Interview Lee Child


Crime writer Lee Child has thrilled readers with his tales of nomadic investigator Jack Reacher— but the author is mindful that his hero may have to settle down...


Text Tom Tivnan


THE ONLY CHILD


L


ee Child, all six foot six inches of him, bounds into a London café with a spring in his step.


He has reasons to be cheerful: on the previous night, the Birmingham- raised writer’s beloved football team, Aston Villa, beat local rival West


Bromwich Albion to advance to the Championship Play-Off Final. The day before that, he was crowned the career-spanning British Book Awards’ Author of the Year. It’s a well-deserved award, as Child has had some run. It is 22 years since he published Killing Floor (Transworld), his first book featuring the now iconic creation: the badass, lone wolf, former US Army military cop Jack Reacher. In 23 books, Reacher has roamed across America, righting wrongs and kicking but. He is a 6'5" mountain who, time and again, tries to stay out of trouble when he rolls into a new town but is soon forced to protect the innocent and impose some rough justice on evildoers. The Reacher books have been wildly popular, selling more than 13 million print units in the UK for a value of £78m. He is published in 51 languages across 101 countries. So why does Reacher have such a reach, here and abroad? Child says: “It is a


26


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40