What Book Is ‘Reacher’ Season 3 Based On?

Prime Video’s “Reacher” has returned.

And, just as you’d expect, he’s righting wrongs, exposing corruption and killing a lot of thugs pretty indiscriminately. This is the Reacher way. And, quite frankly, Alan Ritchson’s version of the character, taking over from Tom Cruise (who portrayed Reacher in two major motion pictures in 2012 and 2016), is so evocative and fully formed that you can be forgiven for forgetting that the character actually has literary roots.

British author Lee Child, the pen name of Jim Grant, first created the character in 1997 with the novel “Killing Floor,” which was adapted into the first season of the Prime Video series. Every year since then, at least one Reacher novel has been published; in 2010, two novels with interconnecting stories were published. (They would make a great two-season arc.) Beginning in 2020, Child started collaborating on the novels with his younger brother Andrew.

But all of this brings us to Season 3 of the Prime Video series – and some big questions about where it came from.

What book is season 3 of “Reacher” based on?

“Persuader,” originally published in 2003. It was the first book in a little while written in the first person, while most of the novels before this had been written in the third person.

Which book was this in the series?

This was the seventh Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.

What is “Persuader”/Season 3 of “Reacher” about?

Season 3 has Reacher getting involved in an operation being put on by a local DEA agent. They have a missing informant, somewhere in a criminal network that is somehow connected to a rug importer (Anthony Michael Hall) and a man who Reacher knows from his past (Brian Tee). It’s real good.

Where does the book take place?

The book takes place in Maine. So does the season. This probably has to do with the series shooting in Canada.

What does the shooting location have to do with the stories chosen?

Well, Season 2 was based on the eleventh Child book, “Bad Luck and Trouble.” That book was very fun because it was set in Los Angeles, with a bunch of wonderful flourishes specific to the city (his meeting place of choice was the Denny’s that used to be over by the big Netflix building). For the television show, New York was swapped in for Los Angeles and the woods of New York state replaced the California high desert. It was sort of a bummer.

But, at least generally, this season follows the location of the book?

Sure. It’s sort of like the early seasons of “The X-Files,” every supporting character had a subtle Canadian accent.

Do we know what book is being adapted for the already-announced Season 4?

We do not.

Any suggestions?

The show, so far, has favored stories that relate to Reacher’s past. For instance, in this season, he is facing off against a villain from his past (somebody Reacher thought he had already killed). But maybe next season will be one of the purer mysteries – Reacher gets off the bus and gets wrapped up in something far bigger than himself. May we suggest “61 Hours” and ”Worth Dying For” for a two-season arc? You can shoot it in Canada!

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