Cleared Hot Podcast — Episode 424

"The Mind Behind Jack Reacher" | Andrew Child

Host: Andy Stumpf
Guest: Andrew Child (Jack Reacher co-author, brother of Lee Child)
Date: January 5, 2026

Episode Overview

In this captivating episode, host Andy Stumpf sits down with author Andrew Child, who, alongside his brother Lee Child, helms the iconic Jack Reacher series. The conversation traverses Andrew’s journey from telecommunications to thriller writing, the enduring archetype of the wandering hero, behind-the-scenes insight into the Reacher books (and their transition to TV), collaboration between the Child brothers, and the evolving landscape of publishing, including AI’s impact. The episode is brimming with writing advice, thoughts on modern society, and stories both inspirational and entertaining.

1. Origins: From England to the Jack Reacher Series

[00:28–17:49]

• Andrew's Backstory:

  • Born and raised in the UK; moved to the US because of "an old story. A girl brought me to the states." ([00:37] Andrew)
  • Met his wife the "old-fashioned way"—in a bar, not via an app. Discussion on how technology has changed dating and social skills.
    • "You need to feel that pit in your stomach, the uncomfortableness. You need to sweat a little bit." ([02:08] Andy)
  • Initial career in telecommunications before pivoting to writing.

• Genre & Archetype:

  • The Jack Reacher series pulls from multiple genres: "There's an investigative aspect... police procedural... mystery... adventure." ([05:45] Andrew)
  • Reacher as an "immortal archetype"—the wandering "knight errant" or "ronin" who fixes a town's problems and leaves.
    • "That character has been around forever, in every culture." ([06:29] Andrew)

• Lee Child’s Origin Story:

  • Lee Child started as a TV writer/producer, got fired, and turned to writing to make ends meet.
    • "He had to put food on the table, so... he made the really smart decision to write a book, because what could go wrong?" ([15:04] Andrew, laughing)
  • Practicality shaped Reacher: making him a drifter allowed for limitless story settings; military police background justified his skills.
  • Character’s anger at being let go loosely paralleled Lee's real-life experience.

• Collaboration and Early Involvement:

  • "In a way, we were involved together right from the beginning... we were always talking about Reacher... almost to the point where we were worried that if a psychiatrist came by and heard us talking about this invisible person..." ([22:09] Andrew)
  • Andrew was the first outsider to read Lee’s debut manuscript and gave honest feedback.

2. Writing Process & Collaboration

[20:39–47:22]

• Beginning Formal Co-writing:

  • Formally started with "The Sentinel" (2019), but had 25 years of "apprenticeship" by discussing and daydreaming Reacher scenarios.
  • Collaboration was in-person in Wyoming until COVID, then moved to emailing the document back and forth—"less fun, but more efficient" ([47:00] Andrew).

• Process & Instinct:

  • The duo does not outline heavily ahead: "Just start at the beginning... without any real plan," focusing on vibe ("What key is this book in?") and instinctive next steps. ([38:05] Andrew)
  • "A thriller becomes really, really powerful if you ask or imply a question at the beginning." ([40:25] Andrew)
  • Surprises/twists are essential, but are best when placed instinctively: "Within their routine... there are certain moves that they must execute... and the skill is combining those moves in ways people haven’t seen before." ([41:55] Andrew, ice dancing metaphor)

• Dialogue & Writing Advice:

  • Dialogue should sound natural but is "completely artificial" on the page; it must reflect character subtly ([71:35] Andrew).
  • "Write the book that you want to write. The only person in the world that can write your book is you." ([126:21] Andrew)
  • "If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Except for skydiving." ([125:19] Andrew)

3. Readers, Demographics, and the Allure of Crime Fiction

[06:53–13:17; 27:10–29:37]

• Audience:

  • Both crime fiction and true crime genres skew more female, per Andrew’s experience at conferences and in readership ([07:30] Andrew).
  • Women are "the best group at identifying potential threats" in psychological studies; less-educated men second, highly educated men last, possibly due to the loss of instinct ([09:59] Andrew, discussing The Wisdom of Psychopaths).

• Engagement:

  • Reacher’s appeal: readers “like thinking along with Reacher... being a participant" ([36:39] Andy).
  • The books deliberately avoid strict timelines—readers can start with any in the series.

• Reacher as a Travel Companion:

  • Andy: "They have been my travel books for years... I've been doing that with the Reacher series for years. As soon as I saw that, I was like, yes, we're absolutely gonna do this." ([15:47] Andy)

4. Reacher on Screen: TV vs. Film

[32:52–36:20]

• TV Show Success:

  • Andrew: "I think they've done a fantastic job." Alan Ritchson nails the physicality; TV allows for more plot depth and pacing than movies.
    • "[TV] can explore the quiet bits as well as the loud bits... you need the slow parts to contrast." ([35:43] Andrew)

• Tom Cruise vs. Alan Ritchson:

  • Cruise captured Reacher's inner character; Ritchson embodies the physical presence.
  • The movies worked with constraints (Tom Cruise’s stature and movie-length plots), while TV matches the books’ structure.

5. Dialogue on Society, Technology, and Criticism

[25:00–32:29, 96:13–105:00]

• Perception vs. Reality:

  • The disconnect between social media/online anger and daily US life: "The incredibly vocal minority... paint with a big brush. And I worry that people are getting a bad perception of what the US is." ([25:59] Andy)
  • Scandinavian experiment: people are more united than divided, depending on the questions asked ([27:12] Andrew).

• Online Negativity:

  • "If you are in a room and everybody is telling you what you're doing is amazing, you are in the wrong room." ([22:07] Andy)
  • Writers fixate on negative reviews: "You'll have 99 great comments and one negative... Most of your energy is on the 1." ([29:31] Andy)
  • "Michael Jordan isn't online leaving bad reviews... The people you want to emulate are not the ones leaving those reviews." ([32:09] Andy, quoting Joe Rogan)

• Technology’s Changing Impact:

  • Concerns over AI’s impact on creative industries—music, writing, acting. Ongoing legal issues prevent deep discussion, but skepticism around authenticity and intellectual property ([96:13–103:47] Andrew/Andy).
    • "When the Gutenberg Press was invented, first book published: The Bible. Second book: 'Why the publishing industry is doomed.'" ([98:04] Andrew)

6. The Publishing Landscape & Writing as a Career

[84:45–92:13, 127:27–129:30]

• Andrew’s Journey:

  • Set up a theater company in his 20s, transitioned to corporate telecom for 15 years.
  • Became disillusioned after reading a thriller with a "disaster" ending—decided to try writing fiction himself, risking everything by quitting his job.
  • Has written standalones and several series (including a "janitor as Robin Hood" protagonist) before joining Reacher.

• Self-publishing vs. Traditional:

  • Self-publishing requires handling all aspects (editing, promotion, design).
  • "I would be terrible at it," Andrew admits, favoring traditional publishing for team support—even at the expense of some control ([128:24] Andrew).

7. The Craft and Responsibility of Storytelling

[41:32–47:22, 125:08–127:27]

• Surprises & Twists:

  • On writing a great thriller: "There has to be a surprise, a twist... the skill is combining [expected moves] in new and interesting ways." ([41:37, 41:55] Andrew)

• Collaboration:

  • Co-authoring with Lee Child felt "natural," with duties split between discussion and drafting. COVID forced efficient email collaboration, giving a more "true reader" experience ([47:01] Andrew).

• Pressure & Readers:

  • Pressure comes from readers’ expectations and personal standards, not from the publisher.
    • "If you ever get to the stage that you think you’ve got it nailed... you’ve probably lost it at that point." ([49:42] Andrew)
    • "Our job is to provide the very, very, very best book." ([50:59] Andrew)
  • Aim for yearly releases; Lee now focuses on TV adaptation and literacy projects.

8. Social Commentary and Real-world Inspiration

[53:40–60:13, 116:44–121:05]

• Literacy Initiatives:

  • Lee Child now heavily involved with prison literacy in the UK, helping reduce recidivism through reading ([52:41] Andrew).

• Violence, Morality, and Reacher’s Destiny:

  • Reacher’s fate left open: "If we have our way, we’ll keep him going forever... We could go back—do prequels—when he’s still in the Army." ([55:23–56:02] Andrew)
  • The books walk a line between plausible coincidence and escapist fantasy in the hero's adventures.

• AI, Drone Warfare, and Modern Threats:

  • Parallels between fiction and recent military developments: drones, privatization of war, psychological consequences for remote operators.
    • "It was a video game point structure where... they're gamifying warfare..." ([117:11] Andy)
    • The threat of sophisticated "homegrown" adversaries: "If you weaponize that against our own citizens... it would be a problem of an order of magnitude people don’t understand." ([131:23, 135:45] Andy)

9. Advice for Aspiring Writers

[125:08–127:27]

• Writing:

  • Ignore most advice. Write the book only you can write. "Write a book that you like. If you’re lucky, other people will like it too."

• Getting Published:

  • Know yourself: self-publishing gives control but takes lots of work across domains; traditional publishing means more help but less control. Tailor approach to your strengths.

10. Memorable Quotes & Moments (selected with timestamps)

• "You need to feel that pit in your stomach, the uncomfortableness. You need to sweat a little bit."
  — Andy Stumpf, [02:08]

• "That character has been around forever, in every different culture. You see it in Japan with the ronin... medieval Europe... Scandinavian myths, ancient Greece."
  — Andrew Child, [06:29]

• "If you are in a room and everybody is telling you what you're doing is amazing, you are in the wrong room."
  — Andy Stumpf, [22:07]

• "A thriller becomes really, really powerful if you ask or imply a question at the beginning. People are hardwired to find out the answer."
  — Andrew Child, [40:25]

• "You have to have those people in your life... catastrophe is around the corner"
  — Andy Stumpf, [22:11]

• "If you ever get to the stage where you think you’ve got it nailed...you’ve probably lost it at that point."
  — Andrew Child, [49:42]

• "Write the book that you want to write. What you can do, the only thing you can control is write a book that you like."
  — Andrew Child, [126:21]

11. The Next Reacher and What’s Ahead

[113:16–115:14, 139:19]

• On the Series’ Future:

  • No plans to kill Reacher anytime soon: "If you keep buying them, we’ll keep writing them." ([139:19] Andrew)
  • At least three more Reacher books are contracted; Andrew hopes for more ([139:35] Andrew).
  • Andrew: “I would love there to be a lot more than that...”

• On Entry Point:

  • Readers can jump into the series anywhere—each book stands on its own.

12. Where to Buy / Support the Series

[138:32–139:17]

• Any outlet is fine, but Andrew encourages supporting local independent bookstores or bookstore.org.
  • "A bookstore is really, really important to a community." ([138:34] Andrew)

13. Final Thought

• Andrew’s Last Word:
  • "There’s a book out there for everybody. If you’ve read books before and you haven’t liked them, keep trying. When you find it, it will enrich your life." ([140:41] Andrew)

End of summary: This episode delivers an inspiring, deeply human portrait of authorship, collaboration, creative process, and the timeless appeal of the Reacher archetype. Full of memorable quotes and sage advice, it’s a must-listen (or read) for writers, readers, and anyone fascinated by storytelling and modern society.