodies and regulators can usually imagine. His ultra-competence and self-control permit him to narrowly focus his aggression. This narrow focus mostly justifies his extra-legal acts. He does not imagine that aggressors need escape injury or death, therefore, he rejects much of the constraints that ruled his MP career - and which rule our police.
  
  Because of this lack-of-constraint some readers regard his morals to be questionable at best. I find them to be consistent - almost to a fault. One critic accused him as “judge, jury, and executioner". This is true, except that most judges and juries have inferior moral judgment by comparison.
  
  Reacher never starts fights. Many times he could walk away, except that his assailants would probably hurt him if he did so. He measures his force (and the injury he exerts) proportionally to the threat. He kills mostly to avoid being killed. Occasionally he kills the bad guys preemptively, usually when imprisoned and his captors would kill him to prevent his escape.
  
  Once or twice he has burglarized drug dealers – taking cash, weapons, and ammunition. Lee Child apparently believes such traffickers to be fair game but stops short of harming them physically using Reacher as his proxy.
  
  I don't read thrillers much (except The Executioner and The Destroyer as a teen), but like those pulps, Reacher often beds an off-the-charts beautiful woman. "Spectacular" seems to be Child's favorite feminine superlative. All are uber-competent. She is often ex-military or has a current career in law enforcement.
  
  Mere beauty does not trip Reacher's trigger. He tips waitresses. He sleeps with women who could drop you in a firefight.
  
  Child nods to police and spycraft excellence in many guises and especially feminine excellence. Frances Neagley served under Reacher as an MP and occasionally appears in a story at his behest (except once she summons him at hers). He commands her loyalty and knows she is one of the few humans on the planet who could take him out one-on-one (with firearms or other deadly means). She's his superior in spycraft. An occasional joke is that he believes he has gone from points A to B to C without being watched/tailed - only to discover later that Neagley has had him surveilled all along.
  
  On balance, since rural settings comprise a majority of venues, the villains are also rural "rednecks". In more than one story, the villains maintain a reign-of-terror with locals. The leaders tend to be competent and shrewd but most of the "muscle" is not.
  
  I have seen self-described conservatives object to Child's "liberal" leanings. This is manifested by Reacher's predilection for competent women in the military and law-enforcement. Other "objections" accrue to Child/Reacher's occasional comment on US foreign policy and perhaps to Child's general critique of the police and the military. I think Child's view, as an Englishman and as expressed through his hero, is more subtle.
  
  Reacher disdains executives both civilian and military - unless they are also competent, with a "proper" disposition to break military law when such violates a higher moral authority - his best commanding officers and underlings honor the law "in the breach" when it would cause unjust results - or just render their efforts ineffective.
  
  He also has disdain for most law-enforcement personnel - not just officers - mostly because they are ruining his day. Exceptions are those he needs and teams with. The kidnapped lady FBI agent is one. Others include the various clerical experts who can tweak databases, call in favors, cajole other police/military clerks, and generally do what it takes to get Reacher his information.
  
  99% of the time Reacher is indeed "the smartest guy in the room". The other 1% is when he's with those competent associates - then they communicate in a kind of shorthand that shows Reacher is with his kind of people.
  
  I'm not enough of a film-student to know if Hitchcock ever respected police enough to show them to be competent. Child shows that competence exists everywhere - especially among the villains.
  
  I can’t claim to be well-read in thriller domain, but can recommend The Jack Reacher series almost without reservation.