Bad Luck and Trouble

March 26, 2007
At the start of bestseller Child's winning 11th Jack Reacher adventure (after The Hard Way
), the bad guys unceremoniously dump Calvin Franz, a former MP, from a Bell 222 helicopter "hree thousand feet above the desert floor." Trouble is, Franz was a member of the army's special investigation unit headed by Reacher—a one-time military cop who left the service to become a solitary drifter par excellence. A former colleague sends Reacher a coded SOS; the two rendezvous in L.A. and the game's afoot. More members of the band get back together, only to discover that Franz isn't the group's only casualty. As usual in Reacher's capers, practically nothing is what it seems, and the meticulously detailed route to the truth proves especially engrossing thanks to the joint efforts of this band of brothers (and two sisters). The author carefully delineates Reacher's erstwhile colleagues, their smart-ass banter masking an unspoken affection. The villains' comeuppance, a riveting eye-for-an-eye battle scene (hint: helicopter), is one of Child's more satisfying finales.

June 25, 2007
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).

Starred review from March 15, 2007
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, LJ 2/1/07.]Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2007
The latest Jack Reacher thriller marks a significant departure from the rest of the series. Former military policeman Reacher, now a wanderer without an address, a phone, or an e-mail, discovers that someone has deposited $1,030 in his bank account and quickly deduces (1030 is the MP's code for urgent assistance needed) that the money represents a call for help from Frances Neagley, a sergeant in Reacher's old "special investigators" unit. Four members of the unit have been killed, and Neagley is rounding up the survivors to avenge their colleagues and, thus, live up to the group's motto: "You don't mess with the special investigators." There's a " Magnificent Seven "aspect to this scenario: bad stuff is happening to good people, and the old gang is rounded up to set things straight. Crime writers like to dust off this premise occasionally, usually as a way to bring back characters from earlier books (Robert B. Parker did it in " Potshot," 2001), and Child works that angle effectively. But there's more going on here than a class reunion. Readers know Reacher only as a loner, a tough guy with his own agenda who falls into stranger's problems, solves them, and moves on, Shane-like. But here we see him functioning as part of a team, almost an organization man, and it reveals new and fascinating aspects to his character. But, as always, the action is intense, the pace unrelenting, and the violence unforgiving. Child remains the reigning master at combining breakneck yet brilliantly constructed plotting with characters who continually surprise us with their depth.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)