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Jack Reacher is a fictional protagonist of a series of novels, novellas and short stories by British author Lee Child. 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.
Contents
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, and "Deep Down" with the American & Canadian paperback and Kindle editions of A Wanted Man. "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, 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, opens on 13 July 1977 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. 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.
"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. This story was also included as a small book with the Blu ray release of the movie Jack Reacher Never go Back, released February 2017 in the US. the book is 5.5 X 6.75 inches, 10 pages, a few illustrations, some color, some black and white.
"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.
"Picture of the Lonely Diner"
This story takes place in Manhattan's Flatiron District. Jack Reacher has an unusual encounter in a diner reminiscent of the Edward Hopper painting "Nighthawks". It was part of the Mystery Writers' Guild anthology Manhattan Mayhem edited by Mary Higgins Clark.
Other authors' works
Reception
The series has sold over 60 million copies.
Films
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. 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." All Jack Reacher books have been optioned for film.
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. 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." The movie was released on October 21 in the United States with Edward Zwick directing.