Killing Floor (novel)

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Not to be confused with The Killing Floor. ‹See Tfd›
Killing Floor
1998 Paperback cover
Author Lee Child
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Jack Reacher
Genre Thriller novel
Publisher Putnam, Bantam
Publication date
March 1997
Media type Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages 522 (Paperback)
ISBN 0-515-12344-7
OCLC 38994823
Followed by Die Trying

Killing Floor is the debut novel by Lee Child, first published in 1997 by Putnam. The book won the Anthony Award and Barry Award for best first novel. It also is the first book to feature the character Jack Reacher.

Plot summary[edit]

Jack Reacher gets off a Greyhound bus in the fictional town of Margrave, Georgia, because he remembers his brother mentioning that a musician named "Blind Blake" died there. Much to his surprise, he's arrested in a local diner for murder. He meets a detective called Finlay, and tries to prove he was not there when the murder happened. After finding what seems to be a phone number in the dead man's shoe, Finlay rings and tricks a man into telling him his name, Mr. Hubble. They bring Hubble (as he likes to be called) into the police station for questioning and he soon cracks and confesses to the murder, but Reacher doesn't buy it. Both Reacher and Hubble are sent to the state prison and run into more than a little trouble. After a hellraising two days in jail, Roscoe (a female police officer for whom Reacher has begun to have feelings) proves he is innocent and that his claim to have been nowhere near the scene of the murder is true. Roscoe collects Reacher and they return to Margrave to find that chaos has taken over. Reacher discovers the murder victim's identity and realises that he indeed knows him, as he has all his life. Hubble has disappeared and his wife is in hysterics wanting Reacher to find him. It then transpires that Chief Morrison and his wife have been found horribly murdered in their own home. It is revealed later in the story that Margrave is home to a multi-billion dollar counterfeiting operation, which Reacher and his newly formed acquaintances try to destroy.

Awards and nominations[edit]


  1. ^ "Anthony Awards winners and nominees". Bouncercon. Retrieved 26 May 2009. 
  2. ^ "1998 Barry Awards winners and nominees". Thrilling Detective. Retrieved 26 May 2009. 
  3. ^ "Dilys Award winners and nominees". Mystery Bookersellers. Retrieved 26 May 2009. [dead link]
  4. ^ "Macavity Awards winners and nominees". Mystery Readers. Retrieved 26 May 2009. 
  5. ^ "Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prizes winners (2000–2004)". Japan Adventure Fiction Association. Retrieved 11 November 2013. 

External links[edit]