Reacher’s third season will adapt the novel Persuader, and this cryptic title reveals two things about the story. Given how popular Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels are, it’s kind of shocking it took over a decade for the character to get a movie adaptation. The Tom Cruise Jack Reacher films may have been hits, but Amazon’s Reacher has completely outshone them. Alan Ritchson’s take on the titular character feels like he walked right out of the books, and the show retains the gritty edge of the source material.

Given that there are currently over 25 books in the series, the show could theoretically run for a very long time. The first season covered Child’s debut Killing Floor, while Reacher season 2 adapted Bad Luck and Trouble. The upcoming Reacher season 3 covers the seventh novel Persuader, where Ritchson’s anti-hero goes undercover to seek revenge on an old foe. The next season will arrive in 2025, and Maria Sten will also return as Reacher’s best pal Neagley.

Reacher Season 3’s Book Title, “Persuader,” Refers To A Make Of Shotgun

Reacher even wields a pair of “Persuaders” in the closing chapters

Persuader opens with Reacher rescuing a college student from an attempted kidnapping, but this is all revealed to be an elaborate hoax. Instead, Reacher is working with the DEA to go undercover with this college student’s father, Beck, who is suspected of smuggling drugs via his rug import company. If Reacher season 3 remains faithful to Persuader, it will be the most contained series to date, as Jack spends the bulk of it inside Beck’s isolated compound looking for clues and trying to maintain his shaky cover. Of course, he punches and kills plenty of people along the way.

One of the big reveals is that Beck isn’t smuggling guns, not drugs. This is uncovered during a chapter when Reacher and his allies search one of Beck’s warehouses, which contains enough weapons to supply an army. Reacher also finds a crate of Model 500 “Persuader” shotguns, which is where Child’s novel takes its title; Jack then takes two of these weapons and uses them to gain his revenge in the finale.

Reacher Season 3’s Book Title Is Also A Pun On Reacher’s Mission

Lee Child does love a good bad joke

While Persuader is a reference to a make of shotgun, it also refers to Reacher’s mission in the story. He literally has to persuade the bad guys he’s working with that he is on their side…

Newcomers to the Jack Reacher saga might wonder where Child got the name for his hulking avenger. During a 2007 interview with January Magazine, the author explained the name came to him when he was recently unemployed, and decided to take the plunge and become a novelist. While visiting a supermarket with his wife, she reflected that due to Child’s height, he was always being asked by strangers to grab items from high shelves. To this, Child’s wife stated “Hey, if this writing thing doesn’t pan out, you could always be a reacher in a supermarket.”

With that, Child had his hero’s name. Readers of the author’s work will know both he and his titular character have bone-dry senses of humor, and neither is above a good pun. While “Persuader” is a reference to a type of shotgun, it also refers to Reacher’s mission in the story. He literally has to persuade the bad guys he is working with that he is on their side, with half of his energy being spent spinning lies and covering his tracks.

This dynamic will make season 3 unique, since he’s surrounded by enemies who are almost as smart as he is. Reacher season 3 will feature the show’s most brutal fight, as he faces off with Beck’s vicious bodyguard Paulie, who is even more hulking than Jack. If the third series pulls this off right, their epic brawl could be the best setpiece of Amazon’s series thus far.