‘You do not mess with the Special Investigators’.
If you’re not clear on that at the start of Lee Child’s new Jack Reacher novel, ‘Bad Luck and Trouble’, you will be by the end. Mainly because it’s mentioned on every single page.
So Jack’s back (hearing that a lot lately), and he’s bringing some friends with him. When an ex-army buddy is dropped 3000 feet out of a helicopter, it sets off a chain of events that brings Reacher to L.A., along with the remains of his old army unit, the Special Investigators. They’re going to find out who killed their friend, return the favour and ‘piss on their ancestors' graves’. Charming bunch.
It’s more of the same action, crime solving and humour that’s come to characterise the Reacher franchise, and whilst it’s a fast and enjoyable read, it also feels like little more than a repeat of the previous novels. It’s great to see Reacher meet up with his old friends, but we’d don’t learn much more about him, or see him in a situation we haven’t already seen him in a dozen times. I’m also suspicious that the book is setting things up for a co-authored spin off series in the style of Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler and James Patterson. There’s a lot we don’t find out about the Special Investigators, almost as if it’s all being saved for something in the future. Whatever happens, we won’t have seen the last of these characters.
It’s perfect airplane fodder, or for sitting out in the garden over a sunny weekend, but offers little more than a pleasant (and occasionally brutal) break from more thought provoking reading. Or in my case, SF. Seriously, have you tried reading ‘Last and First Men’ in one sitting? Anyway, I enjoyed it and I’ll get the next one and the twelve after that, but I’ll not be counting down the days.
