Why I’m mourning Lee Child’s retirement

There is mourning in my household, as in many households, this morning at the news that Lee Child – the bestselling thriller writer, from whom we have been able to expect a new Jack Reacher novel every autumn – is laying down his pen.

You can well see why he might. He has all the money he will ever need and nothing to prove to anyone. Why not quit while he’s ahead? Reacher would. But what a loss to the rest of us. If you too will miss the stories (Child’s brother is taking the franchise over, but it’s hard to imagine they’ll be quite the same), or if you’ve not read them and are wondering what the fuss is about, why not revisit the podcast I recorded with Lee a bit over a year ago to get a window into the ideas and methods of one of the great, popular writers of our age?