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Jack Reacher #22.3

Too Much Time

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Roughly one significant crime is committed in the US every three seconds. So it's not unlikely to find yourself witnessing one. Jack Reacher is minding his own business in a town in Maine when he sees a youth snatching a woman's bag, and, like a good citizen, steps in to stop him. Politely invited by the cops to act as a witness, will Reacher be treated as the perfect patsy for a crime he didn't commit? Too Much Time is a new novella which sees Jack Reacher, hero of no fixed abode, finding himself on the wrong side of the law. It is also available in No Middle Name, the complete Jack Reacher short story collection._________Don't miss Reacher's newest adventure, no.26, Better off Dead! ***COMING SOON and AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW***

85 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2018

627 people are currently reading
5304 people want to read

About the author

Lee Child

442 books34.3k followers
Lee Child was born October 29th, 1954 in Coventry, England, but spent his formative years in the nearby city of Birmingham. By coincidence he won a scholarship to the same high school that JRR Tolkien had attended. He went to law school in Sheffield, England, and after part-time work in the theater he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an eighteen-year career as a presentation director during British TV's "golden age." During his tenure his company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker. But he was fired in 1995 at the age of 40 as a result of corporate restructuring. Always a voracious reader, he decided to see an opportunity where others might have seen a crisis and bought six dollars' worth of paper and pencils and sat down to write a book, Killing Floor, the first in the Jack Reacher series.

Killing Floor was an immediate success and launched the series which has grown in sales and impact with every new installment. The first Jack Reacher movie, based on the novel One Shot and starring Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike, was released in December 2012.

Lee has three homes—an apartment in Manhattan, a country house in the south of France, and whatever airplane cabin he happens to be in while traveling between the two. In the US he drives a supercharged Jaguar, which was built in Jaguar's Browns Lane plant, thirty yards from the hospital in which he was born.

Lee spends his spare time reading, listening to music, and watching the Yankees, Aston Villa, or Marseilles soccer. He is married with a grown-up daughter. He is tall and slim, despite an appalling diet and a refusal to exercise.

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5 stars
1,259 (30%)
4 stars
1,698 (40%)
3 stars
1,009 (24%)
2 stars
158 (3%)
1 star
72 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
Profile Image for Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller).
825 reviews116 followers
December 30, 2018
Well another great quick read and a little more Jack Reacher fix.

This being a little longer in pages than Small Wars(just finished)73 pages so more story.

Too Mush Time is a pocket rocket of action, suspense thriller.

One day Jack Reacher is walking down a plaza when he witnesses a crime. He sees the police in pursuit of a culprit and decides to help out. They ask Reacher to sign a witness statement!

That brain of Reacher sees more of his surroundings than you think.

A clever story. Four stars.

Profile Image for Ace.
455 reviews22 followers
January 24, 2019
A short sweet Reacher hit :) Again Child has managed to squeeze in all the necessary elements!
Profile Image for Andrew.
2,545 reviews
March 27, 2019
As with all the Lee Child - Jack Reacher stories these short stories have a limited number of words to set up the scene, tell the story and provide a satisfactory conclusion. At times they can feel rather whirlwind and even a little rushed - when in actual fact you (or in this case I) would have preferred a slower more gradual build up.

This story however - actually in my eyes was the right pace and happened in a satisfactory rate. Yes the premise is pretty much as the story description states but its vary nature and haphazard and frenetic. It is what happens after that you need to savour.

And that is what I felt happened- there are some stories I guess that lend themselves to a certain length or format. YEs we are back to those feelings when a book is a chapter or two too long or too short;. This time I think the story was just right and I certainly enjoyed it.

True there are no surprises here - and yes if you wanted to it could be called formulaic however I think to a certain degree that is the appeal of Lee Child and this story certainly does not disappoint.
Profile Image for Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books).
599 reviews94 followers
April 26, 2021
This was a fun little story though we get a morale that goes against what we as a society should believe. Get involved or not. I enjoyed the story just can't jump to 4 stars without a longer story to explain and elaborate on how things got to where they ended up.
Profile Image for Poiboy.
256 reviews67 followers
September 5, 2017
A solid story and my first Jack Reacher anything for me. Now after reading this, I am reading Killing Floor and having a major deja vu. The two books (one from 1997 and this one from 2017) start almost *exactly the same way*. So now I'm starting to think this story was written off a formula and not as original as I initially thought. Lazy writing? 4 stars downgraded to 3.
Profile Image for Jeanette.
4,100 reviews841 followers
July 23, 2021
Too Much Time was read before in print, as were some of the other short stories at the ending of this audio collection. I have to say straight off the reader to this audio was not a favorite at all. He tends to a kind of drawn out double syllable when only one exists- and it is often strangely non-woman mewling when a woman's voice or exclamation occurs. The audio was the only form I could get through library sources, so it was not my first pick. These works of Lee Child are not apt, IMHO, made by content for the audio telling, possibly because of all the action movements. FOR ME they are much better in print.

Still, I would not have given any of this material more than a 3 star reaction or rating. They are not the best Reacher. He is always the stranger but the juxtapositions in Small Wars especially (but in all 3 novellas as a whole too) didn't seem like real world possibility. How in NYC in the places they highlight throughout the entire, would there not be any human presence. Not even during Covid was that true or possible. And the case in 1989 held way too much 2010 plus connotation to all Southern aspects. The dialect of the sheriff was at times, well, off-putting. Beyond exaggeration.

Both of the Christmas stories at the end of this group were preposterous. But I'm sure they made him lots of money- especially the "no room at the inn" one.

I think most of the novels are 4 stars or better. Plotting is more possible and also intriguing of detail in the longer fare. But the writing and prose is clear and similar. Always direct and well done.
Profile Image for Kathy.
3,291 reviews58 followers
December 3, 2020
I love, love, love Jack Reacher, former MP, just traveling the country, minding his own business, when some person does something awful to someone innocent. Reacher to the rescue.
Profile Image for Donna Maguire.
4,895 reviews120 followers
October 12, 2018
This is a short read that packs a punch and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot!

The story was well written as I have come to expect and Reacher was the old character that I have come to know and love - I enjoyed him getting in and out of his latest scrape!

I really enjoyed being able to catch up with Reacher and I have to say that I purchased this book as I fancied a quick Jack Reacher fix and pick me up - it has definately done the trick and it has even given me the nudge I needed to read the other novels that I have missed so far!

I was really addicted to this series and read almost all the books as soon as they were released but after a while I found them to be a tad repetitive at times (especially if you do read them back to back as they have similar themes throughout) so I gave myself a break as to not ruin the series for me and am now very keen to get back to them!

Four stars from me for this one - on to the next to read!
Profile Image for Darcy.
14.4k reviews543 followers
July 18, 2023
This one was just ok for me, was kinda bored reading it. Did Reacher show up the bad guy, yes, but by then I also didn't really care.
Profile Image for Melenia.
2,731 reviews6 followers
January 1, 2018
I really enjoyed this short story. If you are already a Jack Reacher can you will enjoy it.
Profile Image for Alexa ❤️.
253 reviews138 followers
January 13, 2018
“It will take 10 minutes of your time. What could go wrong?”

We all know that if we hear those words if films, tv or books - it’s definitely bound to go wrong!

Too mush time is a pocket rocket of action, suspense and mystery.

One day Jack Reacher is walking down a plaza when he witnesses a crime. He sees the police in pursuit of a culprit and decides to help out. They ask Reacher to sign a witness statement.
1,493 reviews4 followers
January 14, 2021
I enjoyed this book a little better than the others. This was a true short story of the real jack Reacher.
Profile Image for David Highton.
3,758 reviews32 followers
July 13, 2018
A Reacher novella, in which Jack tackles an escaping mugger and one thing leads to another.
Profile Image for Ridel.
401 reviews18 followers
April 16, 2023
This is one of my favourite Reacher short stories, as he gets the screws turned on him after assisting law enforcement. The injustice of those in power railroading decent people for selfish gain hits me right in the feels - there's something about it that gets my blood boiling. It's also a surprising take from Lee Child, whose previous writings would have me believe him to be sympathetic towards law enforcement.

Like most Reacher short stories, the resolution is a bit too easy and there's not enough page count for Lee Child's signature small-details-leads-to-plot-twist style of writing. But it did better than most, and is definitely the best of all Reacher novella.

Recommended for short story lovers.
Profile Image for Dhimitra.
179 reviews
September 30, 2022
Too much time:

It is a short story about a crime that happened around plaza and Jack Reacher got involved: to help the cops.
He witnessed the robbery and as an old cop he felt that signing his own statement won’t be a good deal. In a short time, he, the one who wanted to help the police finds him self under arrest for felonious involvement corrupt organizations. Of course it wasn’t true: Will he prove that he is not guilty or not?
997 reviews5 followers
January 21, 2020
Same as all the other Jack Reacher books, which it what I liked. This is a novella rather than a full novel so it was a quick read. I enjoyed it. If you like the Jack Reacher books, you will like this one.
Profile Image for Bill Donhiser.
1,236 reviews8 followers
August 2, 2017
A good Jack Reacher short story. Caught in a web by crooked cops when trying to be a good witness Jack helps an honest local detective put away the corrupt officers
Profile Image for Macky.
2,055 reviews230 followers
March 5, 2023
My rating system
1 Did not like it
2 It was okay
3 ⭐️I liked/enjoyed it⭐️
4 I Loved it
5 It was amazing!
Profile Image for Roderick Vonhogen.
488 reviews70 followers
December 29, 2023
An enjoyable Jack Reacher story in which Reacher is framed after a robbery, and has to use his wits to figure out what's going on.
Profile Image for Ian .
122 reviews3 followers
April 26, 2021
A short story worth reading. Gives an insight into Jack reacher if you haven't read any of the others books.
NB: How on earth did Tom Cruise get to play Jack Reacher? A more inappropriate actor could surely not have been found. Perhaps Gerard Butler or Eric Banner or more likely a huge physical presence such as Dwayne Johnson. The films have made the books more difficult to read and understand because of the casting. Sorry Tom nothing against you but really?
Profile Image for XOX.
776 reviews21 followers
June 24, 2023

Reacher stopped a purse snatcher.

The police asked him to make a statement.

He got arrested.

It turned out the police is tailing the woman who purse got snatched. The man who snatched the purse was arrested too.

So behind this is a conspiracy. A setup. And Reacher stepped right into it. I read it long ago and forgotten all about it. It is better the second time around d as it is a physical book.

——-



Jack was stopping a mugging and got arrested

Jack Reacher short story. He was just there in the right time and at the right place.

He helped the police and was asked to signed as a witness.

He got arrested as a criminal. Why is this happening.

Of course he found out why and survived what was thrown to him.

Nice story.

4.5 stars
Profile Image for Avalon.
618 reviews3 followers
April 20, 2020
Short mystery

He watched a robbery take place with the kid coming straight at him so he tripped him up and the cops are right there wanting his statement yet Reacher saw the bag was empty then Sgt Delaney tried to frame him for it and placed him under arrest. Can Reacher find out what is going down and clear his name?
Profile Image for Kevin.
884 reviews17 followers
March 5, 2024
Reacher is a witness to a mugging and goes with the cops to fill out a witness statement with the county constabulary. In the process of this, the state boys come in and take over, flexing their muscle all the way through. An unexpected twist comes along at the right time and Reacher gets a reprieve. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews

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