Dinner with Lee Child

At The Rap Sheet, January Magazine contributing editor Ali Karim shares a meal -- once again -- with international bestselling author Lee Child. As Karim tells us, this food-sharing thing with Child (who apparently is a big fan of red meat) is getting to be something of a tradition:

Another year brings another chance for me to break bread with Lee Child, the British creator of series protagonist Jack Reacher. My annual encounters with the astute Mr. Child have become an unofficial tradition of mine. As a longtime reader of his Reacher thrillers, and an admirer of what this author does for the crime-fiction genre, it’s good to meet him annually and discover what’s new in his world.

What’s newest this time is Gone Tomorrow, the 13th Jack Reacher novel, on sale early next week. According to Karim, Gone Tomorrow is Child’s “most tense and thought-provoking work of fiction yet.”

With its brief chapters, short sentences, and staccato-style narrative, Gone Tomorrow charges along as rapidly as the subway train that appears in its opening chapter. The story is violent, hip, and bang-up-to-date, a dive into the post-9/11 world of dark politics and conspiratorial forces. Action-adventure stories are rarely better concocted than this one.

You can read Karim’s exchange with Child here.