I should note that I've probably watched too many movies and television shows. I'm more critical of anything I watch now more than I have ever been in my life. I'm ok with a little artistic liberty, it is entertainment after all. I just wish we could get a bit more effort in the writers room instead of the recycling that is rampant today.That's ok, we'll light a match.
The closer to the source comments are based on the fact that the actor playing Reacher is closer to the author's description and to the general feel of the characters.
Some liberties we're still taken. The Frances Neagley character does not appear in the source book, she's introduced later in the series. The murder weapon in the book was a Ruger Mark II with a silencer.
The series was a pleasant entertainment. As far as the bad guys shooting, author John D. MacDonald would says the good guys were having a John Wayne day where everything was going right for them.
The Reacher books are entertainment. So much so that Lee Child has allowed Diane Capri to write a series of books about a couple of FBI agents trying to locate Reacher. I even thought it would be cool for Amazon to alternate series with the search for Reacher being one step behind all the time.