Lee Child is a British-born American-based novelist. He is the brains behind the Jack Reacher series of novels that chronicle the activities of Jack Reacher, a former US military cop who has no qualms battling criminal elements that cross his way. Child published his first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor, in 1997 and has dropped numerous more over the years.
He has sold 100 million copies, and it has been translated into at least 49 languages. Jack Reacher also is the protagonist of two Hollywood blockbuster movies and a hit TV series on Amazon. The movies and series have renewed interest in Lee Child’s books, and if you are one of the new converts who would like to delve in, then we have the full list of Lee Child’s books in order of publication below.
How Many Books Has Lee Child Written?
Lee Child has written a total of 27 books as of 2022. He, however, also has numerous short stories to his credit. He is also the author of a 2019 nonfiction book titled The Hero. He explores how the concept of heroes in books has endured from the Stone Age till date and states that we need them even more today. Below is a list of Lee Child’s Books.
- Killing Floor (1997)
- Die Trying (1998)
- Tripwire (1999)
- The Visitor (2000)
- Echo Burning (2001)
- Without Fail (2002)
- Persuader (2003)
- The Enemy (2004)
- One Shot (2005)
- The Hard Way (2006)
- Badluck 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)
Is Lee Child the Author of the Jack Reacher series?
Yes, Lee Child is the author of the Jack Reacher series. Lee Child, real name – James Dover Grant, began writing the Jack Reacher novels in 1995 after he lost his job. His motivation in the early days was purely to raise money to be able to take care of himself and his bills.
List of Lee Child’s Books in Order
1. Killing Floor (1997)
- Genre: thriller, mystery, fiction, and suspense
- Paperback volume: 522
- Original publishing date: 1977
- Publisher: Bantam (UK), Putnam (US)
- ISBN: 0515141429
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher battles a murder accusation in the town of margrave.
- Nominations/Awards: 1998 Barry Award for the best first novel, 1998 Anthony Award for the best first novel, 2000 Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize for the best-translated novel.
The first Jack Reacher novel introduces us to the protagonist, a tough retired ex-military cop who drifts from town to town. Reacher’s stopover in the Georgia town of Margrave coincides with a murder, and being the only stranger in town, the murder is pinned on him. He has to fight to save himself, and this fight leads to him unearthing one of the largest counterfeiting operations in history.
2 Die Trying (1998)
- Genre: thriller, fiction, mystery, and suspense
- Paperback volume: 374
- Original publishing date: 1998
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Putnam (US
- ISBN: 0399143793
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher battles a radical military sect that kidnaps him and an FBI agent named Holly.
- Nominations/Awards: The 1999 WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award
Die Trying sees Jack Reacher trying to lead a normal life in Chicago. This is, however, made impossible when he is kidnapped alongside a woman that he is trying to assist. The lady turns out to be an FBI agent as well as the daughter of a high-ranking government official, and their kidnappers make a set of unreasonable and impossible demands.
Reacher and Holly have no choice but to battle their way of the kidnappers’ den and also scuttle their plans to detonate explosives at a public place.
3. Tripwire (1999)
- Genre: Thriller, Novel, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Hardboiled, Southern Fiction
- Paperback volume: 343
- Original publishing date: 1999
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Putnam (US)
- ISBN: 0593043936
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher uncovers the mystery behind the death of a Vietnam War pilot.
Tripwire finds Jack Reacher joining forces with a lawyer named Jodie to investigate the whereabouts of Victor, a helicopter pilot who fought in the Vietnam War. Victor dies in the war, but one of his colleagues named Allen fakes his (Allen’s) own death and assumes his own identity. He thereafter sets up an illicit money-lending operation which he uses to bankrupt many businesses until Reacher eventually catches up with him.
4. The Visitor (2000)
- Genre: thriller, suspense, mystery, and adventure fiction
- Paperback volume: 512
- Original publishing date: 2000
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Putnam (US)
- ISBN: 0593043995
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher investigates the killing of multiple former female army personnel.
- Nominations/Awards: nominee for Best Hardcover Novel at the 2001 Barry Awards.
In the visitor, Jack Reacher has put down some roots in New York City and is in a thriving relationship with Jodie. This semblance of a normal life is, however, shattered when two former female army personnel who are acquainted with him wound up dead. The FBI profiling makes Reacher the prime suspect, and he has no choice but to hunt the actual culprits.
5. Echo Burning (2001)
- Genre: thriller, fiction, mystery, and suspense
- Paperback volume: 384
- Original publishing date: 2001
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Putnam (US)
- ISBN: 0399147268
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher takes out a ring that specializes in killing migrants.
While evading trouble with local law enforcement in a Texan town, Jack Reacher wounds up with a lady named Carmen, who is looking for a hitman to murder her abusive husband. Reacher refuses to do so but agrees to teach her how to defend herself. Carmen’s husband eventually wounds up dead, and she confesses to the murder. Reacher, however, investigates and takes out the real culprits at the end of the day.
6. Without Fail (2002)
- Genre: Thriller, detective fiction
- Paperback volume: 432
- Original publishing date: 2002
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Putnam (US)
- ISBN: 0399148612
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher guns down assassins who are after the Vice President-elect of the U.S.
- Nominations/Awards: 2003 Barry Award nomination for best novel
Without fail is the sixth Lee Child book. In it, Jack Reacher is contracted by the secret service to audit the security detail of the incoming Vice President and investigate assassination threats against him. He joins forces with a secret service agent named Agent M.E. Froelich and eventually guns down the unlikely culprits, who are cops from rural Idaho that have a personal axe to grind with the VP.
7. Persuader (2003)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 480
- Original publishing date: 2003
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 0385336667
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher gets revenge on a former military intelligence agent who murdered his colleague.
Persuader sees Jack Reacher unofficially hired by the DEA to bring down a suspected drug baron named Zachary Beck. It, however, turns out that Beck is not involved in drug smuggling but in international arms dealing. It also turns out that his boss is Francis Xavier Quinn, a former military intelligence agent who brutally murdered Reacher’s female colleagues in the past. Reacher, therefore, hunts Quinn down until he gets his revenge.
8. The Enemy (2004)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 400
- Original publishing date: 2004
- Publisher: Bantam (UK), Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 0385336675
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher is still in the military and investigates the maniacal plan of a cabal of officers.
- Nominations/Awards: the 2005 Barry Award for best novel
The Enemy is Lee Child’s eighth book and is also the eighth in the Jack Reacher series. However, chronologically, it comes before the first book as the events take place during a time when Jack Reacher is in the military. The U.S. military plans to downsize, but a group of top officers, afraid of losing their position and the perks, decide to scuttle the plan. What follows is murders, break-ins, and the like, but Reacher eventually gets to the heart of it all in his investigation.
9. One Shot (2005)
- Genre: thriller and crime fiction
- Paperback volume: 500
- Original publishing date: 2005
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 0385336691
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher apprehends those behind the shooting and killing of five persons in Indiana City
- Nominations/Awards: 2006 Macavity Award nomination for the best mystery novel
One Shot is the first Lee Child book to be adapted into a movie. It chronicles the story of James Barr, a former military sniper who is fingered as the marksman behind the shooting and killing of five persons in Indiana. Jack Reacher is enlisted for the investigation, and even though he has a long-standing grudge against Barr, he eventually gets to the bottom of the case and proves Barr’s innocence.
10. The Hard Way (2006)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 477
- Original publishing date: 2006
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Putnam (US)
- ISBN: 9780440246008
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher kills an army mercenary who is abusive towards his wife.
In the tenth Lee Child book, Jack Reacher is living in Manhattan when he is recruited by a renowned army mercenary named Lane to help him bring his kidnapped wife and daughter home. Reacher’s investigations reveal that Lane had his first wife murdered and that his second wife left of her own will. He uncovers other crimes committed by the man and ends up killing him during a shootout.
11. Badluck and Trouble (2007)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 344 pages
- Original publishing date: 2007
- Publisher: Bantam (U.K.) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 9780593057018
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher takes on a corrupt defense contractor company that is eliminating members of his former team.
Badluck and Trouble forces Jack Reacher to confront his military past. Whilst living his normal drifter life, he gets an SOS from a former military team colleague named Frances. They discover that their former team members are being targeted, with some killed, and embark on an investigation. The investigation leads them to a defense contractor named New Age that is selling weapons to terrorists and they take them down.
12. Nothing To Lose (2008)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 426
- Original publishing date: 2008
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte (US)
- ISBN: 0593057023
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher uncovers a sinister plot in a small Colorado town.
Nothing to lose is set in two fictional towns in Colorado – Dope and Despair. Jack Reacher first makes it to Despair but is run out and warned never to return back. He crosses over to Hope but continues his investigations into Despair. His investigations reveal a closed-up town that is controlled by a crazed evangelist, the scrap metal company that employs everyone in town, as well as the company’s connection to a distant war being fought by the U.S.
13. Gone Tomorrow (2009)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 396
- Original publishing date: 2009
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte (US)
- ISBN: 9780593064023
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher investigates a murder plot that has its origin in the American-Soviet battle in Afghanistan.
Gone Tomorrow is Lee Child’s thirteenth book and finds Jack Reacher in the midst of a murder plot that straddles America’s war with the soviets in Afghanistan, a former military officer-turned-congressman and two Al Qaeda terrorists who pose as innocent Afghans.
14. 61 hours (2010)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 448
- Original publishing date: 2010
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 978059300057063
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher tackles a huge drug operation in a South Dakota town.
61 hours is set in the fictional South Dakota town of Bolton. Jack Reacher is forced to stay over after a vehicle breakdown and discovers that the town has a large problem, a suspected drug lab that the police cannot investigate without probable cause. Reacher assists the police force with his FBI contact, Major Susan Turner, and eventually brings down the drug operation together with the drug lord and local enforcement officers involved.
15. Worth Dying For (2010)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 440
- Original publishing date: 2010
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte (US)
- ISBN: 9780593065662
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher dismantles a human-trafficking ring in the town of Apollo.
Worth Dying For sees Jack Reacher on his way to Virginia to meet Major Susan Turner. He makes a quick stopover in a town known as Apollo and finds himself in the middle of a human trafficking ring run by the local Duncan family. The family specializes in trafficking women from South East Asia for prostitution, and Reacher collaborates with brave local women such as Eleanor and Dorothy to dismantle the ring and deal with the perpetrators.
16. The Affair (2011)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 416
- Original publishing date: 2011
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 9780385344326
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher leaves the military after killing some highly-placed personnel who commit murder.
The affair tells the story of why Jack Reacher left the military. He was assigned to investigate the murder of some women, and it eventually turns out that a soldier and his powerful senator’s father are involved. Reacher kills them, but this has devastating consequences for his career, as he will never be promoted or allowed to return to active duty. He, therefore, decides to leave the military.
17. A Wanted Man (2012)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 304
- Original publishing date: 2012
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte (US)
- ISBN: 9780385344333
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher joins forces with some FBI agents to thwart the plans of a local terrorist group.
- Nominations/Awards: best thriller & crime novel of 2012 at the National Book Awards
A Wanted Man is quite thrilling, just like any other of Lee Child’s books. It follows Reacher as he hitchhikes out of Nebraska and ends up in a car with three occupants; a woman and two men. Reacher initially suspects the men of having kidnapped the woman, but it turns out that they are all FBI agents, and he joins hands with them to thwart the plans of a terrorist group.
18. Never Go Back (2013)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 416
- Original publishing date: 2013
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 9780440339373
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher is accused of murder and fathering an illicit Child, but he clears his name.
This is the second Lee Child book to be made into a movie. It sees Jack Reacher finally catch up with Susan Turner, but the reunion is a less than a happy one. Turner is in jail on accusations of bribery, while Reacher is accused of murdering and fathering an illicit Child. The two join hands to clear their name and take down a contraband smuggling ring in the process.
19. Personal (2014)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 416
- Original publishing date: 2014
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte (US)
- ISBN: 9780593073827
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher investigates an attempted assassination of the French president.
- Nominations/Awards: 2014 RBA prize for crime writing
An attempt is made on the life of the French president during a G8 summit, and Jack Reacher is drafted in to unmask the individual or group of individuals behind it. He does his job but ends up discovering that the person who drafted him in, General Tom O’Day, was the brain behind the whole thing.
20. Make Me (2015)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 576
- Original publishing date: 2015
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 9780593073889
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher uncovers a murderous euthanasia facility in the town of Mother’s Rest.
Curiosity drives Jack Reacher to a town in the American Midwest named Mother’s Rest. His efforts to uncover the reasoning behind this name lead him to a fight against a local crime lord. Even more mind-blowing, he and his associates discover a fake assisted suicide facility that lures people in and uses them for snuff films.
21. Night School (2016)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 498
- Original publishing date: 2016
- Publisher: Bantam (UK) and Delacorte Press (US)
- ISBN: 9780593073902
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher takes down an American who plans to sell miniature nuclear bombs to a terrorist group.
Night School is another book by Lee Child that focuses on Jack Reacher’s stint in the military. This time around, Reacher is tasked with unraveling and scuttling a plan by an American to sell an unknown commodity to a terrorist group. The unknown commodity turns out to be miniature nuclear bombs developed during the cold war, and Reacher joins hands with his associates to scuttle the deal and take out the perpetrators.
22. The Midnight Line (2017)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 400
- Original publishing date: 2017
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- ISBN: 9780399593482
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher dismantles an opioid ring run by military personnel.
The Midnight Line is the 22nd book by Lee Child, as well as the 22nd book in the Jack Reacher series. This particular book finds Jack Reacher fighting corrupt military personnel who steals military opioid supplies and resells them to the public. While doing so, he also rescues a former military woman who has become addicted to opioids.
23. Past Tense (2018)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 400
- Original publishing date: 2018
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- ISBN: 9780399593512
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher investigates his past in the town of Laconia.
Just as the name suggests, Past Tense sees Jack Reacher explore his father’s background in the town of Laconia. He, however, gets more than he bargained for as he has to rescue two Canadians from a ruthless local gang that wants to use them as targets in a bow-hunting contest.
24. Blue Moon (2019)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 447
- Original publishing date: 2019
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- ISBN: 9781524774387
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher battles Ukrainian and Albania gangs as well as a Russian fake news operation.
What starts as a simple attempt by Jack Reacher to fight off a mugger disturbing an old man finds him in the middle of a battle between Albanian and Ukrainian gangs. He refuses to back down though but helps to take down the gangs who extort local people. Reacher also helps the old man secure a source of money for paying for his daughter’s cancer treatments.
25 The Sentinel (2020)
- Genre: thriller
- Paperback volume: 368
- Original publishing date: 2020
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- ISBN: 9781787633612
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher takes on a murderous group on the tail of an I.T. manager.
This Lee Child book is unique because he co-wrote it with his younger brother named Andrew Child (real name – Andrew Grant). This particular book sees Jack Reacher fighting to save an unassuming IT manager who is the target of a murderous, secretive group.
26 Better Off Dead (2021)
- Genre: thriller and mystery
- Paperback volume: 336
- Original publishing date: 2021
- Publisher: Delacorte press
- ISBN: 1984818503
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher helps an FBI agent seek her lost twin brother.
This is another collaborative book between Lee Child and his brother. In this book, Jack Reacher joins forces with an FBI agent named Michaela Fenton to look for her twin brother, who has inevitably gotten mixed up with bad people
27. No Plan B (2022)
- Genre: thriller and suspense
- Paperback volume: 368
- Original publishing date: 2022
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- ISBN: 9781984818546
- Series highlight: Jack Reacher investigates two deaths made to look like accidents/suicide.
In Gerrardsville, Colorado, Jack Reacher witnesses two deaths. Though they are variously ruled as an accident and a suicide, Reacher knows this is not the truth and begins an investigation. In the course of doing this, he encounters a foster kid, an arsonist out for revenge, and a powerful cabal.
What is the Best Lee Child Book?
Going by ratings on the popular Goodreads site, the best Lee Child book is Worth Dying For. This is the 15th book and was released in 2010. It follows Jack Reacher’s efforts to dismantle a sex trafficking ring. There are, however, others who believe that the best Lee Child book is his first book, Killing Floor, in which Reacher fights off a murder accusation in a small town. Whichever it is, there is no dull time when reading a Lee Child book.
