A reader asked if I was taking a break from reading Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series in 2023.

This review is my answer.

Apparently not.

I read a few more books between my last Reacher novel and this one but here we go again.

“Bad Luck and Trouble” is the 11th book in the Reacher series and keeps with a habit that started for me almost this time last year of about one Reacher novel per month. Given the number of available Reacher books, it is a habit that could last monthly far into 2024.

In “Bad Luck and Trouble,” Reacher teams up with what is left of an elite group of special investigators he led during his time in the military.

Tragedy leads to the reunion.

Someone has killed other retired members of the Army group and Reacher and friends intend to find out why and who before any more of them die.

As the group motto states: “You do not mess with the special investigators.”

Except someone has.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Reacher novels is how much they change, book to book. One novel, Reacher is helping someone in need, either intentionally or by accident of circumstance; the next, he’s involved with some situation from his military past.

Seeing him teamed with past Army comrades is a good fit in the series. It also adds for further character development for Reacher.

He’s retired military; in each book, he continues his endless trek living a solitary life moving from place to place with only the clothes on his back and his folding toothbrush. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s skilled. He’s smart. He has a plentiful supply of confidence in his abilities. He’s unstoppable. He runs the risk of being a stock character – a superhero cartoon.

But placing Reacher with his comrades, a placement that allows him to compare his chosen circumstances with their civilian lives of careers, families, possessions, etc., adds a bit of human reflection to the character.

Child walks the line between Reacher being the indomitable hero and Reacher the human being. That line and the constant change of circumstances keep Reacher interesting and make him a character easy to pull from the shelves month after month. and for longer fans, returning year after year, for a new adventure.