Lee Child is the pen name of James Dover Grant, a British author born on 29th October 1954 in Coventry, England. He is renowned for his thriller novels featuring the character Jack Reacher, a former American military policeman who travels across the United States.

Child spent his formative years in Birmingham and attended the same high school as JRR Tolkien. He studied law in Sheffield and worked in theater before joining Granada Television in Manchester. During his 18-year career there, he was involved in notable productions such as Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, Prime Suspect, and Cracker. After being fired in 1995 due to corporate restructuring, he turned to writing, with his first novel, Killing Floor (1997), winning the Anthony Award and the 1998 Barry Award for Best First Novel.