Jack Reacher, do I need to start from the beginning?

[whatkungfuthat]

I've been given 3 books in the series which I believe are 2, 7 and about 12 in order of writing. I was planning to read the second one and then see if I could fill the gaps between the others if I liked it by looking at second hand books etc. Should I really read the first one before that though? I started reading the Alex Cross books out of order and it wasn't a good idea.

I've read all the Jack Reacher books in order and although they don't necessarily carry on from each other (some do), there is sometimes some info that re-appears in one.
I would recommend you read them in order.

I too am an Alex Cross/James Patterson fan and am so confused as to which ones I've read and which ones I haven't.
I've just finished Kill Alex Cross. Enjoyed it.
I've also read a few of the Women's Murder Club books, think I'm up to number 6, but can't really remember.

I tend to read a Kay Scarpetta, Alex Cross, Jack Reacher, Michael Bennet, then a few random books before back to Scarpetta, so I get really confused and lose track.

Anyway, yes, try to get hold of the Reacher books in order

Thanks Silvery. I lost my way a bit with Scarpetta as I got fed up with the highly improbable all-round brilliance of Lucy. I like most of the female crime authors though - Kathy Reichs, Karin Slaughter and Linda Fairstein.

I haven't read all the Cross books either, I think I started with The Wolf. I read one of the Women's Murder Club books last summer and liked it so I'll look out for some more of them (my Dsis is taking me on a tour of her local charity shops this week so I better take a big bag!)

Oooh yes definitely read them in order, I got mine all out of the library but now have them on kindle. Would recommend them, I really like the character.

but the thought of him being played by Tom Cruise fills me with horror!

I don't think it's crucial to read them in order, there aren't any major spoilers as it's going along, although a few of the books are flashbacks in the timeline, so set sort of 10 years before the first book starts. So that could throw you off if you're not expecting it!

We Do Not Speak of the Cruise. (Well, in fact we did at length on one thread, demonstrating why practically every actor - male or female, tall or short, of any ethnic group - would have been a better choice than Cruise).

Isn't Tiny Tom about a foot shorter than Reader? I haven't read anything yet but he already sounds more like Liam Neeson

I live all these authors too. Definitely try and read in order, the stories do stand alone but I think you get more out of them by reading in order as character backgrounds flow better. Mine and DH's favourite quote from an early Jack Reacher novel- "it looks like a penis, only smaller"

Yes, Reacher is a giant of a man, and this is fairly frequently mentioned in his description.

TC is a hobbit-sized being (much like myself, I might add) and we are now to believe that Lee Child intended Reacher's size to be 'metaphorical' and that obviously wee Tommy could beat the crap out of 6 rednecks nae bother. And that's leaving aside he's way too old to play Reacher as well.

In fairness to Lee Child, it's extremely unlikely he could do anything about the casting, and he can't very well go around saying "why is a hobbit playing Reacher?" so he has to put a positive spin on it.

When I heard they were making on eof the books into a film, I was so excited. Highly doubt I will see it now though. Will just ruin e verything I've loved for the past 12 years.

Definitely read them in order.
Oh and don't even get me started on bloody Cruise being cast to play him, seriously?! What was the casting director thinking? Had they even read the books?! Someone like Liam Neeson would have been SO much better.

Read them in order if you can, but it isn't a major problem if you read them out of order.
And Jack Reacher is obviously nothing like Tom Cruise. That Tom Cruise could have picked any actor out there to play the role and still chose a 5'3'' ferret is astonishing.

I suspect the casting director was thinking "who is producing this film? Who has thus already cast himself as Reacher?"

I've mentioned on the previous thread that William Goldman tells the story of the making of The Ghost and the Darkness when Michael Douglas (the producer) decided to play the enigmatic hero about whom nothing was known, at the point where he was one of the most famous men on the planet. Goldman feels this destroyed the integrity of the role, esp as then Douglas had the part expanded because - hey, he's Michael Douglas, he's not going to appear in a third of the scenes as it would make the film bizarrely uneven. This is similar - Cruise almost certainly attached himself to the project and no-one can tell him he's not right physically to play the role. To cast a complete unknown as Reacher (as would be more appropriate) would be box office poison.

So Cruise will get a lot of bums of seats, but mine won't be one of them!

Its coming at the right time for Cruise too. He has a ready-made audience of fans of the series (he hopes) which may make up for the people who don't bother because of all the other weirdness in his life.

If you like Patterson, Slaughter, Child et al, try The Kellermans. Husband and wife but write separate thrillers, Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman. Fab reads, esp Faye IMO. I also think best read in order but I'm a bit anal like that!

I'm sure I've read a book by Faye Kellerman and one by (is it Katherine?) Slaughter, can't remember them though, but I read a lot

I've read some by Jonathan Kellerman but I don't think I've read any of Faye's. I will look out for them now.

I love the books, but I want to buy the man a washbag and surgically attach it to him.

He showers a lot but then has to put his dirty clothes back on - you think he'd carry a spare t-shirt and pair of pants so he could chuck the others in the washer at his lady-of-the-moment's house, wouldn't you? I hope Lee Child doesn't practice such standards of personal hygiene

And a condom or three, Tribpot.

Has anyone else read 'Don't Know Jack' by Diana Capri, a sort of spin-off?

He has like an endless stream of cash. He just goes and buys new clothes when the current ones get beyond wearing.

He does buy new clothes, but not every day.

No. And the amount of fighting etc he gets up to, he probably does sweat a bit, hey?
Never really thought about it tbh.........

I used to have a bit of a fantasy about Reacher. Not so anymore.

Gah.

Tom Cruise? If I read the books and see his face I will be really pissed off.