How Jack Reacher Got His Name, According To Author Lee Child

A good and memorable character needs a great name. Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Hercule Poirot, Duncan Idaho — even without knowing their reputation and impact, these names evoke a sense of importance and badassery. Similarly, Lee Child's Jack Reacher is a name that already evokes a certain image before one even reads the many, many, many ways Child describes his character's dinner plate-sized hands.

Sometimes, a name has some grand significance, a hidden meaning, or a homage to something else. Other times, an author can come up with a name due to a silly comment from a loved one. Speaking to January Magazine, Lee Child revealed his wife was the one to come up with the name "Reacher" while out shopping one day. It was when he decided to become a full-time novelist, during the writing of Child's first book, "Killing Floor." At this point, Child hadn't come up with a name for his main character — not that he needed it at first, since the book is written in the first-person and no one utters the character's name for about 20 pages.

"Every time I'm in a supermarket, a little old lady comes up to me and says, 'You're a nice tall chap, could you reach me that can?'" Child recalled. "So Jane [Child's wife] said, 'Hey, if this writing thing doesn't pan out, you could always be a reacher in a supermarket.' I thought, Reacher — good name."

Yes, Jack Reacher is named that way because he's tall and can reach things at a supermarket. It's just the kind of ludicrous moment of brilliant creativity that results in the best ideas — like pitting Reacher against a bigger Reacher in one book.

The "Reacher" series is one of the most fun thrillers on TV, a series full of intrigue, memorable side characters, great action, and one of the best and most deceptively simple main characters around in Jack Reacher himself. As played by Alan Ritchson, Jack Reacher is not just a guy with Thanksgiving turkeys for hands, who towers over most people and slaps the crap out of them in some power fantasy about a drifter with only one set of clothes. Sure, most of the show is Reacher breaking laws and shooting a whole bunch of people, but he is no Jack Bauer. Reacher does not bend the law for his own sense of justice (mostly); he specifically goes after bullies, power-hungry abusers, and criminals who particularly target those who can't defend themselves, and makes them feel like they can't defend themselves against Reacher.

That distinction is crucial to what makes "Reacher" special." This is a deceptively simple show executed so well and with enough nuance as to make it easy to ignore its flaws and simply root for Reacher to beat up some guys.

We don't know how long "Reacher" the TV show will last, but this is just the type of show that could go on for many years and never lose its spark. After all, Lee Child continues to churn out new Reacher adventures, and we are all better for it.