Should You Read The 17 Lee Child Books In Order Of Publication?

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Who Is Lee Child?

Lee Child is the author of the "Jack Reacher" series of thrillers. To date there are 17 books in this series, and each one of them has been a smash hit around the world. The UK and the US market are probably the biggest buyers of Lee Child's books, which have sold in the multi-millions over the last decade (making Mr. Child a very rich author indeed).

How Popular Are The "Jack Reacher" Books?

Men and women of all ages are now reading this exciting thriller series, which have sold over 10 million copies, and have been published in over 30 countries around the world. The number of books sold has increased considerably each year over the past 10 years.

The popularity of the main character, "Jack Reacher", has grown to the extent that a major Hollywood movie based on the book "One Shot" is in the pipeline for 2013. Acting superstar Tom Cruise has bought the rights to the movie, and will be playing the lead character (despite being a full 10 inches shorter in height than the written description of "Jack Reacher"!).

Do You Need To Read The Lee Child Books In Order Of Publication?

Although this series of books have been around for over a decade now, people often ask do you need to read all of the Lee Child books in the order they were published. Although it can occasionally be helpful to read the book series in the order they were released, it is not actually necessary. Each individual book is carefully plotted so that a new reader can enjoy it without reference to any of the other books in the series. Therefore it is possible to start with book 17 ("The Affair") and then book 1 ("Killing Floor") if you so choose!

Of course there are similar themes and characters throughout the series, but each book has its own individual story, its own unique plot twists, and a conclusion that makes sense. Lee Child has been very clever in pitching a character that appeals to both men and women, is tough yet occasionally vulnerable, and is a man to be relied upon in a crisis.

Although these books are enormously popular, they will never be considered at the same standard as Oscar Wilde or Charles Dickens! However, for excellent holiday reading then you will find any novel in this series of books a very entertaining resource.

Lee Marks is from York, England, and is currently reading all 17 of the Lee Child books in order If you would like to enjoy a fantastic thriller series, then remember you don't have to read the Lee Child books in order of published date in order to enjoy them!

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and the Intriguing Special Agent Pendergast

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Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child became my favorite authors when I started reading Relic, a horror/thriller set at the American Museum of Natural History. Douglas Preston worked at the Museum as a writer and editor from 1978 to 1985 and the rich detail around the museum's inner workings drew me in. There began a series of novels that would become centered around a very unusual protagonist, Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast.

Douglas Preston was born in Cambridge, MA in 1956. He attended Pomona College and after exploring the sciences picked English literature as his area of study. After working at the museum for eight years, he wrote a non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic. It was that book that led to his introduction and later collobaration with Lincoln Child, the editor of his book at St. Martin's press. Their first book Relic, was made into a movie in 1997, and was the beginning of a successful series of ten additional novels, Cold Vengeance, their latest, was just released in August, 2011.

Lincoln Child, was born in Westport, CT, and attended Carleton College majoring in English. His first position after college was at St. Martin's Press, where he made full editor in 1984. He left publishing in 1987 to pursue a career with MetLife in computer programming and analysis, and in doing so began pursuing his writing on the side. After Relic was published in 1995 he began writing full-time.

Both authors experiences in college and professional careers can be felt in the detailed backgrounds they give both the characters and their stories. They have over the course of the series introduced concepts that are somewhat fantastic, a serum to prevent aging, or a drug that causes a metamorphosis, but have done so in a plausible way.

They have developed their characters over the series, many reappear in subsequent novels to where they were first introduced, and their continued growth and development is not ignored in favor of the main character. But it is that main character, Aloysius Pendergast, and his loyal friend, NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, that keep me returning to their novels. Special Agent Pendergast is one of the most entertaining characters I have met in years. His background as a member of a wealthy, but strange, New Orleans family that includes charletons and serial killers, is an ever unfolding delight.

His methods are as eccentric as his family, and include a smattering of disguise, Tibetan meditation, Chongg Ran, pyschological manipulation, and pure brilliance. He is a charming enigma, whose story and background is uncovered slowly over the series. While he started out almost as super-hero like in his amazing abilities, it is in Preston and Childs' latest series, the Helen trilogy, you get to see the character as a man, who's loss of his wife ten years earlier, and his subsequent discovery of a cover up, causes cracks in that unflappable exterior.

C. J. Mackey is a working mother of three, balancing a full time career while taking an active role in her children's lives. She has an advanced degree in engineering and over twenty years making technology decisions for fortune 500 companies. For more professional information about Special Agent Pendergast you can visit Special Agent Pendergast Series