Lee Child and Andrew Child’s next Jack Reacher novel, Chain Reaction, is set for release on October 20, 2026—sending Reacher to a remote Colorado town where a murder, the Pentagon, and a suspicious data-and-energy setup collide.
A bus ticket is the kind of thing Jack Reacher can live with. It’s what he does after the ticket—finding the wrong answer hidden inside the right-looking details—that always turns ordinary travel into trouble.
Now Reacher’s next case is locked to a date: Chain Reaction. the 31st Jack Reacher novel from Lee Child and Andrew Child. will be released on October 20. 2026. The book follows last year’s Exit Strategy and plunges him into an investigation involving a murder. the Pentagon. and a remote Colorado town where nothing seems to add up.
The story kicks off when General Susan Turner tracks Reacher down after a member of her team is brutally murdered while on covert duty. Turner can’t trust anyone inside her operation. including her deputy. so she brings in the one person who has built a career out of solving problems—and vanishing before the paperwork catches up.
Turner isn’t just a new face in Reacher’s world. She’s a recurring character in the Reacher books, and she was also played by Cobie Smulders in the Tom Cruise adaptation of Never Go Back, from 2016.
Reacher’s destination is Summertown. Colorado. a remote settlement described as having one diner. one motel. five massive data centres. two giant solar farms. and a total population of just four people. The setup is so lopsided it practically begs for a second look—because with more data centres than residents. something is clearly off.
In the official synopsis, Reacher is “hard to find,” and he’s fine with that. Turner, meanwhile, has the means and motive to reach him. Her team member’s murder is the immediate trigger, but the town’s bizarre balance of infrastructure and manpower is the puzzle that pulls Reacher in.
Chain Reaction arrives October 20, 2026, as the Jack Reacher brand keeps moving on multiple fronts. On TV. the fourth season of the hit Prime Video series is set to arrive later this year and will adapt Child’s novel Gone Tomorrow. The TV adaptation stars Alan Ritchson (Fast X) as Jack Reacher, alongside Maria Sten (Swamp Thing) as Frances Neagley.
And while Reacher’s next written chapter heads toward October, Summertown’s mystery is already doing what it’s meant to do: turning “remote” into a synonym for dangerous.
Jack Reacher Lee Child Andrew Child Chain Reaction October 20 2026 General Susan Turner Summertown Colorado Alan Ritchson Maria Sten Prime Video