Lee Child writes about Jack Reacher, a larger than life hero. Despite the over the top nature of the hero, the stories, and the endings, these are suspenseful page-turners!

Jack Reacher is a big man, an ex-soldier, and about as independent as you get. He owns virtually nothing. Rather than deal with washing and packing clothes, he buys a cheap set, wears them for 3-4 days, then throws them away. No attachments. He moves from place to place on a whim; hops a bus to Anywhere, USA. Somehow trouble finds him, or somebody from his past reaches out for help. Jack Reacher is a one man problem-solving wrecking crew. When you go up against the bad guys, you want Reacher on your side.

With suspense stories, it can be very easy to slide into judgmental thinking and start thinking about the unlikelihood of the story line or events. The mark of a good suspense writer is not only the ability to write a great yarn, but the ability to keep the pace and focus on what's happening now. That makes a page-turner. Lee Child writes page-turners with the best of them.

Reading the series from book one allows you to see the character evolve, and the monolithic Jack Reacher to flesh out. Since each book is independent, and there is really only one recurring character, you can jump into the series with any book. I just finished "One Shot" and recommend it.

∫ The Jack Reacher Series

Killing Floor (1997)

Die Trying (1998)

Tripwire (1999)

Running Blind (2000)

Echo Burning (2001)

Without Fail (2002)

Persuader (2003)

The Enemy (2004)

One Shot (2005)

The Hard Way (2006)

Bad Luck and Trouble (May 2007)-

∫ Short Stories

The .50 Solution from Bloodlines (US)

Enough from Death Do Us Part

James Penney's New Identity from Thriller (US)

The Greatest Trick of All from Greatest Hits

Ten Keys from The Cocaine Chronicles

The Snake Eater by the Numbers from Like a Charm

James Penney's New Identity from Fresh Blood 3 (UK)

There are many more terrific mystery writers whose names may not be on the NY Time's list, but deserve to be on a mystery reader's list. Discover Mystery Authors is a HubPage with a sneak peak at many more author's that you should check out!