This point is further elucidated in Personal, when Reacher reminisces while standing at his mother's grave: a b c Child, Lee (April 2005). "Chapter 19". The Enemy. Dell Publishing Company. ISBN 9780440241010. Reacher is also described as a skilled marksman, being the only non- Marine to win the US Marine Corps 1000 Yard Invitational rifle competition. [23] Habits and beliefs [ edit ] Child, Lee (1999). Killing Floor. He had served thirteen years in the Army, and the only time he was wounded it wasn't with a bullet. It was with a fragment of a Marine sergeant's jawbone. Reacher's large physique means his character is sometimes mistaken by other people. For example, in Die Trying, Reacher is wrongly suspected by the FBI of being involved in a kidnapping, which assesses him (solely on the basis of a few photos) as such: "The big guy is different. Different clothes, different stance, different physically. He could be foreign, at least partly, or maybe second generation. Fair hair and blue eyes, but there's something in his face. Maybe he's European, perhaps a European mercenary or terrorist." [30] Reacher is aware of this perception. In Make Me Reacher gets off a train in a remote town called Mother's Rest, simply because he likes the name of the town. When he sees a woman approaching him with a look of expectation, he immediately understands that the person she was waiting for must be very tall like him, as it is his standout feature when people first meet him.

Dominique Kohl, 29, was a Sergeant First Class on the way up and assigned to Reacher's unit when he was a captain in the Army. She appears in Persuader, where Reacher remembers the events that led to her death ten years earlier. Kohl is mentioned again in Personal, when Reacher partners with a woman who reminds him of Kohl. He has no need for or interest in employment. He’s not a proactive do-gooder. So why does he get involved in things? Well, partly because of noblesse oblige, a French chivalric concept that means “nobility obligates,” which mandates honorable, generous, and responsible behavior because of high rank or birth.” Child, Lee (1997). "Chapter 10". Killing Floor. New York: Penguin Group (USA) Inc. ISBN 1-4295-1117-6.

Very interesting and informative. I am glad you shared your process in "building or maybe discovering" Reacher. Officer Roscoe, 30, is a Margrave, Georgia police officer in Killing Floor. She is Reacher's accomplice throughout the novel and they have a brief relationship. Her first name is never revealed in the novel, but she appears in the Reacher TV series as Roscoe Conklin, and is played by Willa Fitzgerald. Lee Child has described Reacher's accomplices and their characterization and origin in the following terms: " The whole cast for each book is new. It kind of depends on what the scenario is and what the set up is. Do I use people that I actually know? In a way yeah, because you met people and you regard them as meta-typical as one thing or another – so as a large extent, yes, they are based on people I've met but not specific individuals." [67] Pre-military era [ edit ] He therefore brings a certain amount of liberal-leaning finesse and élan to his encounters. He is sympathetic to deserters from the Iraq War and particularly severe on capitalist profiteers. You feel he would probably turn up at an Occupy Wall Street demo. There is something of the hippie in his rootless roaming around America, seeking out injustice and righting wrongs. [5] I don’t really care about the little guy. I just hate the big guy. I hate big smug people who think they can get away with things.”

Lee Child is an English author who received a formal English education learning Latin, Greek and Old English. He worked a long time in television and started writing after buying some legal note pads and pencils. His wife began to worry possibly as the pay cheques had dried up, and he mentions going to the supermarket with her. She’s a small lady, he’s a big guy. He reached to the top shelf for a nice older lady, and his wife remarked that if he didn’t quite make in as a writer, he could always be a ‘reacher’. And there you have it. First: Character is king. There are probably fewer than six books every century remembered specifically for their plots. People remember characters. Same with television. Who remembers the Lone Ranger? Everybody. Who remembers any actual Lone Ranger story lines? Nobody.”Child, Lee (2006). "Chapter 47". The Hard Way. London: Transworld Publishers. ISBN 0-385-33669-1. I'm going to send Hobart down to Birmingham or Nashville and get him fixed up right. I'm going to buy him a lifetime's supply of spare parts and I'm going to rent him a place to live and I'm going to give him some walking-around money because my guess is he's not very employable right now. At least not in his old trade. And then if there's anything left, then sure, I'll buy myself a new shirt. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Among his few indulgences are casual sex and coffee, which he drinks frequently. [10] [47] [48] Physical appearance [ edit ]