As I was watching Season 2 of this show this week, it suddenly hit me that I haven’t written anything about this despite having read 23 of the 28 books in the main series. So, here goes….
It would not be wrong for me to say my growing up reading was influenced hugely by fiction, especially Cold War era stories. Alistair MacLean, Fredrick Forsythe, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Arthur Hailey, Clive Cussler, Demond Bagley…and obviously, Lee Child amongst many others.
Jack Reacher?
For me, Reacher is the modern day equivalent to Sergio Leone’s The Man with No Name classics starring Clint Eastwood. Having grown up in a huge joint family with boat loads of family and friends, the whole concept of a MC who given in to his wanderlust and avoids ties of all kind had an instant appeal to me. No responsibilities, freedom to be enjoyed to it’s full extent and being a badass character…. it just can’t get any better. I was instantly a fan.
The books are predominantly self contained plots with some recurring characters (mostly connected to Reacher’s past) so it’s very easy to get in to as a series. The stories mostly have Reacher wandering into random events leading to a mystery that needs solved and some bad characters that need to be killed. They are fast paced, but are well rounded with good depth in characters and plot.
My personal favorite are those books which deal in Reacher’s history, but overall here are some that I loved the most: The Enemy, Bad Luck & Trouble, Never Go Back, Without Fail and 61 Hours.
So, the adaptations?
Let’s start off with the unmentionables. Despite being decent movies on their own, I (and probably most book fans) just can’t accept Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher. He’s literally as far as the character was written to be. What made it even worse is that the movies spanned two of the best books in the series, One Shot and Never Go Back. Loved both books which made seeing Tom in that role practically heart wrenching. Now, to be fair… they were decent movies. Just not a Jack Reacher movie. It would be awesome to wipe those from history and have Alan Ritchson play them on the TV show again.
Coming to the TV show, Alan Ritchson is what I had in mind when I had Reacher. A blend of primal thuggery backed by high IQ intelligence. Still feel, the adaptation leans more towards telling rather than showing when it comes to his intelligence, but that’s a minor gripe. Though Killing Floor was the first book in series, I did not feel it was a good entry to the series as a TV show. I wanted Bad Luck and Trouble and happy that it got picked up in Season Two. This season gives so much history, backstory and insights into Reacher both psychologically and professionally, that it should have been S1. Still happy this is currently ongoing.
Worth reading the books?
Hell, yeah! Though recommended, you don’t have to dive to read the whole series in order. Feel free to cherry pick and plug in the rest as you go by. You won’t be disappointed.
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