Jack Reacher

Infobox character
colour =#DEDEE2
name =Jack Reacher


caption =
first =Killing Floor (March 1997)
last = Nothing To Lose (March 2008)
cause =
nickname =Reacher
alias =
species =
gender =Male
birthdate =October 29th
death =
occupation =Retired (as of 1997), Military Police
rank =Major
family =Father; Unknown
Mother; Josephine Moutier Reacher
Brother; Joe Reacher
spouse =Never Married
children =None
relatives =None
episode =12 Books
portrayer =
creator =Lee Child
number of books = 12
website = [http://www.jackreacher.com JackReacher.com]

Jack Reacher, commonly known simply as "Reacher," is a fictional character created by author Lee Child.

Biographical information

Jack Reacher is a former United States Army Military Police Major (United States). He was born on a military base in Berlin on October 29, 1960. Aged 24, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

He graduated and served 13 years as a Military Policeman, during which he was asked to lead a fictional unit, the 110th Special Investigations Unit, formed to handle exceptionally tough cases, especially those involving members of the United States Army Special Forces.

Though he was demoted from Major to Captain in 1990 (see "The Enemy" by Lee Child), he had regained the rank of Major by the time he mustered out in 1997. He was the recipient of many military awards during his career: the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Soldier's Medal, the Bronze Star , and a Purple Heart. He is also the only non-marine to win the Wimbledon Cup, a sniper competition held at the Marine Sniper Academy (see "Die Trying" and "One Shot" by Lee Child).

Since mustering out, Reacher has been a drifter.

Reacher has the uncanny ability to know what time it is, at any time of the day, without referring to a timepiece. In most of Lee Child's books, when Reacher is questioned about this uncanny ability a variation of "I used to have a watch, but it broke" usually comes up. The only time Reacher actually does have a watch is in "Killing Floor", "Without Fail" and in "The Enemy", where he takes it off and puts it in his jacket pocket before a fight. In several novels, primarily "Bad Luck and Trouble" Reacher uses his fascination with mathematics to his advantage.

In "Killing Floor" it is revealed that he has a love for music, especially blues music. It was this love of, and fascination with, the blues that inspired Reacher to get off the bus at the start of "Killing Floor" and catapulted him into the resulting adventure.

Throughout the series it is shown that he has an addiction to coffee, and most probably the caffeine in it. With this he quotes in Killing Floor "I could drink coffee like an alcoholic drinks vodka".

He is not a good driver and does not have a drivers license , but he does operate vehicles occasionally.

Has a propensity for saying "that's for damn sure". Additionally he uses the technique of not answering when people make statements or ask questions preferring the other party to fill the silence. A recurring line in the books is "Reacher said nothing."

Physical appearance

Reacher is a giant of a man, standing at 6' 5" tall (1.96m) with a 50-inch chest, and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds (100-115kg). He has ice-blue eyes and fair hair. He is shown in the various novels to be exceptionally strong, but is not a good runner. [ Nothing To Lose , Ch. 10, p. 43, "Reacher was no kind of a sprinter. As any kind of a runner, he was pretty slow. His best attempt at speed was barely faster than a quick walk."] Reacher has multiple scars, most notably a scar on his abdomen caused by a fragment of jawbone shrapnel. [ Die Trying, p. 2-3, "He had served thirteen years in the Army, and the only time he was wounded it wasn't with a bullet. It was with a fragment of a Marine sergeant's jawbone."] He also has a scar on his chest from a .38 bullet, [ Persuader] and one on his arm where his brother struck him with a chisel. [ The Enemy]

Family

Reacher's mother Josephine Moutier Reacher was born in 1930 in France, was 30 years old when Reacher was born. She met Reacher's father in Korea and married him in Holland ("The Enemy"). She was widowed in 1988, and died in 1990 at the age of 60. When she was only 13, she joined the French Resistance and under the alias "Beatrice" worked with "Le Chemin de Fer Humain" (the Human Railroad), saving 80 men. She garroted a schoolmate, a boy who threatened to give her up to the Nazis. Josephine Moutier was awarded the "Médaille de la Résistance" (the Resistance Medal) for her heroism.

Reacher's father (name unknown) was a Marine captain, who served in Korea and Vietnam. His service in the United States Marine Corps kept his family continually moving all around the world to various military bases. He died in 1988. When describing his father, Jack is quoted as saying, "(He was) a stone-cold killer. Next to him I look like Liberace. [
Without Fail, Ch. 11, "He was a Marine," he (Reacher) said. "Korea and Vietnam. Very compartmentalized guy. Gentle, shy, sweet, loving man, but a stone-cold killer, too. Harder than a nail. Next to him I look like Liberace."] " After military service, "there was no place left for people like him. [
Without Fail, Ch. 11, "He was OK. But he was a freak. No room for people like him anymore."] "

Jack had only one sibling, brother Joe Reacher. Two years older than Jack, Joe was born on a military base in the Philippines. Jack used to help Joe beat up the kids who gave him trouble in school, and vice versa. Joe was also a West Point graduate, and spent five years in Military Intelligence before joining the Treasury Department. He never won any of the "good medals", only the junk awards. Joe died at the age of 38, having arranged a meeting with a potential investigation subject (see "Killing Floor"). Because he was killed in the line of duty, he can be found on the Treasury's Roll of Honor.

Acquaintances

*Officer Roscoe, "(30)", is a police officer, appearing in "Killing Floor".
*Holly Johnson, "(27)", is a newly inducted FBI Special Agent and former Wall Street stock analyst. She is dark, attractive, self-assured and a knee ligament injury sustained whilst playing soccer requires her to use a cane. She appeared in "Die Trying".
*Jodie Garber-Jacob, "(30)", is the daughter of General Leon Garber "(The Enemy)". She met and fell in love with Reacher when she was 15 and was totally off-limits to him. In "Tripwire", she is divorced, using her maiden name and working as a corporate attorney. She appeared in "Tripwire" and "Running Blind".
*General Leon Garber, "(retired)", is the father of Jodie, a General who knew Reacher, helped him in "Die Trying", and willed him his house. He appeared in "Die Trying" and "The Enemy".
*Lisa Harper, "(29)", is an FBI Agent, stationed at Quantico. She appeared in "Running Blind" ("The Visitor" in the United Kingdom and Australia).
*Alice Amanda Aaron, "(25)", graduated from Harvard Law School, practicing law at a legal mission in Pecos, Texas, as penance for coming from a wealthy family. She appeared in "Echo Burning".
*Carmen Greer, "(30)", is a housewife, short, slim, dark-skinned, fine-boned, "maybe 100 pounds". She is married with one child and an abusive husband. She appeared in "Echo Burning".
*Frances Neagley, "(late thirties)", is a Security consultant, and former Army Master Sergeant and Military Policeman. She is of medium height, is slim, and has dark hair and eyes. She spends large amounts of time in the gym and has a purely platonic relationship with Reacher, not liking to be touched. She appeared in "Without Fail" and "Bad Luck & Trouble".
*Mary Ellen Froelich, "(35)", is a Secret Service Agent, charged with protecting the Vice President. She has short fair hair, and is quietly confident. She dated Joe Reacher, but was killed by a sniper. She appeared in "Without Fail".
*Susan Duffy, "(early thirties)", is a rogue agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. She is pale, slim and attractive, and appeared in "Persuader".
*Lieutenant Summer, "(25)", is a Lieutenant in the Army Military Police. She is Afro American, petite and slender, and appeared in "The Enemy".
*Eileen Ann Hutton, "(age unknown)", is a Brigadier General in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the US Army. She and Reacher had a relationship prior to, and featured in, "One Shot".
*Vaughan," (exact age unknown)", is a police officer in Hope, Colorado. She is " [p] robably less than five feet six, probably less than a hundred and twenty pounds, probably less than thirty-five years old" according to Reacher's estimate. Married to a totally incapacitated casualty of the war in Iraq (husband's name is Robert David Vaughan, called David). She befriends Reacher in "Nothing to Lose".

Travels

His travels around the United States of America, exploring the one country he never got to see in his childhood, are the subject of all 12 Lee Child novels so far, with the exception of one prequel ("The Enemy") which centers around a case he undertook as an investigator in the Military Police. Also he traveled to Britain visiting East Anglia and Suffolk in 'The Hard Way'.

tyle

The Reacher novels are written either in the "first person" or "third person" narrative. Lee says writing in first person is more natural for him, but writing in third person gives him more freedom when building suspense. With third person narrative, the suspense builds easily as the reader can essentially see around corners and anticipate events about which Reacher has no knowledge. With the first person narrative, the reader can only know what Reacher knows. The storyline dictates what narrative voice would suit best. So far in the series, "Killing Floor", "Persuader", and "The Enemy" are in first person narrative. "Die Trying", "Tripwire", "Running Blind/The Visitor", "Echo Burning", "Without Fail", "One Shot", "The Hard Way", "Bad Luck and Trouble", and "Nothing to Lose" are in third person.

List of novels/ Appearances

Jack Reacher can be found in the following books by Lee Child:
# "Killing Floor" (March 1997)
# "Die Trying" (July 1998)
# "Tripwire" (June 1999)
# "Running Blind/The Visitor" (published as "The Visitor" in the UK and Australia) (April 2000)
# "Echo Burning" (April 2001)
# "Without Fail" (April 2002)
# "Persuader" (April 2003)
# "The Enemy" (Prequel, time frame occurs before "Killing Floor") (April 2004)
# "One Shot" (ISBN 0-385-33668-3) (April 2005)
# " The Hard Way" (ISBN 0-385-33669-1) (May 2006)
# "Bad Luck and Trouble" (ISBN 0-385-34055-9) (April 2007)
# "Nothing to Lose" (ISBN 978-0593057025) (March 2008)
# "Gone Tomorrow" (projected release, 2009)

He can also be seen in the short story "James Penney's New Identity" from "Fresh Blood 3" (Oct 1999, ISBN 978-1899344529), a compilation of short mystery stories edited by Mike Ripley and Maxim Jakubowski, although Reacher is not the main protagonist in the story and appears only briefly.

One Shot

;Plot: Five people, innocent pedestrians in a shopping plaza, are shot by a sniper from a parking garage. The apparent perpetrator has been found, has confessed and been jailed pending a trial. The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable, and the prosecution has a cast-iron, open and shut case. Unhappily for the authorities, the accused is a friend of Jack Reacher, who is convinced that the wrong person has been arrested. So Reacher sets out to find the REAL villain(s).

Killing Floor

;Plot: After hopping off a greyhound to pursue a whim (finding out what happened to Blind Blake the musician) Reacher is arrested and charged with murder. After an attempt on his life while being held over the weekend in a state prison, Reacher is determined to figure out what happened. Later he finds out that the person he was framed for murdering was Joe Reacher, his brother. Unknowingly, Jack Reacher had stumbled into one of the biggest counterfeiting schemes in the United States. This novel is set in Margrave, Georgia.

=Persuader=

;Plot: Walking along the street, Reacher sees a man who should be dead. Reacher is a man who hates unfinished business. Ten years ago, a key investigation went sour and Francis Xavier Quinn got away with murder. Now a chance encounter outside Boston's Symphony Hall brings it all back. And Reacher sees his one last shot to finish what was started all those years ago.

= The Hard Way=

;Plot: After witnessing an exchange of $1,000,000. Jack Reacher is hired by the underhanded director of a private military firm to rescue his wife and stepchild, who have been kidnapped. While Reacher uncovers clues that might lead to a rescue, he learns about the director's dubious past which involves a murderous complot against two ex-associates.He meets a beautiful ex-FBI agent converted to private investigator who assists him in the investigation to unveil the shocking truth, and ultimately engages in a showdown on a farm in England. The novel is set primarily in New York City.

Bad Luck and Trouble

;Plot: When one of his old army crew turns up dead outside Los Angeles, Reacher gets his old investigations unit back together to get to the bottom of what's going on.

=Nothing to Lose=

;Plot:Based in Colorado, travelling from the town of Hope to the town of Despair, it soon becomes clear that Reacher is an unwelcome visitor in a town with a lot of secrets to hide. Reacher cannot resist the opportunity to explore the town's secrets further, especially the peculiar town owner who has employed the majority of the population to work within his recycling factory.

= Gone Tomorrow=

;Plot: (Excerpt from the book jacket) Suicide bombers are easy to spot. They give out all kinds of tell-tale signs. Mostly because they're nervous. By definition they're all first-timers. There are twelve things to look for. No one who has worked in law enforcement will ever forget them. New York City. The subway, two o'clock in the morning. Jack Reacher studies his fellow passengers. Four are OK. The fifth isn’t. The train brakes for Grand Central Station. Will Reacher intervene, and save lives? Or is he wrong? Will his intervention cost lives, including his own?

Miscellaneous

Paramount Pictures holds the option on the Reacher novels. At present, they haven't chosen which of the novels to make into a film, nor confirmed a director, nor any of the actors.

ee also

*Lee Child
*Military Brat

External links

* [http://www.leechild.com Author Lee Child's website]
* [http://www.jackreacher.com Jack Reacher Official website]

Notes

References

*cite book|author=Lee Child|authorlink=Lee Child|title= Die Trying|publisher= Jove|location= New York|year= 1999|isbn= 0-515-12502-4
*cite book|author=Lee Child|authorlink=Lee Child|title= The Enemy|publisher= Delacorte Press|location= New York|year= 2004|isbn= 0-385-33667-5
*cite book|author=Lee Child|authorlink=Lee Child|title= Without Fail|publisher= Putnam|location= New York|year= 2002|isbn= 0-399-14861-2