Bad Luck and Trouble

There are few better narrators than Dick Hill. He renders the eleventh story in the Jack Reacher series with the same tone and attention to detail that Child gives it. This new novel continues to explore the lengths people will go to for money and revenge. Hill adds grit and gravel to his amazing voice and imagination to create an ambiance of gritty realism, colored blood red. A former member of Reacher's U.S. Army investigative team turns up dead, and it's up to this re-formed group to track down the murderers. New readers and fans of Child and Hill will find satisfaction in this character and his continuing adventures. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

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).