Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: lee child, Reacher

Reacher: Looks Like Author Lee Child Isn't Quite Done with Jack Yet

Author Lee Child has stepped back from writing the Jack Reacher novels, but he teased writing "something" that might be Reacher-related.

Published Thu, 11 Sep 2025 08:07:02 -0500

by Adi Tantimedh

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Article Summary

Lee Child hints he may not be done writing Jack Reacher, teasing a new secret project in the works
Andrew Child now writes the Reacher novels, but Lee Child admits he still has Reacher on his mind
New memoir Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories explores the inspirations behind the series
Jack Reacher's restless, outsider spirit reflects Lee Child's own approach to life and storytelling

Jack Reacher is eternal, thanks to Lee Child writing over twenty novels featuring the Wandering Wrecking Ball Who Walks Like a Man coming into a town or a city and killing every bad guy in it. Child has retired from writing the books, leaving his brother Andrew Child to write them, or has he? When he spoke to RNZ to promote his new book Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories, he hinted that he might not be totally down with Reacher just yet.

Lee Child Hints He May Not be Done Writing Jack Reacher — Cover art: Mysterious Press

"My brother is really writing the books now, but I have started writing something, I'm not going tell anybody what it is right now, but yeah, it's a habit, it's something that you build you your life around, it's structured in a certain way and I guess I'm still suffering from that," Child told RNZ's Saturday Morning. Sounds like that "something" might just involve Jack Reacher: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think we would say that, I can't say another word at this moment."

Meanwhile, he explained that Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories is an autobiographical look at what informed the writing of the Jack Reacher stories. It's intimate, akin to a diary, he says, giving readers an insight into where he was at as he wrote the Reacher novels.

"I just decided I would tell people where I was, what I was doing, what I was thinking, how I was feeling in the months that it took to write the book and if possible where the idea came from or where certain features of it came from, just like a very personal diary and description and I hope it does interest the fans. I hope it is a bit of a guide to the novels, it certainly explains the reasons behind them, and maybe also a bit of how to, because people think writing is so mysterious, and it really isn't, it's a job like everybody else's job. You go to your office, you sit down, you do your work."