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7 books to read if you’re watching “Reacher” season 3
Your dad’s favorite TV show is back for a third season. Read these books if you’re watching the show, too.
“Reacher” is back with its third season, featuring more high-octane escapades from one of Amazon Prime Video’s most popular shows.
The first three episodes dropped Thursday, Feb. 20 at 3 a.m. ET on Prime Video, and the five following episodes will drop on Thursdays until March 27, 2025.
The hit thriller follows an ex-military vigilante vagabond who wanders the country fighting criminals (and his own inner demons). The show is based on the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child. Season 3 (based on the seventh book, “Persuader”) finds the hulking Alan Ritchson going undercover with Drug Enforcement Administration agents to infiltrate a mysterious criminal organization in Maine and find a missing informant.
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The show has seen a puzzling kind of mega-success, according to Slate (“The setting looks weirdly blank. The star is too handsome”). It shouldn’t work, and yet, it does. It really does. In 2023, Season 2 was the most-watched Amazon Prime show, and a fourth season was confirmed last fall, months before the third season’s release. And with 21 reviews so far, Season 3 has a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
What’s behind the immense success of the show? Short answer: Dads. Two-thirds of the show’s audience are aged 50+, and 58% of viewers are male, according to Nielsen streaming data reported by Variety. There’s something to be said for the unassuming power of the “Dad TV” genre:
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“Dad TV is one of those pop culture terms that may have been invented as an insult, but actually describes a potent and powerful genre. These are TV shows aimed at appealing to and reflecting the perspectives of middle-aged guys – men over age 30 who are often, as it turns out, dads – with a yearning to see fellows like themselves reflected in some of the programs they watch,” NPR wrote in a 2023 review.
If you’re a fan of “Reacher” (and also maybe a dad) who can’t get enough of crime-action-thrillers with nuanced protagonists, look no further than the recommendations below. We enlisted the help of Josh Cook, a bookseller and co-owner at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, to curate a booklist for fans of the show as Season 3 rolls out.
Cook has worked at the bookstore since 2004 and is also the author of the postmodern detective novel “An Exaggerated Murder.” He grew up in Lewiston, Maine and lives in Somerville.
So, put down your copy of “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy – which we know you’ve been reading (or wanting to) since Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was seen casually browsing the book during Philadelphia’s playoff game (the book subsequently topped Amazon’s bestseller list) – and pick up one of these action-packed reads.
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Hover or click on the covers to see a short summary from Cook.
| Book | Photo Credit | Review |
|---|---|---|
| “All Sinners Bleed” by S. A. Cosby | Flatiron Books | “An ex-FBI agent becomes the first Black sheriff in his old hometown, only for a school shooting to uncover a grisly series of murders. Dredging up a dark history of racism, homophobia, and smalltown politics, Titus Crown races against a killer in a compulsive page turner. S.A. Cosby has become one of our great crime writers.” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
| “Been So Wrong It Feels Like Right” by Walter Mosley | Mulholland Books | “If you haven’t introduced yourself to Walter Mosley yet, now may be the time. Over a decades-long career that spans multiple genres, Mosley has established himself as one of the masters of crime fiction. Bound up in a tangle of past mistakes and familial obligations, while navigating an emotionally and morally complex new case, P.I Joe Oliver King is always a step away from ruin in this emotionally stirring, pulse-pounding, and undeniably sexy, new novel.” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
| “Guns and Almond Milk” by Mustafa Marwan | Interlink Books | “How much of a screw up do you need to be to escape from your life as a volunteer trauma surgeon in the Yemeni civil war? When former doctor Luke Archer gets taken hostage as part of the conflict, he realizes that he can’t escape the conflicts, contradictions, and crimes of his past, even surrounded by American funded mercenaries in the basement of an occupied hospital. Fast-paced, action-packed, and thoughtful all at the same time.” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
| “How to Write a Mystery” by Mystery Writers of America | Scribner | “Maybe you want to try your hand at writing your own mystery. Lee Child brings together essays from 70 of the most successful writers in the business to share insights into the process of writing and advice on what to do once you have a manuscript. From the first blinking cursor on the blank page to the launch for your debut novel, this inclusive manual provides practical, current, easily digestible advice for new and established authors alike.” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
| “The Night of Baba Yaga” by Akira Otani | Soho Crime | “Yokiro Shindo was just minding her own shady business when she crosses paths with one of the local yakuza. Their attempt to kidnap her is technically successful but only after she’s beaten up and bloodied a dozen or so gangsters in one of the best fight scenes I’ve read in years. Given a choice between becoming a bodyguard for the boss’s daughter or getting shot in the head, she chooses to stay alive, giving the boss, the boss’s top man, and the whole gang a lot more than they bargained for.” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
| “Trust Her” by Flynn Berry | Viking | “An utterly satisfying Irish thriller that will leave you guessing until the end, as much about emotions, betrayals, and motherhood as it is about crime and espionage. With her signature hair-raising suspense, razor-sharp prose, and rich emotional depth, Edgar Award winner Berry has crafted both an unforgettable portrait of two fierce women in the Daly sisters and her most spellbinding thriller to date.” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
| “Winter Counts” by David Heska Wanbli Weiden | Ecco | “The antihero of this book may be Virgil Wounded Horse, a Lakota vigilante who busts teeth and bone when federal law enforcement proves negligent, but the true star of this crime novel is the setting: Rosebud Indian Reservation. Can Virgil bring peace to the reservation while taking down the man who’s bullied him since childhood? Reconcile his lifestyle with the Lakota beliefs he’s been estranged from since his father’s death? Battle the larger forces that plague his home?” – Josh Cook, co-owner, Porter Square Books |
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