Bad Luck and Trouble
Lee Child
“The man was called Calvin Franz and the helicopter was a Bell 222.
Franz had two broken legs so he had to be loaded on board strapped to a stretcher.”
Bad Luck and Trouble is the 11th in the ragingly successful Jack Reacher series, which first kicked off with Killing Floor in 1997. If you haven't met up yet with Reacher, all you need to know is that he is a hulking army veteran and the ultimate loner, with no telephone, no ties, no fixed address, only his toothbrush and an ever-changing wardrobe.
Bad Luck and Trouble finds Reacher wandering the streets of Portland, Ore., with nowhere to go and no reason to get there. Just the way he likes it. Then, he is contacted by a fellow member of his old service unit, and he is summarily propelled into a labyrinth of danger, loyalty and revenge.
Last time I checked, the Reacher series had totalled 30 full novels and a collection of short stories. However, the last few have been written in conjunction with his brother, who goes by the name of Andrew Grant. Sadly, I find the co-authored books not nearly as engaging as the solo Lee Child efforts. But you be the judge. Read them for yourself and then get back to me.
You'll be able to locate most every Reacher novel in your favourite new and/or used bookstore. Start with any one you wish. Find out more about the man with no middle name at . By the way, Reacher likes his coffee black and he doesn't use toothpaste.
Going to Beautiful
Anthony Bidulka
“Life was good. Until it wasn't. We'd had a big party for my fifty-fifth birthday, which led into Christmas and a promising New Year. We had no reason to believe the future would bring anything but good things.”
This is how we first meet up with internationally famous chef Jake Hardy, who apparently has it all. He is a celebrity, with a thriving career, a bunch of friends, even a faithful dog. Yes, Jake Hardy had it all. Until it went into that proverbial pooper, and he was left to pick up the pieces. The story takes us from a very posh big-city condo apartment to a tiny place about five kilometres from the middle of nowheresville, in winter, in Saskatchewan, in a town where “nothing makes sense.”
The author, Anthony Bidulka, describes Going to Beautiful as a “very personal novel, with bits and pieces of me spread throughout.” Bidulka began his writing career in 1999 when he ditched his big-league accounting career to start creating stories that would feature plenty of under-represented people in familiar places. He has certainly succeeded. Based in Saskatoon, he has published 14 highly praised novels with a 15th to come out later this calendar year.
Going to Beautiful came out in 2022 from Stonehouse Publishing in Alberta. Their website is and the author's own homepage can be found at . As well, you can catch up with Bidulka by tuning in to our Talking Books and Stuff podcast by locating us at and scrolling down the right-hand column for “Headlines,” then do another downward scroll to locate episode 164.
Home
Harlan Coben
“The boy who had been missing for 10 years steps into the light. I am not
one for hysterics or even feeling much of what might be labelled astonishment. I have seen much in my 40-plus years. I have nearly been killed – and I have killed.”
To summarize, Home by Harlan Coben is another in a series of mystery/thrillers that feature investigator Myron Bolitar and his “wealthy, enigmatic” friend with the unwieldy handle of Windsor Horne Lockwood the Third of that name. Myron calls him Win. All you need to know is that the dynamic duo team up to unravel the mystery of the reappearance of one of two boys who were kidnapped a decade earlier. And the story will keep you turning the pages of Home long into the night, which is a good thing.
As of this date, Coben has published, to my estimation, nearly 40 books. More than I have socks. Also, there's plenty of screen adaptations of his works readily
viewable, especially on Netflix.
You'll find Harlan Coben books most everywhere books are sold, traded or swapped. His website is simply .
