Jack Reacher (book series)

Jack Reacher is a fictional protagonist of a series of novels, novellas and short stories by British author Lee Child.[1] A former Major in the United States Army Military Police Corps, Reacher roams the United States taking odd jobs and investigating suspicious and frequently dangerous situations. The Reacher novels are written either in the first-person or third-person. The schedule for the Reacher series, previously one-per-year, was increased in 2010 with the release of both 61 Hours and Worth Dying For. Most of the novels are set in the United States, in locales ranging from major metropolitan areas like New York City and Los Angeles to small towns in the Midwestern and Southern United States. To date, Reacher's travels outside the US have taken him to rural England (The Hard Way), London (Personal), and Paris, France, where Reacher visits his dead mother's grave and with his brother.

Novel series

Series no. Title ISBN Date of publication 1st/3rd person Summary
1 Killing Floor 0-515-12344-7 March 1997 1st Jack Reacher gets off a Greyhound bus in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia, because he remembers his brother mentioning that a blues musician named Blind Blake died there. Much to his surprise, shortly after his arrival, he is arrested in a local diner for murder. He must try to prove his innocence.
2 Die Trying 0-399-14379-3 July 1998 3rd Just as Reacher helps Holly Johnson, an attractive young woman struggling with her crutches on a Chicago street, they are both kidnapped at gunpoint. Reacher and the woman are thrown into a dark van and taken 2000 miles across America, completely unaware why they were kidnapped and where they are going. Finding themselves trapped in a seemingly remote place, they must work together to find the answers.
3 Tripwire 0-515-14307-3 July 1999 3rd Reacher is in Key West, digging pools by hand and moonlighting as a bouncer for a topless bar. He discovers the body of a New York investigator hired by "Mrs. Jacob" to find him. He finds out that she is attorney Jodie Garber, daughter of General Leon Garber, Reacher's mentor and surrogate father in the Army. She wants his help investigating her father's last project, a search on behalf of the elderly parents of their military MIA son. They soon find themselves hunted by a psychopath businessman and military criminal crippled in the Vietnam War, who has a shadowy business and other secrets to protect. Reacher inherits a house and a steady girlfriend, and contemplates sedentary life.
4 The Visitor (UK)
Running Blind (US)		 978-0-515-14350-8 April 2000 3rd Two women are found dead in their own homes—in baths filled with Army-issue camouflage paint, their bodies completely unmarked—Jack Reacher knew them—and he knows that they both left the Army under dubious circumstances, both victims of sexual harassment. Reacher is under suspicion and arrested; as a former US military policeman, a loner and a drifter, he matches the psychological criminal profile prepared by the FBI Special Agent Julia Lamarr. When another woman is killed the same way while Reacher is under surveillance, he is released but pressured into helping the murder investigation. He has to find out what they have in common and why someone would kill more.
5 Echo Burning 0-515-13331-0 April 2001 3rd Reacher hitches a ride in Texas. Carmen, the driver, is a mother of a young girl trapped in an abusive marriage and requests Reacher's help. After some deliberation Reacher consents. However at her remote ranch in Echo County Reacher encounters lies, prejudice and hatred climaxing in Carmen being arrested for the murder of her husband. With Carmen's true motives cast into doubt, Reacher finds himself investigating the truth.
6 Without Fail 978-0-515-14431-4 April 2002 3rd Reacher arrives in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and is intercepted by Mary Ellen (M. E.) Froelich, a beautiful secret service agent. She has a special request: That Reacher tell her the various ways, were he an actual assassin, in which he could kill the Vice-President; being made aware of any such methods would help her considerably in tightening her security detail in order to protect the Vice-President's life. He accepts the challenge, enlisting old colleague Frances Neagley to help carry out the mission. Suspicious and threatening letters have been sent to the Vice-President and intercepted by his protective team. Together, they attempt to find those responsible.
7 Persuader 978-0-440-24598-8 April 2003 1st Walking along the street, Reacher sees Quinn, a man who should be dead: dead as he was responsible for the murder of two of Reacher's colleagues ten years back. Now a chance encounter outside Boston's Symphony Hall shows Reacher that Francis Xavier Quinn got away with murder. Reacher teams up with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to penetrate a smuggling ring in order to get back at Quinn.
8 The Enemy 0-553-81585-7 April 2004 1st On New Year's Day, 1990, in a North Carolina motel, a two-star general is found dead, suspected to have suffered a heart attack while engaging in coitus with a prostitute. Within minutes, Reacher is ordered to contain the situation to prevent embarrassment to the US Army. But matters escalate when Reacher discovers the general's briefcase is missing and is tasked with recovering an important agenda present in it.
9 One Shot 0-385-33668-3 April 2005 3rd In an innocent heartland city, five murders with six shots are done by an expert sniper. The police quickly identify and arrest a suspect, and build a slam-dunk case with iron-clad evidence. But the accused man claims he's innocent and says "Get Jack Reacher." Reacher himself sees the news report and turns up in the city. The defense is immensely relieved; but Reacher has come to bury the guy. Shocked by the request of the accused, Reacher sets out to confirm for himself the absolute certainty of the man's guilt, but comes up with more than he bargained for. The novel was adapted for the screen in 2012 as Jack Reacher, with Tom Cruise in the title role.
10 The Hard Way 0-385-33669-1 May 2006 3rd After witnessing an exchange of $1,000,000. Jack Reacher is hired by the underhanded director of a private military firm to rescue his wife and stepchild, who appear to have been kidnapped. Reacher- enlisting the help of an ex-FBI private investigator -uncovers clues that might lead to a rescue,learning about the director's mysterious past in the process. The investigation leads him to the truth, and ultimately engage in a gun battle on a farm in Norfolk, England. This novel is set primarily in New York City.
11 Bad Luck and Trouble 0-385-34055-9 April 2007 3rd Reacher is content with his choice of being a loner, a wanderer and being almost impossible to find. But someone makes a small anonymous deposit into his bank account, which triggers Reacher's fixation for math and his investigative instincts. Reacher deduces that the deposit is a signal only the eight former members of his elite team of army investigators would use. Obsessed with math like Reacher, Frances Neagley locates him because of the brutal death of one of their own. They race to reunite with the survivors of their old team and raise the living, bury the dead, and connect the dots in a mystery that grows more complex with more murders. With the lives of those Reacher considers family at stake, his usual emotionless demeanor breaks and he says of the killers, "They are dead men walking." The team falls into their old roles and routines with ease, their motto still their sacred rule: You do not mess with the Special Investigators.
12 Nothing to Lose 978-059-305702-5 March 2008 3rd Traveling from the town of Hope, Colorado to the neighboring town of Despair, Reacher finds that he is an unwelcome visitor, which fuels his curiosity. Reacher decides to investigate the mystery behind the town's unwelcoming disposition towards visitors, unraveling in the process the secrets of Thurman, a powerful businessman who has employed the majority of the population of Despair to work in his recycling factory.
13 Gone Tomorrow 978-0-440-24368-7 April 2009 1st Reacher takes the subway late at night, habitually checking out his fellow passengers. Four of them are okay, but the fifth is not. Checking against his mental list for suicide bombers, he comes to the conclusion that the fifth is one. He is puzzled with her choice of timing and place, as it is not crowded; on the contrary the subway was exceedingly empty. He reasons with her, but she shoots herself; thereby proving Reacher wrong when he concluded she was a bomber. His determination to discover why she killed herself forms the plot of the story.
14 61 Hours 978-0-440-24369-4 March 2010 3rd In South Dakota, a tourist bus crashes during a savage snow storm with Jack Reacher in it. Reacher gets caught up in a hunt for a murderer and the protection of a key witness.
15 Worth Dying For 978-0-385-34431-9 September 2010 3rd Reacher arrives late one night in a rural Nebraska town. In the town's fading motel bar he overhears a drunk doctor's refusal to attend a victim of domestic abuse. Reacher intervenes, getting the doctor to attend to the victim while breaking the nose of the husband responsible for the abuse. It turns out that the husband is the scion of the powerful and rich Duncan clan, which maintains authority in that part of Nebraska. Reacher's intervention causes him to end up embroiled in a smuggling ring and an unsolved disappearance from twenty-five years prior.
16 The Affair 978-0-440-24630-5 27 September 2011 1st March 1997. Six months before the events of Killing Floor. Jack Reacher is still in the army. And there's big trouble in a small town in Mississippi, where a soldier's girlfriend is found with her throat cut from ear to ear. Local trouble? Or is the killer from nearby Fort Kelham, a giant base used by elite Army Rangers? In 1997, Reacher's orders are: go undercover, keep your distance, monitor the investigation. Eventually the army's official investigation produces a cast-iron prime suspect—and so does Reacher's undercover search. But Reacher's answer is not the same as the army's. If he keeps quiet, will he be able to live with himself? And if he speaks out, will the army be able to live with him?
17 A Wanted Man 978-0-440-24631-2 11 September 2012 3rd In order to get to Virginia, Reacher hitches a ride from a group of three- two men and a woman. An hour behind them, the FBI descends on an old pumping station where a man was stabbed to death- the knife work professional, the killers nowhere to be seen. At the same time Reacher discovers the woman appears to be kidnapped and that the two men are the kidnappers. Reacher now finds himself tied to a volatile situation and it is up to him to try and defuse it.
18 Never Go Back 978-0-593-06574-7 3 September 2013 3rd Culminating the story arc extending from 61 Hours former military cop Jack Reacher makes it to his destination in northeastern Virginia: the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. On arriving though, Reacher finds out that the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner, has been arrested. Soon he too finds himself taken into custody, pending the trail of two crimes he allegedly committed while he was in the army. Reacher and Turner set out on a journey; Turner in hopes of clearing her name and Reacher to prove the charges fraudulent or if true then atone for them.
19 Personal 978-0-5930-7382-7 28 August 2014 1st Reacher is tasked with finding out the person responsible for taking a long distance shot at the French President, one of the suspects being a man Reacher tracked down once and put in jail sixteen years back for murder.
20 Make Me 978-0-8041-7877-8 8 September 2015 3rd Reacher makes a stop in an agrarian town called Mother's Rest. There a woman, Michelle Chang, enlists his help to find a missing colleague.
21 Night School 0804178801 8 November 2016 3rd It’s 1996, and Reacher is still in the army. In the morning they give him a medal, and in the afternoon they send him back to school. That night he’s off the grid. Out of sight, out of mind.

Two other men are in the classroom—an FBI agent and a CIA analyst. Each is a first-rate operator, each is fresh off a big win, and each is wondering what the hell they are doing there.

Then they find out: A Jihadist sleeper cell in Hamburg, Germany, has received an unexpected visitor—a Saudi courier, seeking safe haven while waiting to rendezvous with persons unknown. A CIA asset, undercover inside the cell, has overheard the courier whisper a chilling message: “The American wants a hundred million dollars.”

For what? And who from? Reacher and his two new friends are told to find the American. Reacher recruits the best soldier he has ever worked with: Sergeant Frances Neagley. Their mission heats up in more ways than one, while always keeping their eyes on the prize: If they don’t get their man, the world will suffer an epic act of terrorism.

From Langley to Hamburg, Jalalabad to Kiev, Night School moves like a bullet through a treacherous landscape of double crosses, faked identities, and new and terrible enemies, as Reacher maneuvers inside the game and outside the law.

Short stories and novellas

Reacher has also appeared in several short stories by Child. "Second Son," "Deep Down" and "Not a Drill" were all released originally for the Amazon Kindle although "Second Son" was later included in the American & Canadian paperback and Kindle editions of The Affair,[2] and "Deep Down" with the American & Canadian paperback and Kindle editions of A Wanted Man.[3] "High Heat" with the American paperback and Kindle editions of Never Go Back, "Everyone Talks" with the UK edition of Never Go Back, and "Not a Drill" with the American paperback of Personal.

"Second Son"

"Second Son" is a snapshot of the life of Reacher and his family circa 1974, while they are stationed on a military base in Okinawa. Upon arriving they immediately get into deep trouble that is compounded by some bad news. The action is interspersed with contemplative moments, such as when 13-year-old Jack's grandfather, a prosthetic-limb maker and World War I veteran in Paris, recounts that "… a great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves."

"Deep Down"

In 1986, summoned by military intelligence to Washington, DC, Reacher is sent undercover. The assignment that awaits him: the army is meeting with its Capitol Hill paymasters for classified talks on a new, state-of-the-art sniper rifle for US forces. But vital details about the weapon are leaking from someone at the top of the federal government and probably into the hands of unidentified foreign arms dealers. The prospect of any and every terrorist, mercenary, or dictator's militia getting their hands on the latest superior firepower is unthinkable. Reacher is tasked with infiltrating the top-secret proceedings and revealing the traitor. He targets a quartet of high-powered Army political liaison officers—all of them fast-track women on their way to the top. According to his bosses, it's a zero-danger mission, but Reacher knows that things are rarely what they seem.

"Guy Walks into a Bar"

The story is set in the moments before the beginning of the novel Gone Tomorrow. Reacher, while at a blues music club, observes what he believes to be the beginning of a kidnapping as part of a Russian mafia dispute. This story was published in The New York Times on 6 June 2009.

"James Penney's New Identity"

The story features Reacher, still in the Army as a captain, helping James Penney, a Vietnam War veteran who has recently been made redundant at work and had his car stolen. When Penney accidentally becomes a fugitive (after he accidentally burns down two neighbours' houses in the course of deliberately burning down his own in an act of frustration after being fired), Reacher helps Penney obtain a new identity so he can start a new life. The story has appeared in Fresh Blood 3 (1999), an anthology of mystery short stories edited by Mike Ripley and Maxim Jakubowski,[4] and in Thriller (2006), a short story anthology of thrillers written by International Thrillers, Inc. members and edited by James Patterson.

"High Heat"

This novella, published in 2013,[5] opens on 13 July 1977[6] with an almost seventeen year old Reacher stopping by in New York in the middle of a heat wave to visit his brother at West Point when he encounters a woman (Jill Hemingway) being assaulted by a man. He drives off the man after a small scuffle, only to learn that the man is Croselli, one of the mob bosses of New York City. Croselli had slapped Hemingway for wearing a wire tape, and from this he deduced that Hemingway was an FBI agent. Hemingway warns him to leave the city before midnight or else Croselli would have his men kill him. They then part ways.

Reacher then meets a brunette, Chrissie at a coffee shop and they agree to go CBGB together using Chrissie's car. Inside the club they find Hemingway along with one of Croselli's henchmen, who promptly calls his boss on seeing Reacher. Meanwhile, Reacher gets to know that Jill Hemingway had been suspended from the FBI, pending review as part of the deal cut by Croselli with the FBI and that she was planning to bring him down. Reacher takes care of the henchman, just before a power outage strikes, before making his escape with Chrissie.

Chrissie and Reacher then make out in her car, when they encounter the Son Of Sam, a serial killer who killed couples making out in cars. Fortunately the Son of Sam couldn't see Chrissie and leaves, but not before Reacher gets a good look at his posture and mannerisms.

Reacher and Chrissie then meet Hemingway outside Croselli's hideout. Hemingway informs Reacher that due to the outage, Croselli's men were out protecting various businesses that paid him money, from looters and plunderers, leaving Croselli alone in his warren. Chrissie and Reacher part ways and then Reacher breaks into the hideout to take care of Croselli but not before he gets him to profess his various crimes on tape. Reacher leaves Croselli tied to a chair with the tape at his feet and Hemingway calls in the FBI.

Hemingway also makes a call to the New York Police Department about the Son of Sam based on the description given to her by Reacher. They then go to a motel where Jill dies of a myocardial infarction.[7] Reacher leaves the motel after informing the police of her death.

The story end with the Son of Sam being apprehended 28 days after the outage, based on Reacher's description.

This story was initially released exclusively in the eBook format.[5]

"Everyone Talks"

A short story published as part of the UK hardback edition of Never Go Back, the story is told from the perspective of a female detective investigating an alleged shooting. Reacher, while in hospital, relates the events prior to the story beginning. This was also included in the June–July 2012 Esquire magazine.

"Not a Drill"

Hitchhiking in Maine near the Canada–US border, Reacher is picked up by a trio of Canadians who claim to be outdoor enthusiasts. At the end of the road trip, Reacher parts ways with his companions and finds himself near a hiking trail sealed off by the US Army under mysterious circumstances. Reacher subsequently investigates the closure of the trail when one of the Canadians returns to seek his help.

"Good and Valuable Consideration"

This short story, co written by Lee Child and Joseph Finder, opens with Jack Reacher encounters two men, Nick Heller, a private spy and Jerry DeLong, a forensic accountant. Reacher and Heller soon find out that the chief enforcer for the Albanian mafia in Boston, Alex Dushku (also known as "Allie Boy"), will soon arrive to meet DeLong whom he is coercing into giving one of his enterprises a clean chit in a purported audit to be conducted by DeLong. Outside the bar, Reacher and Heller beat Dushku unconscious and steal his bribe money, which they then split between themselves before parting ways. DeLong, not having received the bribe money, is no longer under contractual obligation to carry out the subterfuge.

"Small Wars"

This story is set in 1989, when Jack Reacher is serving as an officer in the military police. A young lieutenant colonel in a stylish handmade uniform roars through the damp woods of Georgia in her new silver Porsche, until she meets a very tall soldier with a broken-down car.

Other authors' works

In-story chronology

  1. "Second Son" (short story, 2011)
  2. "High Heat" (novella, 2013)
  3. "Deep Down" (short story, 2012)
  4. "Small Wars" (short story, 2015)
  5. The Enemy (2004)
  6. Night School (7 November 2016)
  7. "James Penney's New Identity" (short story, 1999 edited 2006)
  8. The Affair (2011)
  9. Killing Floor (1997)
  10. Die Trying (1998)
  11. Tripwire (1999)
  12. The Visitor - aka Running Blind (2000)
  13. Echo Burning (2001)
  14. Without Fail (2002)
  15. Persuader (2003)
  16. One Shot (2005)
  17. The Hard Way (2006)
  18. Bad Luck and Trouble (2007)
  19. Nothing to Lose (2008)
  20. "Guy Walks into a Bar..." (short story, 2009)
  21. Gone Tomorrow (2009)
  22. 61 Hours (2010)
  23. Worth Dying For (2010)
  24. A Wanted Man (2012)
  25. "Everyone Talks" (2013)
  26. Never Go Back (2013)
  27. "Not a Drill" (2014)
  28. Personal (2014)
  29. "Good and Valuable Consideration" (2014)[11]
  30. Make Me (2015)
  31. "Faking a Murderer" (6 June 2017)[12]
  32. No Middle Name (August 2017)

Reception

The series has sold over 60 million copies.[13]

In other media

Films

Main article: Jack Reacher (film)

Paramount Pictures hired Academy Award nominated screenwriter Josh Olson to adapt One Shot, under the title Jack Reacher. Christopher McQuarrie, Oscar-winning screenwriter for The Usual Suspects was then brought in to re-write Olson's draft.[14] It was announced in July 2011 that Tom Cruise - a 5'7" tall actor - would play Reacher, who is 6'5" tall in the books. Lee Child was quoted as saying, "Reacher's size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way."[15] All Jack Reacher books have been optioned for film.[16]

It was announced in September 2014 that Tom Cruise would take on the role again in a sequel. The movie will be an adaptation of the 18th Jack Reacher book Never Go Back. Christopher McQuarrie will not be directing due to other commitments with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation also starring Cruise. When the sequel was announced, a replacement director had yet to be named.[17] Lee Child has stated "It’s going to be a new backroom crew, which I think is good. I thought the McQuarrie movie was fantastic, but let’s see someone else’s take on it."[18] The movie released on October 21 in the United States with Edward Zwick directing.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Curtis, Bryan (2012). "The Curious Case of Lee Child: Before Tom Cruise could become Jack Reacher, Jim Grant had to become Lee Child". Grantland (20 December). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Child, Lee (1999). "James Penney's New Identity," In Fresh Blood III (Bloodlines), 163, (M. Ripley & Maxim Jakubowski, Eds.), London, GBR: Do-Not Press, ISBN 9781899344529. Accessed 5 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 "High Heat: (A Jack Reacher Novella) (Kindle Single) (Jack Reacher Short Stories Book 3) eBook: Lee Child: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store". Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Child, Lee (2013). High Heat. Delacorte Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-345-54664-7.
  7. ↑ Child, Lee (2013). High Heat. Delacorte Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-345-54664-7.
  8. ↑ Chester's Mills' police officer Jackie Wettington is revealed to have previously served as a military policewoman in Germany, and she is recommended to Colonel Cox by Reacher.
  9. ↑ "Don't Know Jack: Interview With Diane Capri | Simplycreating". Sharonkowensimplycreating.wordpress.com.
  10. ↑ Good And Valuable Consideration. Sphere. 2014. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-7515-6349-8. Quote: When Joseph Finder decided to try a series character, he took many cues from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.
  11. ↑ This work is a crossover between the Jack Reacher and Nick Heller series, the latter with Joseph Finder.
  12. ↑ This work is a crossover between the Jack Reacher and Temperance Brennan series, the latter with Kathy Reichs.
  13. ↑ The Belfast Telegraph on the Jack Reacher books: "2012 marks a landmark year for Lee Child, whose Jack Reacher thrillers have now sold in excess of 60 million copies worldwide." (7 September 2012)
  14. ↑ McWeeny, Drew (20 October 2010). "Why hasn't Paramount started making Jack Reacher movies?". HitFix. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  15. ↑ Fleming, Mike (15 July 2011). "Tom Cruise Locked To Play Jack Reacher In 'One Shot' For Paramount And Skydance". Deadline. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  16. ↑ Child, Lee (2013). Never Go Back, back cover flap, ISBN 9780593065747.
  17. ↑ Schaefer, Sandy (September 2014). "'Jack Reacher' Author Says the Movie Sequel Will Have a New Director". Screen Rant. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  18. ↑ O'Connell, Sean (17 September 2014). "Jack Reacher 2 Is Happening, With These Changes". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  19. ↑ "Tom Cruise to attend charity movie premiere in Knoxville". WBIR (Knoxville, Tennessee). September 13, 2016.
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