Summary

  • The Jack Reacher book series, which contains almost 30 novels, can be read in any order as most books function as standalone works.
  • Reacher season 1 received positive reviews from critics and viewers, leading to its renewal for a second and third season.
  • Lee Child has published 28 Jack Reacher books as of October 2023, with the 29th installment scheduled for release in late 2024.

If viewers of Reacher on Amazon Prime Video crave more Jack Reacher stories, they are in luck because the show is based on a book series containing almost 30 novels. Thankfully, the series can be read in any order since most books function as standalone works (but with Reacher still as the main character). Lee Child created the franchise when he published the first novel — Killing Floor — in the late 1990s, and it was an immediate hit. The book would set up a beloved series that has been adapted for the screen multiple times, including the 2012 film Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise as the titular character, and the Amazon show.

All eight episodes of Reacher season 1 dropped on February 4, 2022, and it received widespread love from critics and viewers alike. The week after its debut, the action crime television series was the most streamed show, marking the first time an Amazon original accomplished this feat. Unsurprisingly, Amazon renewed Reacher for another eight-episode second season, which premiered on December 15, 2023, and its finale is scheduled for January 19, 2024. Reacher season 2 has earned as much praise as the first, leading to an early season 3 renewal. Whereas the first season draws inspiration from the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor, season 2 is based on the eleventh book, Bad Luck and Trouble.

Jack Reacher Book Series In Order Of Publication Date

As of October 2023, Lee Child has published 28 Jack Reacher books, and the 29th installment is scheduled to be released in late 2024. The author seemingly drops one novel a year (with a few exceptions, of course), and he is showing no signs of stopping, which is good news for fans of the series. The Jack Reacher book series in publication date order is as follows:

  • Killing Floor (1997)
  • Die Trying (1998)
  • Tripwire (1999)
  • Running Blind (2000)
  • Echo Burning (2001)
  • Without Fail (2002)
  • Persuader (2003)
  • The Enemy (2004)
  • One Shot (2005)
  • The Hard Way (2006)
  • Bad Luck and Trouble (2007)
  • Nothing to Lose (2008)
  • Gone Tomorrow (2009)
  • 61 Hours (2010)
  • Worth Dying For (2010)
  • The Affair (2011)
  • A Wanted Man (2012)
  • Never Go Back (2013)
  • Personal (2014)
  • Make Me (2015)
  • Night School (2016)
  • The Midnight Line (2017)
  • Past Tense (2018)
  • Blue Moon (2019)
  • The Sentinel (2020)
  • Better Off Dead (2021)
  • No Plan B (2022)
  • The Secret (2023)
  • In Too Deep (2024)

Killing Floor

Published in March 1997

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in Reacher season 2 flanked by images as Reacher crouching with a gun and Reacher looking at some documents

Although the Jack Reacher book series can technically be consumed in any order, it might be best to start with the first novel — Killing Floor. It would probably be easier to keep track of the books that have already been read if readers stick to the series' release order. Killing Floor introduced the character of Jack Reacher to the universe and revolved around the former U.S. Army Military Police Major being framed for a crime he didn't commit shortly after arriving in Margrave, Georgia. This story was depicted in Reacher season 1 on Amazon Prime Video.

Die Trying

Published in July 1998

Maria Sten as Neagly speaking in a convenience store in Reacher season 2 episode 6.

Following the success of his first book, Lee Child released the second installment in the Jack Reacher series, Die Trying, in July 1998. As mentioned above, Child wrote these novels so that each could be read as a standalone work, meaning that Die Trying could be the first book a fan consumes, and the story will still make sense. In the second novel, Jack Reacher travels to Chicago, where he and a woman are kidnapped and taken 2,000 miles away.

Tripwire

Published in July 1999

Alan Ritchson as Reacher in a romantic encounter with Serinda Swan's Karla Dixon in Reacher.

Tripwire, the third book in the Jack Reacher franchise, was released in July 1999. The story revolves around Jack Reacher in Key West, contemplating leaving his life as a drifter, but the death of a New York investigator hired to find Reacher ruins his plans. As it turns out, they were hired by the daughter of Reacher's mentor, who wants Reacher's help investigating a Vietnam MIA.

Running Blind

Published in April 2000

Alan Ritchson as Reacher shooting someone

The fourth novel in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series is Running Blind, published in April 2000. Alternatively, the book is titled The Visitor in the United Kingdom. Once again, Reacher is suspected of murder in Running Blind after the deaths of two female soldiers who left the army after they were sexually harassed. However, while he is in custody, another body is found, proving Reacher's innocence. He is then coerced into helping the murder investigation.

Echo Burning

Published in April 2001

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in Amazon's Reacher

Echo Burning is the fifth installment in the Jack Reacher franchise and was released in April 2001. In the story, Reacher is hitchhiking in Texas when a woman gives him a ride. She explains that she is in an abusive marriage, and Reacher agrees to help her. But once he learns more about the situation, it's evident that there is more to it than meets the eye.

Without Fail

Published in April 2002

Maria Sten as Neagley looking at a key and her laptop in Reacher season 2, episode 1

Lee Child published the sixth book in the Jack Reacher series, Without Fail, in April 2002. The novel continues painting Reacher as a drifter as he finds himself in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the former Major is approached by a Secret Service agent asking for his help. The Vice President of the United States receives multiple threats, and the agent wants Reacher to tell her how he could kill the Vice President so that she can prepare for the worst.

Persuader

Published in April 2003

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher and Ferdinand Kingsley as AM in Reacher season 2

Persuader, the seventh novel in the Jack Reacher series, debuted in April 2003 and featured Reacher running into someone he thought was dead. The man, Francis Xavier Quinn, murdered two of Reacher's former colleagues, and Reacher will stop at nothing to get Quinn behind bars, even teaming up with the DEA.

The Enemy

Published in April 2004

Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher holding dogtags in the poster for Amazon's Reacher season 2

Lee Child published the eighth Jack Reacher book in April 2004, and it serves as a prequel to Killing Floor (but the order in which fans read them still doesn't matter). The novel takes readers back to 1990 and centers around a general who has a heart attack and dies while he is with a sex worker. Reacher is called in to contain the situation and keep the circumstances surrounding the general's death a secret.

One Shot

Published in April 2005

Willa Fitzgerald as Roscoe, Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher, and Malcolm Goodwin as Finlay in Amazon's Reacher

One Shot debuted in April 2005 and is the ninth installment in the Jack Reacher franchise. The book tells the story of a man named James Barr, who is accused of killing five people as a sniper. He pleads that he is innocent, but when no one believes him, James instructs the police to get Jack Reacher. The 2012 film Jack Reacher pulled inspiration from One Shot for its plot, and Reacher implied that the book's events transpired between the season 1 finale and the season 2 premiere.