# Lee Child hands off Reacher to his brother **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 26, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171 "2026-10-26T14:15:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/1 "2026-10-26T14:15:56Z")
Lee Child, author of the popular _Reacher_ novels (and Amazon series), has decided to retire from writing. The Jack Reacher character will live on in books written by his brother, Andrew Child. > **[Jack Reacher series author Lee Child 'quits and lets brother step in'](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/18/jack-reacher-series-author-lee-child-quits-and-lets-brother-step-in)** > > Child had initially been searching for a way to kill off the popular character ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/2 "2026-10-26T14:32:52Z")
When asked how he felt about inheriting the Jack Reacher series from his brother, Andrew Child said nothing. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/3 "2026-10-26T14:39:48Z")
I’m curious about why a six and a half year old author announcement is notable? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/4 "2026-10-26T14:56:49Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > why a six and a half year old author announcement is notable Two things: I saw this announcement this morning on my FB feed and hadn’t seen it before, even on the Dope. And, I didn’t notice the date! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/5 "2026-10-26T14:59:37Z")
Right, this is not news. Coincidentally, I was just thinking about this series the other day. No reason to kill him off, or jump the shark, just stop writing the things. At the end, he is always out by the highway hitching a ride— just leave it at that. (One ending, instead of heading out of town immediately, he stays with the girl. He could have left it at _that_ and let readers use their imagination. Or, remember, he is supposedly wandering around the U.S. because he never really got to see his country. But it has been decades by now. So, have him finally catch a plane back to Europe…) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/6 "2026-10-26T15:17:44Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > No reason to kill him off, or jump the shark, just stop writing the things. Readers have difficulty letting popular series go, even when they’ve degenerated and become heavily redundant. Reacher is not the first character to be kept on life support. Other examples are Jason Bourne and even Hercule Poirot, due to other authors taking over. The _Spenser_ novels are on their third author, Mike Lupica. C’mon. Let these poor bastids die an (un)natural death and move on to new heroes. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/7 "2026-10-26T15:19:48Z")
At least Sherlock Holmes got to do some beekeeping, and he only had to die once. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/8 "2026-10-26T15:20:29Z")
I’ve read 31 Reacher novels and I don’t think the standard has dropped with Andrew taking over. Even if the novels do stop, I trust they’ll keep making the excellent TV series! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/9 "2026-10-26T15:28:56Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Readers have difficulty letting popular series go, even when they’ve degenerated and become heavily redundant. Similarly, publishers and authors (and their agents) have difficulty letting a cash cow die. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/10 "2026-10-26T15:32:32Z")
I thought the last few novels were written by AI…just bleh.. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/11 "2026-10-26T15:33:21Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I’ve read 31 Reacher novels and I don’t think the standard has dropped with Andrew taking over. I do. I stopped checking them out of the library after my second try. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/12 "2026-10-26T15:38:51Z")
I stopped reading Dick Francis novels when they declined after the death of his wife, whose role in research (and more?) evidently was critical to their excellence. I have no desire to read anything by his son Felix, who’s carrying on the series. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/13 "2026-10-26T16:51:06Z")
I read _Exit Strategy_ and it was so bad, Lee Child should really consider firing his brother. But there’s lots of money to be made, so ca-ching. Yeah, it’s a formula. And no, not anyone can do it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/14 "2026-10-26T18:24:53Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > and he only had to die once. He got better? ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/15 "2026-10-26T19:12:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Readers have difficulty letting popular series go, even when they’ve degenerated and become heavily redundant. Yes, I remember an incident where a famous author was tired of his primary book series so decided to kill off the lead character. He then took a trip through Colorado to celebrate being rid of this character when he crashed his car. Fortunately, he was rescued and nursed back to health by a local who turned out to be his “Number One Fan!” When she read the book where her favorite character died, I think the character’s name was Misery something, she held him prisoner until he wrote a new book fixing all of the mistakes in his previous book. Since his life, or at least his foot (cut off with an axe or broken mercilessly by a sledgehammer depending on sources), are at risk he ends up writing the best book of his life! Who says fans shouldn’t have a say in popular series!? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2026, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lee-child-hands-off-reacher-to-his-brother/1034171/16 "2026-10-27T07:33:09Z")
I saw the documentary about that.