A real-life plot twist: His Jack Reacher thrillers have sold more than 100 million copies - now LEE CHILD is handing the writing reins to his brother, Andrew. They tell Michael Odell about the change of narrative

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British authors Lee and Andrew Child are convinced that a talent for thriller-writing is genetic. Lee is, of course, the author of the Jack Reacher series which has now sold more than 100 million copies – earning an astonishing $1 billion in the process. But four years ago, aged 64, he retired and his younger brother Andrew (now 55) took charge. However, it’s not this sibling’s talent they’re talking about today; it’s that of Andrew’s daughter, Jess.

‘She’s 24 now, but at primary school she had to do a writing exercise,’ says Andrew. 

‘They said they wanted one good character, one bad character, a conflict and a resolution. Well, her characters were these two rabbits and the conflict was over a carrot. The good rabbit killed the bad rabbit and I got called into the school because they were concerned by the level of violence. I said, “Do you know who her uncle is? It’s Lee Child.”’ She [the teacher] said, “Oh, that explains it”, and no further action was taken.’

Lee Child published the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor, in 1997 and wrote a further 23 titles in the series. His literary creation is a six-foot-five, 115 kilogram ex-US-military policeman with fists ‘like Thanksgiving turkeys’ and ‘a body like a condom crammed with walnuts’. Reacher left the military to become a drifter who ‘doesn’t want to put the world to rights’ although he ‘doesn’t like guys who put it to wrongs’. Living off the grid (no phone, no home) with only a fold-up toothbrush and an ATM card, he has become an emblematic literary rebel.

Since Lee handed over to his brother, they have collaborated on three novels and the fourth, The Secret, is published this month. We are speaking via Zoom. The Child brothers are together at Lee’s house in Denver, Colorado – Lee also has a home in Wyoming, around 140 miles to the North, where he and Andrew are close neighbours: ‘We come to Colorado to escape the worst of the Wyoming weather,’ Lee explains. ‘It can be pretty inhospitable for six to eight months of the year.’

British authors Lee (right) and Andrew Child (left) are convinced that a talent for thriller-writing is genetic

It was on a journey back from Colorado to Wyoming in 2019 that the literary handover was first discussed. The brothers were travelling through a ‘ground blizzard’ with snow and ice blowing up in front of their car to a height of 20 feet.

‘I was driving,’ remembers Andrew. ‘I couldn’t see a thing and was basically navigating by GPS. I think Lee was kind of relying on this moment because, while I was concentrating on not killing us, he said: “By the way, I’m thinking of retiring”.

My first thoughts were: I was one of the first ever readers of Jack Reacher and I didn’t want the books to end. The second thought was: could I do it?’

After years spent writing his own thriller series as Andrew Grant, overnight he became Andrew Child. And after years of trying not to imitate his brother, it became his mission.

‘I’ve always been interested in authors’ works being continued,’ says Lee. ‘A ghost [writer] wrote Robert Ludlum’s books after he died. The same with Stieg Larsson. From what I’ve seen, a skilful author can reproduce about 95 per cent [of an author’s style]. But how do you get to 100 per cent? That’s down to the individual madness of the author. So, who in the world was most likely to reproduce that? It had to be Andrew. We are very similar.’

Are they? They’re in a room with Lee’s guitar collection behind them on the walls (he also has a Renoir hanging in his Manhattan apartment). He is relaxed, smoking in a T-shirt, offering wry observations through a transatlantic drawl. Andrew, meanwhile, sits ramrod straight in a smart buttoned-up shirt, looking a bit like he’s awaiting approval on a small business loan application.

Maybe it’s because of their markedly different childhoods. Lee (originally James Grant) was raised in grim postwar Birmingham. After Andrew was born, 14 years later, the family settled in suburban Hertfordshire.

‘Given his soft southerner background and the age gap, it is remarkable how similar we are,’ says Lee. ‘But we both suffered a bit in our family – we were both fish out of water and not sympathetic to our parents’ goals for us.’

Lee Child published the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor, in 1997 and wrote a further 23 titles in the series

Since Lee handed over to his brother, they have collaborated on three novels and the fourth, The Secret, is published this month

Both also went to Sheffield University (Lee read law, Andrew English). Both became thriller writers. Both moved to the US, married and had children with American women (Lee has a daughter, Ruth; Andrew has two daughters, Jess and Katharine, and a stepson, Alexander).

‘For me, growing up in Birmingham was to be kept at arm’s length from being considered fully English,’ says Lee. ‘People think the place is a dump and the accent is considered unattractive. You grow up with a feeling of not being fully welcome. I’d read Superman comics as a kid and America seemed like such an exciting place.’

Despite being neighbours in remotest Wyoming, the families don’t meet every day. Lee’s wife Jane might call Andrew’s wife Tasha about a recipe or Lee might call Andrew if he needs to borrow a tool. But the collaborative process is strict. Just like his elder brother did, Andrew Child begins a new Reacher novel on 1 September each year. A broad plot idea is agreed, then Andrew writes and Lee gets to read each chapter thereafter. However, unlike Lee – who used to swig 30 cups of coffee and smoke half a pack of cigarettes, writing all afternoon, before reviewing his work smoking cannabis in a pipe – Andrew smokes less but drinks even more coffee. I’ve heard rumours of 33, even 34 cups: ‘Coffee is kinda part of the job,’ shrugs Andrew.

There are stories that Lee had planned to build an adjoining office to Andrew’s where he might smoke and offer the odd suggestion like, ‘Jack would never do that’ or ‘We need a fight scene here’. Is that true?

‘Because of the weather in Wyoming, the building season is short so that is still pending,’ says Lee with his drawl. ‘A Reacher novel is like figure-skating at the Olympics. The whole idea is to produce a routine that’s fresh and creative but also contains certain elements like Reacher drinking coffee and getting up when he wants.

‘But really, so much writing is instinctive. It’s not like the movies where you have to have a fight scene every 20 minutes. It’s not formulaic – I wouldn’t say to Andrew, “There hasn’t been a fight for several days.” That becomes a committee thing. It’s cardboard and it wouldn’t work.’

Four novels into the handover process, some critics have complained that Andrew has made Reacher a bit too chatty and thoughtful. ‘I wanted to revive some of Reacher’s wit from earlier books,’ says Andrew. ‘In The Visitor [2000] his sarcasm is laugh-out-loud funny. Latterly he’s gained this reputation for saying little, so I wanted to bring a bit of that back.’

Alan Ritchson (left) as Jack Reacher and Malcolm Goodwin as Detective Oscar Finlay in the Reacher TV series 

Ten years ago I met Lee when fans were complaining that Tom Cruise was too short to play Jack Reacher in films. (Cruise stopped after two films, when the franchise moved to Amazon TV in 2022. Now, Reacher is played by 6ft 3in Alan Ritchson.) Lee told me a funny story about Keanu Reeves being considered for the role. Producers insisted the successful actor convey a commanding physical presence, a certain moral ambiguity – but also be the smartest person in the room. ‘They agreed Reeves could not deliver on number three,’ Lee said.

A decade on and there are new issues. Season three of the Amazon series had been halted mid-production because of the US screenwriters’ strike. The brothers support the strike, if only because developments in AI mean the Reacher TV franchise could be written by machines.

‘With machine-learning, a studio could input a Reacher novel and produce an infinite series for ever, which obviously would be disadvantageous to the author,’ says Lee.

For as long as possible, Reacher will stay in the family. Andrew Child’s apprenticeship is over and next autumn’s novel will be his first solo effort, meaning Lee has officially retired. He doesn’t say why exactly, but it sounds like he’s had enough: ‘I’ve given everything to this job that I can.’

‘For the first time I can remember, I have nothing to do tomorrow – and that’s a great feeling,’ he says. ‘And if Andrew’s daughter Jess wants to take over one day, Reacher might even live another generation.’

The Secret will be published by Bantam on 24 October, £22*

*TO ORDER A COPY FOR £18.70 UNTIL 29 OCTOBER, GO TO MAILSHOP.CO.UK/BOOKS OR CALL 020 3176 2937. FREE UK DELIVERY ON ORDERS OVER £25.