61 Hours question

I agree with Dave and John on this. The books all stand on their own, but Reacher's character develops throughout the series. Dave is correct that the last few books connect enough threads that reading in order is helpful.
Great books.

Yes

The earliest ones, yes. However, 4 of the last 5 form sort of an arc, so you should read 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, A Wanted Man, and Never Go Back in order. The Affair, which was published between Worth Dying For and A Wanted Man, takes place years before events in those two novels.
I hope you will real all the books in the series. Taken as a whole, they are some of the best thrillers ever written.

I read this series in a bit of a random order, so ...yes...you can. Reading in order will help you see the character evolve and aid your understanding though. It is a great series....no bad books. My favorite is Killing Floor, book number one.

The movie "Jack Reacher" is book 9, not 1. If they can grab em in any random order, you should be able to also :P

Yes you can, but it might enhance your experience if you read them in order...and who can't you read them all?

That should be: ....and who says you can't read them all?

I agree with everyone else. Each book stands alone and is readable, but you miss out on the great character work.

I started with this book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I saw the Jack Reacher movie and shortlisted a Reacher thriller for my next read. This is the one I chose. I liked his character development and dialog. I felt the bitterly cold winter air and the anxiety inside Janet Salter's home. On the strength of this book I will definitely be reading another Jack Reacher novel soon.

I love all of the Jack Reacher books. Everyone is unique and they all have great story lines. I would love to see the actual order of the books from 1 forward. In 61 Hours you are left wondering whether he made it out alive. It doesn't seem possible but I need to know the next book after 61 to find out. Or maybe 61 was the finally to a great series.

I didn't start with the first book, so I had to patch together some of the events and read the novels in the order written. Once you've been hooked on Jack, you should go back :) and start from the beginning. You'll get the greatest enjoyment.

An addendum to my previous comment.

I think that 61 Hours is the least plausible of all the Child novels, but it was still a most compelling read.