Lee Child to pass Jack Reacher baton to his younger brother

Thriller writer Lee Child will collaborate with his younger brother Andrew for the next instalments in the bestselling Jack Reacher series, with the first book in the new partnership, The Sentinel, to be published on 27th October.

Publisher Transworld announced a new four-book deal in the series, to be co-authored by Lee and Andrew Child.

Andrew Child - already a suspense and thriller writer under his birth name Andrew Grant - is set to take over the series thereafter.

Lee Child, who is 65, said: “I love my readers and know they want many, many more Reacher stories in the future. I would love to make that promise, but realistically I‚Äôm aging out of being able to keep it. A few more, maybe, but not many, many more.

"So I have decided to pass the baton to someone who can keep that promise. I chose the best tough-guy writer I have read in years - my brother Andrew Grant. We share the same DNA, the same background, the same upbringing. He’s me, 15 years ago, full of energy and ideas. He was the first to read Killing Floor all those years ago, and was the world’s first Reacher fan. We’re going to work on the next few together, and then he’ll strike out on his own.

"I‚Äôm excited to read what he comes up with, because I‚Äôm betting it will be great. If I‚Äôm Reacher, then so is he. Maybe more so. Trust me ‚Äì this is going to be the real deal.”

In the publisher's announcement, Andrew Grant said: “When I first read Killing Floor, I was blown away. Not just by the propulsive writing, or the suspense, or the action. But by Jack Reacher himself. Before I‚Äôd even learned his name I thought, I know this guy. I get him. The way his mind worked, the things he did, his moral compass, they all made sense to me. And the more time I spent with him in each new adventure, the more I craved the next. So I know what it‚Äôs like to wait for the new Reacher novel. I‚Äôve lived with the anticipation. I understand what Reacher fans want ‚Äì because I am one. And I‚Äôll do my best to deliver for them. I‚Äôll have to. Because my big brother will be watching...”

Transworld m.d. Larry Finlay said: “Over 24 books, the Jack Reacher series has grown to become far and away the UK's biggest annually-published brand in thriller fiction - delighting fans and critics alike. The most recent in the series, Blue Moon, broke all records. We cannot wait to publish the next instalment, The Sentinel, Jack Reacher No. 25, in October, and know that the new writing partnership of Lee Child and Andrew Child is going to deliver like no one else possibly could.”

The Jack Reacher series is currently being developed into a series on Amazon Prime.

Lee Child was Author of the Year at the British Book Awards 2019.

Other family writing partnerships have included that between racing thriller writer Dick Francis and his son Felix; Felix Francis first collaborated with his father, and later took on the mantle entirely, writing thrillers as "Felix Francis writing as Dick Francis" to continue the brand after his father's death. Interview with a Vampire author Anne Rice also writes in collaboration with her son Christopher.