Biography
Synonymous with the phenomenally popular Jack Reacher series, Lee Child is the pen name of James Dover Grant, the result of a childhood case of mispronunciation.
Born in Coventry in 1954, he spent much of his childhood in Birmingham, before graduating with a law degree from Sheffield University in 1977. Despite this, he had no intention of becoming a lawyer, working backstage in a theatre while a student and then as a presentation director for Granada Television upon graduation.
He was involved in the production of shows including Brideshead Revisited, Prime Suspect and Cracker, and also wrote commercials and news stories. After an 18-year career, he was made redundant in 1995 following corporate restructuring.
It was his anger and frustration at this situation that led to him sitting down and writing a novel about a man who helps those who can’t help themselves, and Jack Reacher was born. Killing Floor was published in 1998 and won two awards upon publication. Lee Child went on to write a further twenty-three Jack Reacher novels, before announcing that his younger brother, Andrew Grant, would take over the internationally bestselling series.
Adapted for both cinema and television, the Jack Reacher series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Blending action, adventure, suspense, danger and an intoxicating sense of place, Lee Child has created a vigilante hero who, despite his methods, you can’t help but root for.
