Bad Luck and Trouble: Jack Reacher, Book 11

I like this book. Whilst the plot is as good as the previous Jack Reacher books I had read, it is better as it dwells deeper into his background. His military history and his team (akin to a family) whom he had worked closely with. After a long absence from each other, they still remembered how to work with each other and fit in so well like they have never been separated at all. The loss and sadness each of them felt when they heard that four members of the team were murdered, and sought justice for their death with a vengeance. It’s nice to see that the bonds with each other were so strong even though they never saw each other or kept in touch, and could never be broken ever…

Revenge novels are always among the top of my Must-Read list. The excitement of a well-written book with a dangerous hero shoved in the underdog's role and up against impossible odds hooks me every time. Throw in a great character with a - mostly - realistic history and abilities and I'm a happy guy.For the last few years, Lee Child has been writing about a character named Jack Reacher. Reacher is an awesome hero, not only is he incredibly physical (6'5" tall and 250 pounds), but he's also canny as a fox, something of an idiot savant when it comes to numbers, and has a near-photographic memory for people and places. Oh, and then there's the personal radar system that signals him whenever he's on dangerous ground.After leaving his military career, Reacher has become something of a vagabond near-do-well. He hasn't ever married, never had children, doesn't own a house, and doesn't even have a driver's license. He has a habit of getting on buses and just letting them take them wherever they're going. Footloose, fancy-free, and always in trouble. He works just enough to get by. The only things he owns these days is a folding toothbrush, and - as a result of the 9/11 crisis - a passport and an ATM card.The novels are always over the top when it comes to plot and action, but Child writes them so well that if the characters were real and the situations were true, fans just know this is how it would be.BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE is the eleventh Reacher novel and just came out in hardcover. The other ten are all in paperback. Child is so good that he's moved onto my hardcover buy-list because I don't want to wait a year for the paperback. It takes a lot to make that list because space in my house is at a premium. He's already working on his twelfth Reacher novel, PLAY DIRTY.When Reacher was a military policeman ten years ago, he headed up a special team of eight trained investigators. Their jobs then had been to catch the bad guys - murderers, black marketers, con artists, and runaways - that operated within the United States Army. Over the two years the unit was together, they went up against some true hardcases and put their lives on the line nearly every day. Back then, they'd had a motto: "You don't mess with the special investigators."That motto became a lifeline for them. No one was allowed to attack any member of the unit without the other seven taking part. During those two years, they'd covered each other's back through a number of close calls - against bullets and against commanding officers who hadn't cared for their investigations. They'd never lost anyone.Now someone had killed one of them. Reacher and the survivors of the unit get together for one more special investigation, and their whole mission is to rock and roll the killer's world.I loved the whole revenge concept, and Child starts the action off with a cinematic murder. A man is loaded onto a helicopter, flown out into the Nevada desert a short distance from Las Vegas, and dropped three thousand feet to his death. Later we find out this was to strip all forensic evidence from the body. (It's an interesting idea, but I'll have to do the research on that one to find out. I'm something of an amateur forensics person.)Immediately Child shifts to Reacher, who has just discovered that someone has deposited $1030 into his bank account. After a little bit of headwork, Reacher draws the conclusion that someone has sent him a message. He knows it could only have come from his old crew. A 1030 call signified that an agent was in trouble.Child's writing has always been economical. He's never used six words when five would do. Or one. His plotting is quick and tight, and if you don't pay attention you're going to miss something. He is, by turns bashing the reader with action and subtle about character interaction, history, and back story for the plot. Everything matters in his books, and he uses everything he develops.BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE is written so lean and frantic that I read it in two sittings. Since the book is almost 400 pages long and has smallish print, that was a lot of reading. Several hours, in fact. But Child kept me nailed to the seat because I could never quite put the book down once he had it up and running. I finally passed out with it on my chest at night, then got up the next morning and finished it.Child doesn't write books that let facts or reality get in the way. He stays close to the bone in those areas, but he's an excellent thriller writer and knows when to trust his instincts and let the story have its head no matter how wild it gets. He's also got a great grasp of Reacher and the other characters, because even though this is thriller material, all of the old unit came to life on the pages.With its June release, BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE is an excellent beach read. It's got short chapters, short scenes, and terse clean writing with a plot that never breaks stride.

My new favorite of the series! Reacher starts out in Portland, OR and gets a cryptic message via his bank account and heads down to LA. Members from his old Army MP unit, the Special Investigators, may be in danger. The story had me right from the beginning. Since I'm not a numbers person (nor will I ever be,) I could not figure out what the hell was going on. I wasn't alone, Jack and his squad are just as puzzled. What unfolds turns out to be a very dangerous situation and puts many lives at risk.It was a page-turner from front to back and had a good, solid ending. I wanted to get this read before season 2 comes out on Amazon, since it will be based on this book. I keep my fingers crossed that it will follow the book as much as the first season did. Can't wait to watch! Should be edge-of-your-seat viewing!

Well written (as usual with Lee Child). Nice to bring the old gang together. I read this book because I heard it was being made into a movie. I hope so. It’s a good story for a movie.

Best Reacher book so far. Can't wait to see it on Prime.It should be a fantastic adaptation and better than season 1.

Lee Child can weave an interesting tale about Jack Reacher but may drive readers who are familiar with proper sentence structure and use of punctuation to the brink. I know that’s the case for me. I purchased the entire Jack Reacher series of books after seeing the first season of the series. I never would have read so many of his books if I hadn’t already paid for them. I have often wondered why, with all the money that Lee Child must have brought in from his writing, he can’t seem to afford a staff who will proofread and correct the many mistakes throughout his books. Same goes for his publisher. I held onto hope with each successive book that he might learn something about writing and make his books easier to read. I hoped, with the addition of his brother on the last couple, that the books would improve but seemed to get only worse. Sometimes, 2 whole pages of back-and-forth banter are written with nothing to occasionally let you know who is speaking, so multiple readings may be needed at times to sort it out. I think almost all, if not all, of the pages have sentences with commas where none are needed, periods where commas are needed, clauses used as sentences, and a new paragraph starting from a clause that belongs in the previous sentence of the preceding paragraph. As I said, hard to read if you understand basic sentence structure. There are often times where I wish Lee had done one iota of research to get facts right. I refer to passages in the stories where it was apparent that Lee Child had no experience or knowledge; I guess, more or less, the writing is off the top of his head. Some problems are: 1: He thinks the flashing emergency lights of vehicles in the western states are the same as in much of the New England states (blue on fire trucks and red on police). 2: He didn’t know what the average shoe size in America is actually 10 ½ (stating it as 9) 3: He thinks a large man like Jack Reacher would have what Lee evidently thinks of as a large foot size of 11, instead of something closer to 14 or 15 (I am 6’1” and wear a 13.) I assume Lee has a small foot. 4: Lee has never been near a fast-moving train, thinking there is violent ground movement when the train is even over a mile away and hurricane force winds near one traveling 60 mph. 5: He seems to think that all gas stations and quick marts sell khaki pants and various shirts, packs of socks, and underwear. 6: Jack Reacher can knock anyone unconscious and very often dead with one punch. I can remember only a couple times when it took two. 7: He thinks face bones will “shatter” from a Jack Reacher punch and can knock out a gorilla or even an elephant. Jack also never has injuries to his hand or elbow from such amazing blows. 8: Jack Reacher’s hands are said to be as large as a dinner plate and his fists as large as Thanksgiving turkeys…really? Yes, his books are hard to read for these and other reasons caused by lack of oversight by his publisher and lack of staff. Please, I hope never to find out he has a staff that lets this stuff through. Good storyteller, other than the lack of research on details and no idea as to sentence/paragraph structure.. Rating would be five for the story.Won't buy future books

Well the novel is spectacular and amazon perfect as always, but the book 📖 is in bad shape with some pages loose, i am a bit disappointed because i paid too much 9,90€realy too much, i recommend the book but not the seller

bad luck and trouble. not bad but not as good as he has been. his older stuff was much better

It was an exciting suspenseful story, hard to put down. However near the conclusion it slowed down, the conclusion was obvious. Overall a typical Lee Child story

待ちに待ったJack Reacherシリーズの新作・第11作目「Bad Luck and Trouble」 を一気に読みました。この読後の爽快感は、Lee Child でなくては味わえないものがあります。全11作品の中には、読者の好み次第では、これはちょっと、というものもあるかと思いますが総じて新鮮な展開の中でウィットに富んだやりとり、捜査官としてのキレのいい判断どころ、ドキドキもののアクションシーン等、飽きさせない要素が満載の超お奨め作品です。もちろん、刑事物のファンで、シリーズを初めてお読みになる方は、どうしても１作目（Killing Floor）から順にトライされることをお奨めしたいです。

これまでリーチャーシリーズは全作品を読んで、十二分に楽しんできた。第10作目のこの作品もこれまで同様の高水準を期待していたが、全然つまらないのである。息をも継がせず展開し、最初の100ページくらいは読者を軽く持ってっちゃういつもの緊迫したプロットが無い！昔の憲兵仲間が3人登場するが、小うるさいだけで、凄みも何も感じない！フランシス・ニーグリーは副大統領暗殺を扱った前作（題名は忘れちゃった）では極めて魅力的なキャラクターとして登場したが、今回は全くの刺身のつま。凄いぞ凄いぞと作者は言っているが凄みが全然迫ってこない。プロットもお粗末で、黒幕も簡単に割れてしまうし。星3つは前作までの付き合いに免じたお情けじゃ。次作は大いに奮起して欲しい。第二のＡ．Ｊ．クィネルにはならないで！