From a helicopter high above the California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night . . . and Jack Reacher is plunged into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends.
Reacher has no phone, no address, no ties. But a woman from his former military unit has found him using a signal only the eight members of their elite team would know. Then she tells him about the brutal death of one of their own. Soon they learn of the sudden disappearance of two other comrades. But Reacher won’t give up—because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they’d better be ready for what comes right back at them.
Janet Maslin
… [Child] avoids commas, italics, long sentences, balmy caresses and any other talk about the weather. The effect of this streamlining is electrifying. Not for nothing has the cover art of his recent books depicted a bull’s-eye.
Bad Luck and Trouble unfolds with the simple, immaculate logic that makes this series utterly addictive.
The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
Child's 11th Jack Reacher novel finds the ultraresourceful, live-by-his-wits loner out for revenge against an unknown foe who, for some reason, is bumping off the members of his old military police squad. As if this weren't already the answer to a thriller fan's prayer, narrator Dick Hill is back on board. With an adaptable voice that conveys intelligence and more than a hint of wise guy attitude, Hill is the go-to guy when it comes to hard-boiled action. He gets a fair share of it, with Child's lean prose taking his hero and three other surviving squad members through a series of perilous encounters. Hill has already perfected the aural equivalent of Reacher's cool cynicism. Taking on the new trio, he provides security expert Frances Neagley with a no-nonsense brusqueness, forensic accountant Karla Dixon with a slightly softer tone, and Dave O'Donnell gets a snooty, waspish delivery that's just about right for a D.C. private eye who looks like an aging Ivy Leaguer but carries a switchblade and brass knuckles in his pocket. Simultaneous release with the Delacorte hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 26). (May)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Library Journal
Jack Reacher's past comes roaring back to life in Child's 11th page-turner. When Reacher withdraws money from an ATM, he discovers that his account has unexpectedly grown. The amount is a code that takes him to California, where a friend and former colleague from his military days tells him that another member of their former unit has been murdered. A group of people who could trust one another with their lives is now being picked off one by one. Can the remaining team members figure out who is after them and why they have been targeted? After ten previous Reacher novels, it would seem difficult to find new insight into such an enigmatic character, but Child supplies one of the best books in the series. This view into Reacher's past and the people he knew makes for an intriguing story line. Highly recommended for all fiction collections; newcomers to the series as well as dyed-in-the-wool Child fans will find lots to enjoy. [See Prepub Alert, LJ2/1/07.]
Jeff Ayers
Kirkus Reviews
In a scorching 11th (The Hard Way, 2006, etc.), Jack Reacher, that murderous moralist, seeks an eye for an eye for an eye for an eye. Once there'd been eight of them-military cops Reacher had formed into an elite unit. Suddenly, four are dead, rendered so by person or persons unknown, and Reacher's out for payback: "You don't mess with the Special Investigators"-the unit's mantra and rallying cry. True, the army was a thing of the long-ago past, but in Reacher's iron philosophy loyalty is imperishable. "There are dead men walking," he swears. "You don't throw my friends out of helicopters and live to tell the tale." But for vengeance to go forward certain questions must be answered. Why, for instance, are they being hunted so many years after they've stopped making enemies? A blood-soaked chess game ensues-feints, gambits, deadly traps. Reacher & Co.'s own hunt takes them from California to Las Vegas and back again. They make mistakes, correct them, edge closer to the answers they need in order to satisfy the code they continue to live by. In passing, Reacher rekindles an old love affair, sort of. At last, the outlines of a frightening conspiracy begin taking shape, suggesting that much more is at stake than any of them could have imagined at the outset. Inexorably, a point of no return approaches, and soon Reacher, who is nothing if not code-driven, will face a mind-bending choice-perhaps his most excruciating yet. On the one hand, the lives of friends: two. On the other, the lives of innocents: thousands. Which to pick?Perhaps there are action-lit writers more recognizable than Child, but the bet is that none of them will turn in a tighter-plotted, richer-peopled, faster-pacedpage-turner this year. Agent: Darley Anderson/Darley Anderson Agency
From the Publisher
“Electrifying . . . this series is utterly addictive.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“[An] action-packed thrill ride.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“A slam-bang yarn filled with Child’s usual terse life-and-death lessons.”—Entertainment Weekly
“A breathless, ultra-cool novel with relentless pacing.”—The Plain Dealer
“Tension-packed . . . one of the most enjoyable of the Reacher thrillers.”—Orlando Sentinel
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