Lee Child was born in Coventry, but spent his formative years in the nearby city of Birmingham. He went to law school in Sheffield, and after part-time work in the theatre he joined Granada Television in Manchester for what turned out to be an 18-year career as a presentation director. During his tenure his company made Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker. After being fired in 1995 as a result of corporate restructuring, he decided to see an opportunity where others might have seen a crisis and sat down to write a novel, Killing Floor. The book was an immediate success and launched the Jack Reacher series which has grown in sales and impact with every new instalment. The 16th Jack Reacher novel, The Affair, was published in 2011. Visit his website at www.leechild.com.