Jack Reacher Books in Order

Jack Reacher is Lee Child's drifter ex-military-police hero. The novels are largely standalone, so most readers begin with Killing Floor (1997) and follow publication order.

Publication order

In the order the books were originally released.

  1. Cover of Killing Floor

    Killing Floor

    1997 · Lee Child

    Drifter and former military cop Jack Reacher steps off a bus into the small town of Margrave, Georgia, and is promptly arrested for a murder he knows…

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  2. Cover of Die Trying

    Die Trying

    1998 · Lee Child

    In Chicago, Reacher gallantly helps a woman struggling with her dry cleaning and is instantly swept up alongside her into a violent kidnapping. The…

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  3. Cover of Tripwire

    Tripwire

    1999 · Lee Child

    Living quietly in Key West, Reacher is sought out by a private investigator who dies soon after finding him. Tracing the dead man's case back to New…

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  4. Cover of The Visitor

    The Visitor

    2000 · Lee Child

    When two women Reacher once knew are found murdered in eerily identical, ritualistic stagings, the FBI pulls him into the hunt and treats him as much…

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  5. Cover of Echo Burning

    Echo Burning

    2001 · Lee Child

    Hitchhiking through scorching west Texas, Reacher accepts a ride from a frightened woman who fears her abusive husband. Drawn to her remote ranch and…

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  6. Cover of Without Fail

    Without Fail

    2002 · Lee Child

    An old friend recruits Reacher for an unusual job: probe the Secret Service's defenses by trying to assassinate the Vice President-elect on paper.…

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  7. Cover of Persuader

    Persuader

    2003 · Lee Child

    Reacher stages a brazen rescue to insert himself undercover into the orbit of a wealthy criminal, all as part of a federal operation. The mission is…

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  8. Cover of The enemy

    The enemy

    2004 · Lee Child

    A prequel set in 1990, with Reacher still a serving military police major. On New Year's Eve a general dies in a seedy motel, and what looks like an…

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  9. Cover of One Shot

    One Shot

    2005 · Lee Child

    A gunman opens fire on a public plaza, and the evidence against the arrested ex-sniper seems airtight. But the accused man's only request is to find…

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  10. Cover of The Hard Way

    The Hard Way

    2006 · Lee Child

    After witnessing a man pay a ransom on a New York street, Reacher is hired by a private security firm to help recover a kidnapped wife and child. The…

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  11. Cover of Bad Luck and Trouble

    Bad Luck and Trouble

    2007 · Lee Child

    Reacher receives a coded distress signal from a member of his old Army special investigations unit and learns one of their own has been murdered. He…

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  12. Nothing to Lose

    2008 · Lee Child

    Reacher walks into the bleak Colorado town of Despair and is run out by the police, which only makes him determined to walk back in. Probing why the…

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  13. Gone Tomorrow

    2009 · Lee Child

    On a late-night New York subway, Reacher recognizes the telltale signs of a suicide bomber in a fellow passenger. The encounter pulls him into a…

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  14. Cover of 61 hours

    61 hours

    2010 · Lee Child

    Stranded by a wrecked bus tour in a frozen South Dakota town, Reacher becomes the unlikely protector of an elderly witness scheduled to testify…

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  15. Cover of Worth Dying For

    Worth Dying For

    2010 · Lee Child

    Reacher lands in a downtrodden Nebraska farming community ruled by a single corrupt family. When he intervenes in a domestic dispute, he stirs up…

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  16. The Affair

    2011 · Lee Child

    A prequel set in 1997, just before Reacher leaves the Army. Sent undercover to a Mississippi town near a military base where a woman has been…

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  17. Cover of A wanted man

    A wanted man

    2012 · Lee Child

    Reacher hitches a ride with two people in a car and quickly senses something is badly off about the trio. His suspicions land him in the middle of an…

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  18. Cover of Never Go Back

    Never Go Back

    2013 · Lee Child

    Reacher travels to Virginia to meet the commander of his old military police unit, only to find her under arrest and himself recalled to the Army and…

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  19. Cover of Personal

    Personal

    2014 · Lee Child

    A sniper takes an impossible shot at the French president, and the suspect is a man Reacher once put in prison. Recruited back into government…

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  20. Cover of Make Me

    Make Me

    2015 · Lee Child

    Reacher gets off a train in a tiny, oddly named Midwestern town expecting nothing and finds a woman searching for a missing partner. His curiosity…

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  21. Cover of Night school

    Night school

    2016 · Lee Child

    A prequel set in 1996. Reacher, still in the Army, is sent to a fake training school that's actually cover for a covert operation, teaming with the…

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  22. Cover of The Midnight Line

    The Midnight Line

    2017 · Lee Child

    Reacher spots a West Point class ring for sale in a pawnshop and can't accept that a graduate would part with it. Determined to find the owner, he…

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  23. Cover of Past tense

    Past tense

    2018 · Lee Child

    Heading across New England, Reacher detours to the New Hampshire town where his father was born and finds no record the man ever existed. As he digs…

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  24. Blue Moon

    2019 · Lee Child

    Reacher steps in to help an elderly couple crushed by loan sharks in a city split between two rival crime syndicates. His intervention ignites a turf…

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  25. Cover of The Sentinel

    The Sentinel

    2020 · Lee Child

    In a small Tennessee town, Reacher comes to the aid of a recently fired IT manager who is suddenly being targeted by mysterious operatives. The…

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  26. Cover of Better Off Dead

    Better Off Dead

    2021 · Lee Child

    Reacher discovers a woman slumped in a crashed car in the Arizona desert and learns she's a federal agent hunting for her missing twin brother.…

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  27. Cover of No Plan B

    No Plan B

    2022 · Lee Child

    A series of seemingly unrelated events across different towns begins to converge as Reacher pursues the people behind a brutal scheme. When his path…

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  28. Cover of The Secret

    The Secret

    2023 · Lee Child

    A prequel set in 1992. After a string of suspicious deaths among scientists, Reacher is assigned to an interagency task force investigating a…

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  29. In Too Deep

    2024 · Lee Child

    Injured and trapped after a car crash in a storm, Reacher is taken captive by a mysterious group operating from a remote compound. Forced to play…

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Companion & related books

Short-story collections and companion titles in this series.

Frequently asked questions

What order should I read the Jack Reacher books in?

Publication order — Author — Lee Child recommends publication order for new readers; the books are designed so you can start almost anywhere. Start with “Killing Floor.”

How many books are in the Jack Reacher series?

We list 29 books by Lee Child , published between 1997–2024.

Where can I buy the Jack Reacher books?

Each title above links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

Reading order compiled from author/publisher guidance and verified bibliographic data. Spotted an error? We continuously correct the catalog.