Best books...chosen by Lee Child
Lee Child, the best-selling author of 17 Jack Reacher novels, recommends six debut novels that led to greater things.
Lee Child is the best-selling author of 17 Jack Reacher novels. Jack Reacher, the movie based on the book One Shot, will be released on DVD May 7. Below, Child recommends six debut novels that led to greater things.
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (Thomas & Mercer, $15). Fleming was disillusioned after World War II and had a girlfriend who was pregnant, which back then meant a reluctant marriage. So he briefly escaped to Jamaica and wrote a spy novel he didn’t think was very good. But a publisher took a chance, and James Bond became an icon. What if there’d been no pregnancy?
The Deep Blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald (Random House, $16). MacDonald, also restless after the war, broke away from his prosperous background to become a prodigious pulp wordsmith—Westerns, sci-fi, anything to pay the rent. Until, in the early ’60s, he dreamed up a leathery boat bum named McGee and launched one of the greatest series ever. What if MacDonald had gone to work for GM?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell (Pocket Star, $10). Authors can become soap-opera stories, but never if there wasn’t good reason for their coming to prominence in the first place. Postmortem was a very good reason: It single-handedly invented the “CSI” forensics genre. What if Cornwell had stayed working in a crime lab?
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (Grand Central, $6). When Connelly was a kid, he saw a guy hide something in a hedge, sneaked a look, and found a used handgun wrapped in a dirty shirt. So was born a unique talent for making everyday police procedure utterly gripping. What if it had just been a shirt in the hedge?
Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon (Island, $8). Joseph Kanon was a successful publishing exec who grew tired of commuting from New York to Boston. So he quit and tried his hand at writing, mining recent history for fascinating stories, starting with the A-bomb’s development. What if his job had been just a subway stop away?
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Penguin, $15). Winspear was struggling to find time to write when she badly broke her arm in a fall from a horse. A whole story flashed inside her head—about a servant who became a World War I nurse and then a kind of psychological profiler. But what if there’d been no fall from a horse?
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
‘Peak consumption has become the Holy Grail of the energy debate’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Nadine Menendez gets 4.5 years in bribery case
Speed Read Menendez's husband was previously sentenced to 11 years in prison
-
Koreans detained in US Hyundai raid return home
Speed Read Over 300 Koreans were detained at the plant last week
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious characters
Feature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
-
Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short stories
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
-
Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationships
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
-
Aysegul Savas' 6 favorite books for readers who love immersive settings
Feature The Paris-based Turkish author recommends works by Hiromi Kawakami, Virginia Woolf, and more
-
Geoff Dyer's 6 favorite books about the realities of war
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Ernie Pyle, Michael Herr, and more
-
Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventure
Feature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more