One Shot was published by Delacorte Press in 2005, the ninth Jack Reacher novel and the basis for the 2012 film Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise (a casting choice that provoked considerable fan controversy, given Reacher’s canonical six-foot-five, 250-pound physique versus Cruise’s considerably more compact dimensions).
The premise is one of Child’s most elegant: a sniper kills five random people in a small city’s public plaza. The police quickly identify and arrest James Barr, an ex-military sniper whose van was parked nearby. The evidence is overwhelming. Under interrogation, Barr says only one thing: “Get Jack Reacher.”
Reacher arrives — but not as Barr’s ally. He knows Barr from a previous incident and believes he is guilty. He has come to make sure the conviction sticks. But the case begins to unravel: the evidence is too perfect, the investigation too smooth, and the apparent randomness of the victims conceals a pattern that points away from Barr toward a conspiracy that is both more complex and more sinister than a lone shooter.
The novel is Child at his most procedural: the investigation unfolds methodically, with Reacher’s military sniping knowledge providing the technical framework. He understands what a trained shooter would and would not do, how a shooting position is chosen, what a cone of fire implies about intent — and this specialized knowledge allows him to see what the police cannot.
Collecting One Shot
First edition (Delacorte Press, New York, 2005): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First US edition in dust jacket: $15–$40
- Signed first edition: $40–$100
- UK first (Bantam Press, 2005): $10–$30