"After making his debut in 1997's The Killing Floor, Jack Reacher has quickly become one of the most popular - and most enduring - fictional heroes to emerge in the past half century. Now, his creator tells the stories behind the stories.

These are the origin tales of all of the Reacher novels written solely by Lee Child, chock full of colorful anecdotes and intriguing inspirations. One by one, they expand upon each novel and place it in the context not only of the author's life, but of the world outside the books. And taken together, they chart the rise of an action icon, from 1997's The Killing Floor to 2019's Blue Moon. An afterword by crime fiction expert and bookseller Otto Penzler considers the importance of the character and novels in the canon of contemporary crime fiction.

In addition to the essays, this collection also includes an original Reacher short story - the first new Reacher appearance entirely written by Lee Child since 2019. Entertaining and enlightening, Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories is a must-read for fans of the Jack Reacher series and a capstone to any collection of this excellent author."

While I'm not a fan of Reacher, being a fan of Tasha Alexander means I've heard a lot of her husband Andrew's stories about his brother Lee. And let me tell you, the stories behind the stories is a must read for me.

A great book for true Reacher fans as Lee Child gives detailed backstory to the various novels.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! If you are a Reacher fan like I am, this is a great read. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be an ARC.

This is the story of Reachers writing of the book. He is no longer going to be writing the books, his brother is going to continue the series. If you haven’t read the Reacher books this isn’t for you. It was interesting to a point but not what I expected. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Lee Child, Penzler Publishers, and Mysterious Press for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

For someone who has long enjoyed the Jack Reacher series, I was intrigued to be offered this short piece that pulls the curtain back on the character and the book series Lee Child created. This tome gives Child a chance to provide context with how his stories came to be, as well as some of the influences that helped shape his ideas. Child provides great insight and is perfect for Reacher fans, as well as those who love seeing how story ideas come to fruition. 

After being released from his job in the mid-90s, Lee Child knew that he'd need to find something new to put food on the table. He went home and pulled out a stubby pencil, which he put to paper one day. His ideas flowed out and before long, Child had the first chapter of a book, which his wife thought needed more and encouraged him to keep writing. This was the beginning of his debut novel, Killing Floor, the kernel of the Reacher series that is now overtaking the thriller world.

Lee Child has taken to offering some context on how he came to write many of his bestselling pieces, as well as the outside influences that brought him insight. Readers who are familiar with the Jack Reacher collection will surely find something intriguing about this piece, as it not only offers up Child's ideas, but also some of the more humorous aspects of creativity. Child does so in an easy to understand way, while never holding back.

I have long enjoyed Jack Reacher and the numerous antics in which he has found himself. Lee Child does well at providing context and insight, not only to his writing, but the other things he had going on throughout the process. Child offers wonderful vignettes and explains himself in a way that the reader can enjoy without feeling too bogged down. Readers who are familiar with the series will know that unpredictability is the predictable, which is a theme that emerges in this piece. A wonderfully created tome that had me flipping pages from start to finish!

Kudos, Mr. Child, for this great behind-the-scenes look at things.

In my last ARC, I learned a long favorite author had died and in this one I learned Lee Child is no longer authoring Reacher books! They will live on with his brother?!? Anyway this is a different book because it is about Lee's experience writing the book. Nothing earth shattering as he is a creature of habit but I also realized very well off!

This was a compendium of anecdotes about each of the first 20 or so Reacher books. Mildly interesting about an Authors process, but got a bit repetative at the end. Was mostly interested in a promised Reacher short story, but the copy I was given was missing that.

This book has different chapters describing how Lee Child came to write these books, his inspiration and other things going on in his life as his wrote the book series. Great insight into some of the hows and whats of this book series! I really enjoyed it!

Any new Reacher type release by Lee Child is an immediate read for me. Although this one is different and more of a day in the life style “memoir”. This is a set of short essays about the writing and time around the writing of the Reacher books. It is a fascinating look into an authors style and what is his thought process through every book. Overall great selection of essays and Child once again knocks it out the park!

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories” by Lee Child is appropriately titled, this is a collection of introductions that Lee Child wrote for a series of special editions of his first twenty Jack Reacher novels.

There’s not much to say about this collection. If you are a fan of the Reacher books, it is interesting to hear a little of the backstory around the writing of each of these books. Mr. Child takes us through his writing process (starts each new book on September 1st), what was going on in the world, and what was going on in his life, and how those things influenced the stories and settings. We see how the process and the demands on his time begin to change as the series soars in popularity, from changes to the book tours, to filming cameos in the Tom Cruise films.

There is a bit of insight into Mr. Child’s thoughts about Reacher, and how /why he behaves the way he does. We also see some overarching themes, how demands from the fans change the direction, and the view from the intelligentsia on genre novels. But this is mostly about what was happening in Mr. Child’s life, from moving houses to hopping to the UK to going on book tours. But little else that opens up Reacher to us fans. And unfortunately these intros end before the big changes to the series take place, the transfer of writing responsibilities to his brother (at first jointly) and the start of the Amazon Prime Reacher series. Maybe we have to wait for volume two before we hear about that.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Penzler Publishers - Mysterious Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

I want to thank Lee Child, Penzer Publshers, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review the ARC for Reacher. The following is my own unbiased review.

This is not a new Jack Reacher book. Reacher is subtitled the story behind the stories. It is the basis for the introduction to celebrate 20 years of Jack Reacher novels (1999-2019) being reissued by Penzler Publishers. The book is a reflection of author Lee Child's Reacher series, starting with The Killing Floor to 2019's Blue Moon. One note of clarity; Killing Floor was actually finished in 1997, but for some reason the celebration for this book considers the period of 1999-2019.

In one respect the dates don't really matter. What we have is the author's reflections and ruminations on how he writes, the ideas for each book, how some characters are names, and what was happening in the world and in the author's own life during the time frame. If you are a Reacher fan you will find some parts of the writing interesting, but probably wishing you would learn more about the iconic Reacher character and some of his closest companions (who receive next to no mention in this review, except a couple of mentions of Brother Joe who dies in Killing Floor).

I give it 3 stars, and only recommend to those who have read several Reacher books. If you are new to Jack Reacher, start with Killing Floor.