Lee Child 61 Hours

61 Hours

The New Jack Reacher Thriller

'{Jack Reacher is) the coolest continuing character now on offer' - Stephen King

Winter in South Dakota. Blowing snow, icy roads, and a tired driver. A bus skids and crashes and is stranded in a gathering storm. There's a small town twenty miles away, where a vulnerable witness is guarded around the clock. There's a strange stone building five miles further on, all alone on the prairie. There's a ruthless man who controls everything from the warmth of Mexico.

Jack Reacher hitched a ride in the back of the bus. A life without baggage has many advantages. And crucial disadvantages too, when it means facing the arctic cold without a coat. But he's equipped for the rest of his task. He doesn't want to put the world to rights. He just doesn't like people who put it to wrongs.

Killing Floor, Lee Child Review
I picked up this book on a special offer as an introduction to Jack Reacher. I found that it took me a few pages to get into but then didn't want to put it down. At the beginning I wasn't sure about it but that didn't last for long. The book is suspenseful and kept releasing little bits of information and clues so you keep reading to discover the next morsel. Jack Reacher uses instinct coupled with logic to work out what has gone on and with that and careful planning on his part, is able to unravel and solve the mystery.
As a person of no fixed abode and no family connections, Jack Reacher, appeals to the mothering instinct in women, who would want to look after him and have him settle down with them. His stand alone demeanour would also pull in males who would want to be like him, a macho individual able to cope with any situation.
Politics, industrial sabotage, criminal activity and corruption all put together to make an interesting and indepth read.
I can believe you don't have to read the books in order as like certain TV series, the whole story is told in the one book and doesn't continue into the next book.
I found the book easy to read yet still grabbed my attention and I didn't want to put it down.
I am looking forward to reading more Lee Child books and seeing them made into movies. - Jenni Hunter.

Lee Childis British but moved with his family from Cumbria to the United States to start a new career as an American thriller writer. He now divides his time between New York and France. All his thrillers feature Jack Reacher, the former US military cop and maverick drifter, and all have been big international bestsellers. A Jack Reacher thriller is sold somewhere in the world every five seconds and Lee Child's worldwide sales now top 32 million copies. Lee's last book, Gone Tomorrow, sold 60,000 copies in Australia. He is translated into 37 languages. Film rights to the Jack Reacher character have been acquired by Paramount.

61 Hours
Random House Australia
Author: Lee Child
ISBN: 9780593057070
Price: $32.95

Interview with Lee Child

Can you share a little bit about the newest Jack Reacher book, 61 Hours, and how it compares to the other books?

Lee Child: Well the most obvious difference is it is set in very, very cold weather. A lot of the other books are warm weather books and this one is freezing cold, it is in South Dakota in the winter and the temperature is minus 50 degrees. The cold is a big factor in the book; there is a snow storm and everybody gets trapped in this little town, there is a prison outside the town and a mysterious building left over from the cold war military installation, nobody knows what is in there and that is the start of the story.


Do you need to read the Jack Reacher books in the order they are released?

Lee Child: You absolutely do not; I planned it so you can start anywhere and you don't need any prior information. There is no back reference and that enables you to start anywhere you like and you can read them in any order at all.


When and how did you come up with the idea for the character, Jack Reacher?

Lee Child: I was out of work, is the answer to that! I used to work in television and I got fired during a corporate restructuring and so it was a question of 'What do I do now?' I wanted to stay in the world of entertainment, broadly speaking and writing a book seemed like a good way to do that.


Is the characteristics of Jack Reacher loosely based on anyone you know?

Lee Child: It is really based on a historical myth or legend, of the mysterious loner, stranger who walks into town and sorts out the trouble and then disappears into the sunset.


What's the best thing about creating a character like Jack Reacher?

Lee Child: Just being able to live out my fantasies on the page. This is wishful filming for me and I think it is for the readers too.


Jack Reacher has been purchased by Paramount, which means you are really back in the entertainment field, how much input do you have with the film?

Lee Child: Yes, I am leaving all the hard work to them. I want to stay out of the movie, because they're the experts and I am not. I am going to let them go on with it and I'll see what happens.


Is it harder to write thrillers?
Lee Child: It is hard, because it is a question of the writer doing all the work, so that the reader can have all the fun. They have to be very satisfying, very exciting and suspenseful. The reader has to have a good time so the writer has to do all the work, and it is quite hard.