Like most literary works, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books have also drawn ideas and detective tropes from diverse sources. Some inspirations for the character even came from Lee Child’s own experiences as being the biggest guy in the room. Instead of merely borrowing from other famous detective stories, though, Child also gave Reacher a distinct identity by bending several rules and conventions of the crime thriller genre.
Interestingly, though, when Lee Child first penned the Jack Reacher books, one of his primary sources of inspiration for the titular character was Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher Was Heavily Inspired By Sherlock Holmes
Since some of the most popular portrayals of Sherlock Holmes in the audiovisual medium have primarily focused on his deductive abilities alone, it is hard not to associate the character with that trait alone. However, as fans of the franchise would know, Sherlock is no less skilled in physical combat, often proving himself capable of holding his own in dangerous confrontations.
A closer look at Sherlock’s traits and physical abilities reveals how similar Reacher is to him. Lee Child, too, confirmed (via Collider) he heavily drew from the Arthur Conan Doyle character by saying that Reacher‘s Sherlock similarities served as “a very conscious homage.“
He added that it was always about balancing “brains and brawn” for his character. Just like Sherlock, Reacher can also throw a punch, but his true strength lies in his ability to stay three steps ahead of his enemies.
Did You Know: Frederick Forsyth’s Day of the Jackal was also a key inspiration for Lee Child when he wrote the Jack Reacher books (via The Guardian).
In the first Jack Reacher book, titled Killing Floor, Lee Child also featured a direct homage to Sherlock Holmes by showing how Reacher thinks exactly like him. There is a sequence in the novel where Reacher puts his intelligence on full display by deducing that Finlay is divorced and “gave up smoking in April.“
Even the Prime Video detective series based on Lee Child’s books does not hold back from riffing on Reacher and Sherlock’s similarities. In season 3’s ending moments, Reacher features a brutal showdown between the protagonist and the hulking Paulie. This sequence, as Lee Child confirmed, draws from Holmes and Moriarty’s final showdown at Reichenbach Falls in The Final Problem.
Reacher Sherlock Inspiration Makes Even More Sense After Prime Video’s New Show
Created by Guy Ritchie, Prime Video’s Young Sherlock is inspired by Andrew Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes book series. Unlike most other live-action takes on the iconic detective, the show earns a distinct identity by unfolding more as a coming-of-age story and giving audiences a glimpse of Holmes’ formative years.
In many sequences from the show, it becomes hard not to draw parallels between Holmes and Reacher’s early years.
For instance, as Young Sherlock reveals, its titular character, like Reacher, was also raised in the shadow of a “powerful” institution. While Jack Reacher was raised on different military bases all his life, Sherlock Holmes grew up in a rigid Victorian Oxford. Despite being molded by the overarching institutions, both Reacher and Holmes developed anarchic values.
Sherlock put his rebellion on display by refusing to conform to the social expectations of Victorian society. Reacher did the same by ultimately leaving the military and becoming a nomadic drifter.
Prime Video’s Young Sherlock also shows how the titular character’s older brother, Mycroft, represents who could have become if he had followed the rules. In Reacher season 1, viewers get a glimpse of the Alan Ritchson character’s relationship with his elder brother, who, like Mycroft, is a guiding force but embodies a far more disciplined and institutional path.