Jack Reacher novels have become more and more popular as the years have passed since Lee Child lost his TV job in the UK and decided to use his savings to support him and his family as he tried to write his first novel which turned out to be ‘Killing Floor‘ starring an ex-military cop by the name of Jack Reacher.
Child has since gone on to publish 16 Jack Reacher novels and the strong main character has been central to the growing success of the series. A tall, strong and intelligent man on the move with a solid moral compass Reacher has become one of those book characters that transcends the novels themselves into an entity that be gets discussion on forums and has his own fandom.
Jack Reacher Novels Fan Base
The Jack Reacher novels have created avid and dedicated fans that describe themselves as Reacher fans rather than Lee Child fans and Child himself has many times over talked about the character in terms of a separate ‘brand’ to the novels themselves.
Starting with Killing Floor in 1997 Lee Child has crafted 16 Jack Reacher novels, publishing one a year except for 61 Hours and Worth Dying For which were both published in 2010. This was a deliberate plan by the author who really only expected the series to last a maximum of 10 books.
Some of the books are scribed in the first person and some in the third person. Also, both The Enemy and The Affair are prequels. This often brings up the debate amongst new readers about whether to read the Jack Reacher novels in order or to read them in chronological order.
Most agree that it is essential the read the novels in order as Reacher’s character and likeability develops through Lee Child’s experience as a writer as much as with Reacher’s development as a person and a policeman.
Jack Reacher Novels In Order
Killing Floor – The first Jack Reacher sees him in rural Georgia on a chance detour to find out about a long dead musician. When he is arrested for murder things get serious, especially when he finds out the identity of the victim of the murder. Things are not what they seem in this township.
Die Trying – Reacher gets himself kidnapped when he finds himself playing a good Samaritan to a woman on crutches that turns out to be the target of the kidnappers. The pair have to work together to avoid death in a place a long way from where they literally bumped into each other.
Tripwire – When topping up his tan and muscles digging swimming pools in Florida Reacher finds himself being pursued by a mystery woman from New York that turns out to be the daughter of his old boss in the Army – and now the two of them must stay one step ahead of a crime boss crippled in the Vietnam War.
Running Blind – Jack gets accused of being the link between multiple murders of ex-Army female officers and gets dragged into the investigation after his name is cleared when it becomes obvious he is not the killer but he can’t walk away from the investigation like he would like to.
Echo Burning – When the heat is bearing down on you in the middle of a Texas summer you do not refuse a lift in an air conditioned car. When a beautiful woman offers Reacher a ride he takes her up on the offer, an offer he may later regret as it turns out that the woman and he young daughter are in al sorts of trouble that Reacher’s conscience won’t let him move on from.
Without Fail – When Reacher is asked to plan the assassination of the Vice-President in an attempt to stop an assassination he calls on some old Army colleagues to help the Secret Service protect the VP who has been getting threats on his life. Surely nothing can go wrong for Jack?
Persuader – When Jack spots a man he believed to be dead walking down the street he can’t just let him pass by. In true Reacher fashion his moral compass must set things right, as they should have been years ago. However, things never go smoothly for Jack and he needs to close the book on this chapter from his past.
The Enemy – When Jack Reacher gets called upon to help in the recent murder of a General and later his wife, he soon discovers that the players in the complex game are way above his pay grade. That usually never stopped Reacher from finding the truth and now is not the time to change old habits.
One Shot – When the last man on Earth is the man you need to help prove your innocence of a mass sniper killing you want that man to be Jack Reacher, the one man alive that can get into the mind of the real killer and get you freed. But will Jack want to help?
The Hard Way – Nothing is as it seem with Jack Reacher, and in The Hard Way things are as ever when Jack gets himself into a live and death situation working for, and ultimately against, a crime boss with more secrets than the KGB. Set in New York and England, Reacher must pull on all his skills to protect a mother and child.
Bad Luck and Trouble – When one of Jack Reacher’s old team is found dead in suspicious circumstances the old gang get back together to solve the murder. Bad luck and trouble is an insight to Jack’s past as a military cop and friend of like minded MP’s.
Nothing to Lose – Set between two small towns in Colorado, Jack’s latest adventure pits him against the local secretive recycling company owner and many of the towns folk. What is so important with a factory that has security like Fort Knox. Reacher has to find out…
Gone Tomorrow – When Reacher spots a train passenger displaying all the proven characteristics of a suicide bomber he wonders why she has chosen a quiet train in the middle of the night to do it. When he confronts her she kills herself and Reacher wants, needs, to know who she is and why she took the actions she took that night on the train.
61 Hours – The last place you want to be in a violent snow storm is on a bus that can’t handle the conditions but that’s where Reacher has found himself. When the bus crashes, Jack gets dragged into a manhunt locally for a murderer. Set in freezing South Dakota Reacher doesn’t expect a connection from his past to be part of this adventure.
Worth Dying For – Reacher sticks his nose in where it isn’t wanted again in this tale of right and wrong. When Jack overhears a doctor refuse to treat a battered wife of a local crime boss he steps in to make sure the right thing is done. As usual he gets more than he bargained for and his moral compass sets him on a course for death.
The Affair – In this the prequel to the first Jack Reacher novel, our hero is still in the Army and times are a changing for both Jack and the Army. In his last case before he leaves the Army Jack must go undercover to solve the murders of young woman in a small town near a secretive Army base. Is this the beginning of the end for Reacher’s Army career?
The Jack Reacher novels have had such an impact on the growing band of fans that there has always been a huge amount of debate and discussion about who would play Reacher in a movie. Well, in 2011 that question was finally answered when it was announced, to much derision from fans, that Tom Cruise was to play Jack in the first of a series of movies based on the Jack Reacher novels.
