ANDREW CHILD

Teaming with his brother to write is working a treat

Now you’ve written your second Reacher thriller with brother Lee, is the shared process becoming easier? Absolutely – for two reasons. First, we know we have a system that works so we can enjoy the writing and not worry about whether we’ll end up with a complete book. And second, with The Sentinel we had a specific objective in mind. Lee wanted to find a way to nudge Reacher a little closer the current-day technological environment because he felt he’d fallen too far behind the times. We feel that’s been done now, so with Better Off Dead we could just focus on telling the best story we could, wherever it happened to lead us.

Will Reacher ever walk away from a problem?

Never. Walking away from a problem is not in his nature. Once the problem is solved though – that’s a different story. I don’t see him settling down or sticking around anytime soon.

A book that made you love writing? Pretty much every book I’ve ever read has contributed to my desire to write. I still think of myself as a reader first and a writer second. What’s the best book you’ve read? There are so many outstanding books out there I’d really struggle to name just one. And because I started out in theatre I’d have to include play scripts in the equation which makes the question even harder to answer. A book that had a pivotal impact? When I was maybe 10 my teacher caught me reading under the desk rather than working on his project. In the resulting yelling match he basically challenged me to pick up any book from my parents’ bookshelf and prove I could read it. So when I got home from school I picked a volume at random, which was Ice Station Zebra by Alistair Maclean. That was the first time I encountered an unreliable narrator – I had no idea then that authors could lie! – and it opened my eyes to so many possibilities and storytelling techniques. Looking back I don’t think there’s any other book that had a greater impact on me.

The book you couldn’t finish?

Some take longer than others, but I pretty much always stick with a book until the end. There’s always something to learn, be it positive or negative.

A book you wish you had read but haven’t got to?

About a million books! That’s the one downside of being a professional writer – less time for reading.

The book you are most proud to have written?

My first – Even. Quitting my job and staking everything on carving out a new career was probably not the smartest thing to do. Certainly not the safest. But I’m very glad I did it.

What book do you re-read?

There are so many books out there I haven’t read yet so I tend to go for ones that are new to me.

Books on your bedside table?

The Anarchy by William Dalrymple – a history of the East India Company. Inverting The Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson – a history of football tactics. The Inner Circle by Joan Bright Astley – a WWII memoir.

What are you writing now?

The next Jack Reacher novel …

Better off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child, Penguin, $33