The novels of Lee Child are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Lee Child

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

DELACORTE PRESS is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Published in the United Kingdom as Reacher’s Rules by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, A Random House Group Company.

All photographs courtesy of Shutterstock, except for this page, which is courtesy of Wikipedia.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Child, Lee.

Jack Reacher's rules / with an introduction by Lee Child.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-345-54429-2

Ebook ISBN 978-0-345-54430-8

1. Reacher, Jack (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Ex-police officers—Fiction.

3. Police—Handbooks, manuals, etc.—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3553.H4838J33 2012

813'.54—dc23       2012038282

Compiled by Val Hudson

Designed by Nick Avery Design

Original research by Dot Youngs

Cover design and illustration: Carlos Beltrán

www.bantamdell.com

v3.1

Jack Reacher, of no fixed address, is a former major in the U.S. Military Police. Since leaving the army, the authorities have not been able to locate his whereabouts, although his name mysteriously crops up from time to time in connection with investigations into murders, terrorist threats, and other breaches of the law.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction by LEE CHILD

Be Prepared

Breaking and Entering

Choose Your Weapons

The United States Army Military Police

The Rules of Coffee

Conquer Your Fear

Confronting Death

Cracking Codes and Passwords

Dogs

Fighting

Fighting Tips

Food

First Aid

Getting Mad

Hand-to-Hand Combat

How to Shake Hands

The Wimbledon Cup

Hitchhiking—the Rules

How to Extract Information

Know How to Find Your Way Around a City

West Point

Keep on the Move

Codes Used by the Military Police

Lessons Learned in the Military

Live off the Grid

Hogan’s Alley

On Walking Through a Thirty-Inch Doorway

How to Tell if They’re Lying

Learn to Read Their Body Language

Man Walks into a Bar—the Rules

A Medley of Military Acronyms

Respect Your Opponent

Noticing Stuff

The Twelve Signs of a Suicide Bomber

The U.S. Army Military Police Code of Ethics

Reacher’s Moral Code

Military Police Training

How to Open a Locked Iron Gate with a Chrysler

The Science of … The Perfect Shot

Personal Grooming

The Pentagon

Why It’s Not Smart to Have a Phone

Potential Aliases for Use When Booking a Motel

Use Your Wits—Psychology

Miranda

The Science of … Burning Down a Building

Sleep

Knowing the Time

Travel Light

What to Do in the Face of:

When to Speak

Blind Blake

How to Win the Battle

How to Win the War

Man’s Toys

Women

How to Sleep in a $350-a-Night Hotel Room for $50

How to Leave Town

INTRODUCTION

If you’ve been paying attention long enough, you know one thing for sure: the defining human characteristic is tribalism. We all slice and dice the world’s population into ever smaller fragments until we find a group where we feel comfortable, where we feel we truly belong.