Past Tense

Narration Annoying

I didn't resonate with the narrator's choice of voice. I found it to be distracting and folksy. I personally prefer previous narrations of Reacher stories. The actual story was not up to the usual standard. Not terrible but hardly gripping. I really didn't care for the narration.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

just another JR story

Love JR. you know what you are going to get and you get just that.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Lee Child at his excellent best

Reacher is exactly as we know and expect him to be. What a treat. Loved it

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not up to earlier Reacher

I know Reacher is all about over-thinking and to a certain extent coincidental meetings, but this one is stretched.

Two separate (and by Child’s standards; predictable) narratives only intertwined by absolute chance. A bit much.

Further, why is every character starting to sound like Reacher? The repetition and runaround with unrealistic dialogue gets excruciating at times. And the narrator doesn’t help with a bland, inflected tone.

It’s an ok listen, but going through the motions and none of it holds up under scrutiny.

9 of 12 people found this review helpful

Reacher, the Good Ol Boy? Bring back Tom.

Although a long time fan of the Reacher series, I was disappointed with this. The thing is, I'm not sure if the form is tiring (or me of it) or it was ruined (for me) by the characterisation of the reader.
There has been plenty of comment about using Tom Cruise in the movie franchise, even so, while he is a short arse without the famed bulk and power of the author's creation, at least his accent is neutral and his portrayal of the character reflects the wit and intelligence that we have come to know and, dare I say, love. And by wit of course, I'm referring to his mental ability to reason, deduct, and strategise even while demolishing a medium sized crowd of semi-zombie hulks.

I'm afraid Mr Harding's imagining was way off beam for me. The lethargic drawl, the ponderous roll out, it was more Arnie with a computer manual than an intelligent, experienced, top of the class investigator processing, planning, operating. Come on, a guy born in Europe, French speaking, who has lived all over and never put roots down would not arrive in middle age with an accent like a Good Ol Boy or an Arkansas share cropper.

Look, maybe I am being disrespectful to Mr Harding, to Good Ol Boys and to Arkansas share croppers. If so I apologise. I'm Australian, what do I know about it. But for me, it was completely wrong.

The other comment is that the book appears to be performed completely as published. This is my first Audible book - but a performed work is different to a work to be read. When we're reading text there has to be information that's necessary but that we largely, subconsciously ignore: information that is not required in a performed work. You read a play, you read the stage direction. You perform a play, those elements are obviously not required or included. In this reading of Past Tense, there seemed to be no editing of the minor elements that were no longer required, principally, numerous 'he said' 'she saids' that were superfluous with the voice characterisations, and annoying. Surely the authors would permit some careful editing of these elements.

I'm not looking to troll Mr Harding, I'm just saying surely the budget could run to a Director that could oversee the production and give some informed direction. I believe this would produce a better product and obtain a more committed audience.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Not to the Usual Standard

I did not like the story line and not happy with the narrator.Not up to the usual standard

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Classic Jack Reacher

finish was a little flat but the narration was perfect and overall story was engaging

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

gripping

very interesting look into Teachers family past and a thrilling side story as well

Reacher takes all

Entwined action, history and intrigue. Reacher's calm, laconic style, combines perfectly with Child's thorough research.

Past Tense

A gripping story which really created a graphic picture in my own mind of what was going on. I listened to this book for 4 hours straight, a record for me. The narrator, Jeff Harding, also did an amazing job. Loved it !