--- description: Find out why 'Killing Floor' by Lee Child made the list. title: Killing Floor: The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8f60fae04678c1/698a407b16d884c843c3c3d2/KillingFloo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 03, 2023 # Killing Floor by Lee Child by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Ex-military policeman and drifter Jack Reacher coasts into small-town Margrave, Ga., where he’s suddenly arrested for the murder of a man who turns out to be his brother, Joe. This sets off a heart-pounding investigation into the mysterious killer—and the subsequent larger criminal operation—that haunts this picture-perfect southern town. The gruff Reacher is the unassuming, brooding protagonist at the center of it all. --- ### More from TIME --- Reflecting on how he developed Reacher’s character, Lee Child [wrote that](https://time.com/5738825/lee-child-hero-history/ "undefined") Reacher “slotted very neatly into the folk hero tradition, specifically the knight errant subgroup, which seems to be universal in appeal.” Child was, of course, completely right. _Killing Floor_ was published in 1997 and became an instant hit, garnering countless awards, including the 1998 Anthony and Barry Awards for Best First Novel, and launched Child’s career as a successful commercial thriller author. The book is the twisty first entry in the _New York Times_ best-selling _Jack Reacher_ series, a global phenomenon with 28 installments, which has been translated into nearly 50 languages, and has been adapted for both television and film—the latter of which features Tom Cruise as Reacher. —_Rachel Sonis_ **Buy Now:** _Killing Floor_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780515153651 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3QWgVEG "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309201/killing-floor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309201/killing-floor/"},"headline":"Killing Floor","datePublished":"2023-10-03T12:01:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:21:13.685Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309201/killing-floor/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8f60fae04678c1/698a407b16d884c843c3c3d2/KillingFloo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b8f60fae04678c1/698a407b16d884c843c3c3d2/KillingFloo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309201/killing-floor/","name":"Killing Floor"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How We Chose the 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time","description":"Here's how TIME created its 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books list. There are books from 15 different countries, and no author appears on the list more than once.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bNzuDcsg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-10-02T16:54:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNzuDcsg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309201/killing-floor/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309201/killing-floor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```