Lee Child

Author

Lee Child is the pen name of Jim Grant, the British-born author of the Jack Reacher series — one of the most successful thriller franchises in publishing history. With over 100 million copies sold in more than forty languages, the Reacher books have made Child one of the bestselling authors in the world. Born James Dover Grant in... Coventry in 1954, he grew up in Birmingham and studied Law at the University of Sheffield. He worked in television for eighteen years at Granada Television in Manchester, where he was involved in shows including Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, and Prime Suspect. When he was made redundant in 1995 at the age of forty, he decided to write a novel. That novel was Killing Floor, published in 1997, and it introduced Jack Reacher to the world. Reacher is a former US Army Military Police major who drifts across America with no fixed address, no phone, and no possessions beyond the clothes on his back. He's six foot five, built like a tank, and has a moral code that tends to express itself through decisive, often violent action. The formula is simple and irresistible: Reacher arrives in a town, discovers something wrong, and fixes it — usually by outsmarting and outfighting everyone who stands in his way. The series now comprises over twenty-five novels and has maintained a remarkable consistency of quality and commercial success. Titles including Die Trying, One Shot, The Hard Way, and Past Tense have all topped bestseller lists worldwide. Child's writing is lean, propulsive, and addictive — many readers describe picking up a Reacher novel and being unable to put it down until the final page. In recent years, Child's brother Andrew Grant has co-authored Reacher novels under the name Andrew Child, ensuring the series continues. Lee Child remains involved as a creative force. The audiobook editions of the Reacher novels have been enormously popular, with narrator Jeff Harding delivering definitive performances that perfectly capture Reacher's laconic toughness. The audiobooks are a favourite among commuters and long-distance drivers, and many fans consider them the best way to experience the series. The books have also been adapted for screen, including a successful Amazon Prime series starring Alan Ritchie, which has introduced Reacher to an even wider audience. Lee Child was appointed CBE in 2019 for services to literature. Read more Show less