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Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher Novels)

Author: Lee Child
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

37 reviews
Sales Rank: 2731

Media: Mass Market Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1

ISBN: 0440243661
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780440243663
ASIN: 0440243661

Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New book. Due to problems with Standard Airmail delivery times from the USA, we have switched to using PRIORITY AIRMAIL ONLY. UK & European delivery is 7-10 days.

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 37

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Is Reacher past it? August 24, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Where can I start, I am a big fan of Reacher every book I've read so far I found it hard to put down. After the first book I went to the local Library and ordered all his books they came in ones twos and four. Needless to say each one was devoured and on to the next one.
My wife complaining "You never talk to me, got your head in a book again"

Well I could put this book down and it took me a week to read this one, even reading a different author in between. Sacrilege. Previous to this early Reacher books were despatched in 24 hours.

A younger Reacher would have seen off these baddies with a little bit of help from a Lawyer, FBI Agent, Police and as usual a women, cause that's the kind of guy he is!

But I do like the interaction between his former Army colleagues and as a previous reviewer commented take him back to his army days. There must be rich Pickens there in the past with so many worldwide locations. The cold war, eastern block countries jumping across the wall, Japan, Filipino islands and lots more.

You have to admit Reacher getting a bit long in tooth.

5 out of 5 stars

Jack has a team August 23, 2007
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

After taking Jack Reacher on a not very convincing trip to the UK in "The Hard Way", this time Lee Child has him back in the streets and deserts of the USA where he is most comfortable. This is a much more gripping read, with a new dynamic as he gets together with a team of his old Special Investigator buddies. This device ratchets up the tension. Although the indestructable Reacher is obviously going to survive to catch a bus into the sunset at the end of the book, how many of his team will still be with him?

4 out of 5 stars

Great new characters but storyline a little limp August 7, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I love Jack Reacher but agree with other reviewers that he has softened a little since the days of Echo Burning, Killing Floor and Tripwire. I really enjoyed this book but it did create a conflict for me. On one hand I love Jack Reacher because he is a loner who leaves no trace but on the other hand I enjoyed him hooking up with his old colleagues from 'back in the day' (his favourite phrase!).

I didn't feel that that the story line was as fast paced as some of the previous offerings but Lee Child has opened up the possibility of developing the Special Investigators who survived this romp.

I really enjoyed The Enemy, the only JR novel that returned to his MP days - I would like to see more of Jack from back along with Neagley, Dixon, Ortez and co.

For Jack Reacher fans, you will enjoy this book but you'll need to get used to a more civilised JR who has a passport, a bank account and friends. But at least his fold away toothbrush is still the only luggage he carries!!

5 out of 5 stars

He' back but different August 5, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

If this was the first Jack Reacher storyline I'd picked, I think I'd be very pleased with the hero - quite an intelligent yet hard-nosed ex-military man, saving the US (again) from others intent on taking it down.

Because I've read all the books, I'm rather confused! It starts well enough in true fashion but, as the story progresses, JR teams up with his former military buddies to deal with the problem. But in and amongst, he's suddenly become a maths expert so I wonder why none of this helped him in previous situations?

However, I suspended belief and got on with the story. He is, after all, a US hero and Lee Child continues to provide tough and final solutions to anyone stepping in the way of the hero.

Maybe JR is slowing down. Maybe the author needs the other three friends to build up some characterisation. Who knows? It's well worth a read and I await the next instalment - maybe to see if JR meets his childhood sweatheart and settles down. Fat chance!

5 out of 5 stars

Jack's back off vacation August 3, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

"Two against seven or more. No time. No element of surprise. A fortified position with no way in. A hopeless situation. 'We're good to go,' Reacher said." - from BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE

In my review of Reacher's immediately previous adventure, THE HARD WAY, I gave 3 stars and opined that author Lee Child had his hero on R&R. But here, in BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE, Jack is teamed with three of seven former members of the special operations unit that he commanded years before as a U.S. Army Military Police officer. Why only three? Because the other four have been tortured and thrown out of a helicopter high above California's Mojave Desert by villains unknown. Back in their service days, the eight of them had been like family, and Jack and his surviving colleagues are on a mission of vengeance. Ohhh, yeah, are they ever.

The thing I like about the Reacher series, unlike another which I read religiously but whose heroine (initials S.P.) is in a plot and character rut, Jack is constantly evolving in the perception of the reader. For instance, in this installment, Jack reveals himself to be a mathematics adept and the club sandwich as one of his favorites. He likes to pick his teeth with the frou-frou toothpick that holds the sandwich together.

As an aside, one of Jack's team, present and past, is ex-sergeant Frances Neagley, who appeared, as I recall, in one other Reacher thriller some years ago. Frances is perhaps just as deadly and efficient as her old CO. She also has a violent phobia against being touched. A character as interesting as hers deserves her own series. Lee, are you listening?

My only quarrel with the plot came towards the end when four Bad Guys are searching a perimeter fence for signs of entry by Reacher and Neagley. It's a moonless night, almost pitch black, and the searchers have no flashlights. While that makes it easier for Jack and Frances to do their bloody work, it makes no sense from the opposition's point of view and strained credibility.

The ending to BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE alone is worth the full hardcover price and the five stars I'm awarding. It's perhaps the best in the entire series so far. Yup, Jack is back.