Jack Reacher Books in Order: Should I Read Reacher Books in Release or Chronological Order?

Figuring out the best order to read the Jack Reacher books can be tough. There are 48 stories featuring Reacher, counting novels, novellas, and short stories, and their release order differs from their chronological order. Either has its merits, and you can find a list of both below.

What order should I read the Jack Reacher books in?

There are a ton of Jack Reacher novels and short stories, and you can read them either in order of publication or chronological order. Neither is really superior to the other and once you get past the prequels, the order is the same anyway. You can find both listed below:

Jack Reacher Books Release Order:

1. Killing Floor (1997)
2. Die Trying (1998)
3. Tripwire (1999)
4. James Penney’s New Identity (Short Story) (1999)
5. Running Blind (US)/The Visitor (UK) (2000)
6. Echo Burning (2001)
7. Without Fail (2002)
8. Persuader (2003)
9. The Enemy (2004)
10. One Shot (2005)
11. The Hard Way (2006)
12. Bad Luck and Trouble (2007)
13. Nothing to Lose (2008)
14. Gone Tomorrow (2009)
15. Guy Walks into a Bar… (Short Story) (2009)
16. 61 Hours (2010)
17. Worth Dying For (2010)
18. The Affair (2011)
19. Knowing You’re Alive (with Dr. Morgan Snow) (2011)
20. Second Son (Short Story) (2011)
21. A Wanted Man (2012)
22. Deep Down (Short Story) (2012)
23. Everyone Talks (Short Story) (2012)
24. Never Go Back (2013)
25. High Heat (Novella) (2013)
26. Personal (2014)
27. Not a Drill (Short Story) (2014)
28. Good and Valuable Consideration: Jack Reacher vs. Nick Heller (Short Story) (2014)
29. No Room at the Motel (Short Story) (2014)
30. Make Me (2015)
31. Small Wars (Short Story) (2015)
32. The Picture of the Lonely Diner (Short Story) (2015)
33. Night School (2016)
34. Maybe They Have a Tradition (Short Story) (2016)
35. The Midnight Line (2017)
36. Faking a Murderer (with Temperance Brennan) (2017)
37. Too Much Time (Short Story) (2017)
38. Past Tense (2018)
39. The Christmas Scorpion (Short Story) (2018)
40. Blue Moon (2019)
41. The Fourth Man (Short Story) (2019)
42. Cleaning the Gold (Short Story) (2019)
43. Smile (Short Story) (2019)
44. The Sentinel (2020)
45. Better off Dead (2021)
46. No Plan B (2022)
47. The Secret (2023)
48. In Too Deep (2024) (Upcoming)

Jack Reacher Books Chronological Order

1. Second Son (Short Story)
2. High Heat (Novella)
3. Deep Down (Short Story)
4. Small Wars (Short Story)
5. The Enemy
6. James Penney’s New Identity
7. The Secret
8. Night School
9. The Affair
10. Killing Floor
11. Die Trying
12. Tripwire
13. Running Blind (US)/The Visitor (UK)
14. Echo Burning
15. Without Fail
16. Persuader
17. One Shot
18. The Hard Way
19. Bad Luck and Trouble
20. Nothing to Lose
21. Guy Walks into a Bar… (Short Story)
22. Gone Tomorrow
23. 61 Hours
24. Worth Dying For
25. Knowing You’re Alive (with Dr. Morgan Snow)
26. A Wanted Man
27. Everyone Talks (Short Story)
28. Never Go Back
29. Not a Drill (Short Story)
30. Personal
31. Good and Valuable Consideration (with Nick Heller)
32. No Room at the Motel (Short Story)
33. The Picture of the Lonely Diner (Short Story)
34. Make Me
35. The Midnight Line
36. Maybe they Have a Tradition (Short Story)
37. Faking a Murderer (with Temperance Brennan)
38. Too Much Time (Short Story)
39. The Christmas Scorpion (Short Story)
40. Past Tense
41. The Fourth Man (Short Story)
42. Cleaning the Gold (with Will Trent)
43. Smile (Short Story)
44. Blue Moon
45. The Sentinel
46. Better Off Dead
47. No Plan B
48. In Too Deep (Upcoming)