Jack Reacher is the main character for a total, so far, of 16 novels written by Lee Child. Bad Luck and Trouble is number 11 in the series. Lucky for me Child has written this particular book so that the reader does not need to have read any of the previous books.
This book was a fathers day gift from Patrick, I can’t remember if Lee Child and the Reacher novels are listed on my blog page, “Books I Want To Read” but it has for some time been on the list I keep in my head. Why don’t I just log in and check my “Books I Want To Read” page? Good question Dear Reader, one that I can answer with a smile, I am at this moment sitting on the side deck at the cottage in Southampton . The cottage does not have internet access, we are lucky to have cable TV, but no internet, we like it that way. Lianne has 3G on her iPad, that is about as far as it goes for being civilized up here. I will hike over to Coffee Culture later this week, and for the price of a good cup of coffee, I will upload this blog, and perhaps even the next one, as I am 80% through my second book, we have been here for a total of 4 days. Nothing to do but read, and sharpen my chain saw blade,( I hit a piece of hidden concrete in a stump?) A bit of Bad Luck?
In Bad Luck and Trouble, Jack has a head for numbers, he is a retired Military MP, who headed up a Special Investigators Unit, I am not exactly sure what they would be investigating, perhaps a book closer to the first in the series will answer this question., but we do know that “you do not mess with the special investigators”. Reacher walks up to an ATM, before he insets his bank card, the only plastic he carries, he calculates exactly how much money he should have, adjusting for interest, to his surprise he has too much money in the account, exactly $1030.00 too much, a bank error, or is it something more.
He takes out $50, them finds a quarter and calls the bank. Nope not a bank error, a deposit in his account, but by whom, the back can’t divulge that information, but if Mr. Reacher were to say, come up with a name, the bank might be able to not confirm that is was not that particular name on the deposit, ya know before 911, and the whole terrorist attacking the home land, the dam bank would be able to tell you who deposited funds into your own back account. Reacher gets his name, Frances Neagley. Neagley, an MP as well, she worked for Reacher for a few years in the Special Investigators Unit, they have known each other for more that 10 years prior to that, One thousand and eighteen dollars, 1018, it’s a military code, for urgent assistance required. Reacher knows that Neagly works for some big security provider in Chicago
A short plane ride later, Reacher walks into a restaurant where Neagley is patiently sitting waiting for him, neither one of them is surprised, after all it is what they do, they find people, some good, most bad, and if you put yourself in you preys shoes, think like them act like them, then it becomes easier to find them.
We learn from Neagley, that another member of the Special Investigators Unit, was found dead, not overly surprising that some are dying off, they lost one from a heart attack, one in an auto accident, but this one, Calvin Franz died after falling out of a helicopter. The helicopter did not crash in the desert just Franz did, along with two broken legs, obviously broken prior to the nudge out the door, so he was made to suffer.
Neagley wants Reacher to put the team back together, money is not a problem for Neagley, she can finance the operation, she wants whoever killed her old team mate, Reacher agrees, why because you don’t mess with the Special Investigators, and someone, somewhere just did.
Getting the team together is bitter sweet, they find an additional two alive and willing to put their regular lives on hold, and they are unable to find the other half of the team, until another shows up, in the middle of the desert, with the same impact trauma as Franz. It seems that someone is tossing the Special investigators out of a helicopter, time to begin some serious investigating.
This book flows wonderfully, at no time did I cringe when the author changed tacks and moved to the other side of the story line, I was as eager to learn what the bad guys were up to, and extremely happy when we moved back to Reacher and his team, Child sticks with a single story, shows both sides, builds suspense while slowly revealing what is really happening and why. The book has good guys, bad guys, bad cops, government involvement, old memories, renewed friendships, military technology, and one great slogan to live by. “You Do Not Mess With The Special Investigators.”
Well Dear Reader, I think it is time to pick up the chain saw and see how much trouble I can get into.
bfn Brian
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