Jack Reacher' Author Lee Child and Andrew Child on Their Thirteenth Thriller Exit Strategy,' and What's Next

"I don't know what was wrong with me. I guess I was going through a long nonfiction phase, but really, I think I just considered myself above airport bestsellers and was thus too busy reading things like Robert Caro's million-page Lyndon Johnson biographies so I could brag about it insufferably. (Oh my god, you haven't read them?) Then my boss at the time, David Granger, a former editor in chief of Esquire, mentioned that he loved the Reacher books."

"The Reacher books are an art form unto themselves becausealthough he works like a maniac and crafts every pageChild never seems like he's trying too hard. He trusts his story and his character, and he trusts us, the reader, and every chapter of every book is its own adventure, a world of trouble and humanity and humor and, sometimes, sex."

"But Child can't write them forever, and so five books ago he began collaborating with his brother Andrew, younger by 14 years. Lee's involvement grew less with each book until Andrew was on his own. Now, with Exit Strategy, we have the thirtieth Jack Reacher thriller, and it's a blockbuster. Season four of the excellent show (as in, way more excellent than the two not-excellent Tom Cruise movies) is set to come out next summer, and Andrew is, as always, writing."

Lee Child created Jack Reacher, a former Army cop who drifts around the country looking for justice, and wrote a dozen novels before wider readership engagement. A reader who favored long nonfiction biographies discovered the series after a recommendation from David Granger and then read all the books. The novels combine meticulous craftsmanship with a sense of ease, trusting both character and reader while delivering adventure, humor, humanity, and occasional sex. Lee began collaborating with his younger brother Andrew five books ago, with Andrew gradually assuming full writing duties. Exit Strategy is the thirtieth Reacher thriller and a blockbuster, and season four of the TV series is scheduled for next summer.

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