The Sunday Times Magazine - UK (2022-05-01)

with Mum and Dad. They were obsessed with being
this archetypal middle-class family — respectability,
new cars on the drive. Dad would constantly try to rein
Jim in, but every time he drew a line in the sand, Jim
would set fire to that line. Jim wanted to do his own
thing, to meet girls, go to gigs and smoke dope.
There were books in the house but Jim had about six
different tickets going on at the library. Even the dog
had a ticket! He was a voracious reader and that was the
encouragement I needed. He was proof that the grass
was greener and there was a life out there for me.
That put me in a strange position when he sent me
the first draft of Reacher. I was terrified. What if it was
crap? There was no need for me to worry. It was
brilliant. Instinctively, I felt like I knew this guy, Jack
Reacher. The way he acted, the way he made those
quick decisions. And then it dawned on me ... it was
a larger-than-life version of Jim.
I’d always wanted to write, but after Jim’s success
I assumed people would think I was just riding on his
coat-tails. Things did start happening for me, and we
were actually going to the launch of one of my books in
Denver when he told me he was going to retire. We’d
both moved to the States by then. To be honest, I should
have said, “That’s great. You’ve earned it.” Instead, I got

PORTRAIT BY MATT NAGER

STRANGE

HABITS

Lee on Andrew

Aged four,

Andrew had

an imaginary

friend named

Andrew Parker

Wynder Achurch.

He was the

most intensely

imagined

character

I ever knew

Andrew on Lee

He is a qualified

electrician and

often relaxes

at home by

rewiring a

lighting circuit

angry. “What’s going to happen to Reacher?” That’s

when he asked if I wanted to take over. As the oldest

Reacher fan in the world, I desperately wanted him to

carry on and I couldn’t face the idea that it would be my

fault if Jim killed him off. I had to say yes.

The first “working” meeting was new ground for

both of us. Jim wanted me to find a way to nudge

Reacher a little closer to the 21st century in terms of

the technological landscape. I came up with the idea

of ransomware [for The Sentinel] because Reacher

would have no understanding of it and would be out

of his comfort zone. I didn’t try to map the plot out any

further, though, because Jim never outlines and I

wanted my method to be as close to his as possible.

It’s well known that Jim’s main writing tools are

several boxes of Camel cigarettes, a bag of weed and

inhuman amounts of coffee. I’m not so much of a

smoker, but I try to keep the coffee intake at an authentic

level. When I was stuck in that tunnel vision, trying to

finish the last book, my wife pointed out I was drinking

over 30 cups a day. It’s not my fault ... blame Reacher n

Interviews by Danny Scott.

Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child is

published by Penguin at £8.

The Sunday Times Magazine • 9