This 85% RT Crime Thriller Based on the Book That Inspired ‘Reacher’ Is a Streaming Sleeper Hit
While Prime Video’s Reacher has become one of the most popular action thrillers on television, its roots reach back to one of the genre’s most influential novels — and that story is having a streaming resurgence of its own. Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal, which inspired Reacher author Lee Child, has a gripping new adaptation on Peacock, and with an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s quietly become a hit among thriller fans. Before Lee Child’s stoic drifter Jack Reacher ever took down a corrupt sheriff or outsmarted a hit squad, he was inspired by Forsyth’s chilling 1971 novel The Day of the Jackal. In a recent interview, Child reflected on the impact Forsyth had on him as a writer, calling his debut book “a masterclass in how to break every rule and make it work.”
Forsyth’s story follows an anonymous assassin — known only as “the Jackal” — hired to kill French President Charles de Gaulle. What made it revolutionary at the time was its structure. Unlike traditional thrillers that hinge on if the hero will succeed, Forsyth flipped the formula. Readers already knew de Gaulle survived in real life — so the suspense came not from whether the assassin would pull the trigger, but from how he’d attempt it. As Child explained, “He showed us that the how question was as powerful as the who, why, where, and when.” That insight became a cornerstone of the Reacher series. Like the Jackal, Reacher enters each story as a mystery — a stranger with no past, drifting into new towns, solving crimes by method and instinct. The tension doesn’t lie in what he’ll do, but in how he’ll do it.
How Good Is ‘The Day of the Jackal’?
Collider’s review of the series hailed it for its strong performances from Eddie Redmayne and Lashawna Lynch, adding:
“Films and series about spies and assassins are about a dime a dozen these days, as they’re a perennial way of creating networks of powerful operatives in buzzy locations doing larger-than-life things. It’s exciting when they’re good, innovative, and well-cast, but it’s also harder than one would think to make a spy thriller stand out among a well-trod subgenre that’s burdened with lackluster attempts. The Day of the Jackal doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, introduce near-future tech, or overwhelm audiences with novel genre hybridity. It’s simple but elegantly crafted, well cast, and capably structured to keep tension, backed by strong performances. Moreover, it’s a good, highly watchable thriller series that will keep viewers engaged throughout its main characters’ tit-for-tat pursuit.”
The Day of the Jackal is now streaming on Peacock.
Network
Sky Atlantic
Directors
Brian Kirk
Writers
Ronan Bennett
