Lee Child - Jack Reacher's Rules

You need protein and fats and sugars, it doesn’t matter where they come from.

Eat when you can, because you never know when you will next get the chance.

Be friendly with the cookhouse detail.

“I’m a big guy … I need nutrition.”

Eat and plan.

Always eat a perfect breakfast: pancakes. Egg on the top, bacon on the side, plenty of syrup. And plenty of coffee.

Before a night of action and stress, go for empty calories, fats, and complex carbohydrates: pizza and soda.

“His threshold of culinary acceptability was very low, but right then he felt as if he might have been pushing at the bottom edge of his personal envelope.”

After giving a wounded man a shot of morphine, remember to mark his forehead with an M , to warn the medics not to give him an overdose.

When you’ve knocked someone unconscious, put him into the recovery position. If you want him to recover.

“No need to put a guy in a coma over four grease marks on a shirt.”

To set your own broken nose, smack yourself firmly in the face with the heel of your hand.

Use duct tape to keep a broken nose in place, or to patch up a knife wound.

“Duct tape: the finest field dressing in the world. The Marines once flew me from Lebanon to Germany with nothing but duct tape keeping my lower intestine in.”

A well-aimed headbutt can leave your opponent unconscious but may leave you with a bruised forehead.

After a fistfight, the best cure for a sore hand is to wrap it around a cold beer.

>>WHAT TO DO WHEN A WOMAN FAINTS

Catch the victim.

Lay her down with her feet high and her head low, so gravity helps the blood go to the brain.

Check her pulse.

Stimulate her with loud yells or light slaps.

Persuade her to lie still for fifteen or twenty minutes.

Loosen any clothing, tight or otherwise, if you think she would like you to.

>>FITNESS REGIME

Throw back the covers.

Stand up and stretch.

Arch your back.

Point your toes.

Stretch your legs.

That’s it.

THINGS YOU’LL NEVER HEAR REACHER SAY

I need to book an appointment with my massage therapist.

“I never get angry. I’m a very placid type of guy.”

Know when to get mad, and know when to count to ten before you get mad.

“I’ve counted way past ten on this one. Way past.”

Feel the aggression building, and use it and control it; let the adrenaline pump you up.

“They mess with me, they answer to me.”

The most unbearable type of anger is a woman’s—do anything to avoid it.

“If they hurt her, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to come back down here and break your spine. I’m going to stand you up and snap it like a rotten twig.”

“I wasn’t angry. I was barely interested. If I had been angry, we’d be cleaning up with a fire hose. As it is, we’re going to need a forklift truck.”

THINGS YOU’LL NEVER HEAR REACHER SAY

Can someone help me carry my luggage?

“Fighting Reacher was like having a running chain saw thrown at you.”

>>IN A KNIFE FIGHT

Don’t get cut early. Nothing weakens you faster than blood loss.

Use your fist as well as the knife. People forget you have two hands.

It helps to be fighting for your life. And not just for fun.

A cut to the forehead can mean so much blood it blinds your opponent.

When someone hurts you, step in, not away.

Use whichever part of your body is the best weapon at the time.

Use your left foot if you want to mitigate the damage; calibration is an art.

“Your big soft heart, Reacher. One day it will get you killed.”

When facing an opponent with no obvious weak point, go for the eyes.

“A 7-pound metal club is good. But a 250-pound human club is better.”

Use the elbow to hit the skull; the skull is harder than the hand, the elbow gets less damaged.

When you’re fighting against brass knuckles, don’t get hit.

Aim for the side of the skull, which is softer and displaces the brain more.

Don’t aim for the middle of the body, which is easier to defend; aim high for the head or low for the knees.

If you’re swinging a weapon, get near and get near early.

If they glance up they’re going to use their fists; if they glance down they’re going to kick.

A headbutt changes the game. No one expects a headbutt.

It’s like bringing a sawed-off shotgun to a knife fight.

Basic rule of thumb with six guys: you have to be quick. You can’t hit a guy less than once.

“Hit them fast, hit them hard, and hit them a lot.”

THINGS YOU’LL NEVER HEAR REACHER SAY

I give up, it’s hopeless.

>>WAYS TO DISABLE YOUR OPPONENT

“Use a switchblade to slice the web of the guy’s thumb. Painful, and a real disincentive against holding pistols again until they healed, which could be a long time, depending on his approach to nutrition and antisepsis.”

The best way to break a finger:Wrench it sideways and snap the knuckle. Sideways is easier than bending it all the way back.

Catch a guy by the throat:Do it hard enough, and fast, and numb the guy’s voice box before he can get going with any sounds. Then dig your fingers in and tap him on the top of the head, enough to send some shock down through his neck bones.

The best way to choke someone:from behind, using the thumbs on the back of the neck, and folding up the fingers so the pressure is applied from the knuckles, not the fingers, otherwise you’ll get your fingers broken and your butt kicked.

“Cutting a throat doesn’t take much time. Given a decent blade and enough weight and force, it takes as long as it takes to move your hand eight inches. That’s all.”

The combative grip.Right at the last split second pull your hand back a fraction and close around the knuckles, not the palm. The old Army trick is that they go to shake your hand, but they’re aiming to crush it. A macho ritual. The way out of it is to be ready. Pull back a fraction and squeeze back. Squeeze their knuckles, not the meat of their palm. Their grip is neutralized. They never stand a chance.

The campaigning politician grip.Fumble the handshake, and grip the back of the recipient’s hand, not the palm, creating a breathless “so much support here I’ve got to be quick” type of response. So it’s strictly the shaker’s choice when to let go.