by Lee Child
Jack Reacher's trip down memory lane puts him on a collision course with evil. No worries, it's Reacher.
Past Tense is not my favorite Reacher novel -- it took quite a few pages before I was hooked -- but Child does a stellar job of creating mystery (What's in the bag? and "What's going on at the hotel?) building suspense, while interlacing action with Reacher's dry but sly humor. Kudos for creating Patty and Shorty (the young Canadian couple) I simultaneously loathed (can they be that stupid) and loved (oh that was brilliant).
Jack thinks life is random, but Lee Child's expertise is a reminder that nothing -- not even in the life of Jack Reacher -- is simply the result of turning right or left.