With the new Amazon Prime series Reacher pleasing longstanding fans of the Jack Reacher novel series and newcomers alike, it was no surprise that the streamer quickly renewed the show for a second season. With Alan Ritchson excelling in his role as the man-mountain drifter, fans are beginning to wonder which of Lee Child's twenty-six Jack Reacher novels will be the next to be adapted.
Two novels have already been made into films, both starring Tom Cruise as the titular character, but that still leaves an awful lot of Jack Reacher action to choose from.
Die Trying - Book 2
Given that the first season of Reacher adapts the first novel, The Killing Floor, it would make a lot of sense for the second to take on the next in the series, Die Trying. First published in 1998, Reacher has moved on from the small town of Margrave and instead finds himself in Chicago, where he is captured by armed gunmen while helping a young woman with an injured leg carry her dry cleaning.
Reacher soon discovers that the woman he was helping is actually FBI agent Holly Johnson, who drags Reacher into a matter of national security. This novel considerably ups the stakes from Reacher's first adventure, but the plot is a little harder to believe than the novels regarding small-town issues. Still, it would be nice to see Reacher trying to blend into a big city crowd.
Echo Burning - Book 5
Echo Burning is one of the most layered and complex Jack Reacher stories to date. The big cities have been ditched in favor of small towns, where Reacher thumbs a lift with Carmen Greer. Carmen is worried about her safety, given that her abusive husband has just been released from jail, and Reacher reluctantly agrees to keep an eye on their situation.
From there, chaos ensues. Reacher is forced to overcome ranchers, rangers, and hitmen, all while keeping Carmen and her daughter safe. Echo Burning would be an excellent novel to adapt as it would allow audiences a glimpse of Reacher's softer side, something Jack Reacher: Never Go Back tried and failed to do.
Gone Tomorrow - Book 13
Let's be honest; we'd all like to see Jack Reacher in the Big Apple, standing out like a sore thumb amongst the well-dressed commuters and business-oriented individuals. Lucky for us, Gone Tomorrow begins on the subway, where Reacher spots somebody matching many of the specifications of a serial killer. When Reacher approaches the person to help, they shoot themselves before Reacher can do anything.
Reacher is racked with guilt and begins to investigate the case, though the NYPD warm him not to. Seeing the ordinarily stoic character so consumed with grief would be a fascinating premise for the second season, and Gone Tomorrow has enough twists and turns to keep audiences guessing until the very last minute.
The Enemy - Book 8
Perhaps, instead of continuing the story of Reacher in the upcoming second season, we should instead look back to the character's time as a respected and admired military investigator. The Enemy finds Reacher investigating the shocking death of a major general, which leads him to a larger scheme aiming to prevent the modernization of the American military.
Interestingly, this novel features a scene where Reacher's mother dies in Paris, which was included as a flashback in the season one finale. Maybe this scene served as an indicator that we will soon be delving further into Reacher's past and exploring his strong but strained relationship with his brother, Joe.
Without Fail - Book 6
Given that the first season placed so much emphasis on Reacher's relationship with his brother and the grief he feels when he learns that Joe has died, it makes sense to think that these themes will be carried over into the next season. With that in mind, it's logical to assume that Without Fail's plot, the sixth book in the series, could play some role in the series.
In the novel, Reacher is approached by his brother's old flame, who asks him to help plan the assassination of the vice president. Reacher's personal growth in the novel comes from his relationship with his brother's old girlfriend, who is still very much in love with the man she lost. This could further allow Reacher to explore the grief that affected him so profoundly in season one.
Past Tense - Book 23
Another book with ties to Reacher's past, Past Tense sees the retired military investigator travel to Laconia, the town in which his father grew up. While there, Reacher manages to come to blows with both a corrupt local farmer and a crime syndicate operating out of Boston before learning that nobody by the name of Reacher has ever lived in Laconia.
Things only get stranger when a professor at a local university, also named Reacher, reaches out to Jack, claiming to be the only living descendent of his family line. What follows is a thrilling tale of stolen identities, betrayal, and a whole heap of murders thrown in for good measure too. This is a Jack Reacher novel, after all.
The Affair - Book 16
The Affair is a prequel dating back to the character's time in the military. It is also arguably the darkest book in the series, with Reacher sent to a small town in Mississippi to investigate the murder and rape of a young woman. Reacher soon finds evidence linking this murder to two cold cases that were never adequately investigated because the victims were Black. The more Reacher explores, the more evidence he finds linking to the army base located near the small town, bringing him to blows with his colonel and the pentagon as a whole.
The Affair deals with some incredibly difficult topics, notably racism, sexual assault, and the abuse of power, and the show could really make a statement if it showed Reacher struggling to balance the opposing forces of his allegiance to the military and his unwavering moral compass. The novel also features a solid cast of supporting characters with the potential to be as memorable as Roscoe (Willa Fitzgerald) and Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin), giving Reacher great personalities to interact with.