Reading List
Lee Child
Thriller Writer
Lee Child is the pen name of James Dover Grant, a British novelist born in Coventry and best known for the Jack Reacher thrillers. Before writing fiction he spent many years as a presentation director at Granada Television in Manchester, working on programs including Brideshead Revisited and Prime Suspect. His first novel, Killing Floor (1997), introduced Reacher, a former US military policeman who wanders America, and won the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel. His picks here are six first novels that launched great careers.
Los Alamos
by Joseph Kanon · Fiction
“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?” — via Article, May 2013
Maisie Dobbs
by Jacqueline Winspear · 2003 · Fiction
“Winspear was struggling to find time to write when she badly broke her arm in a fall from a horse.” — via Article, May 2013
The Black Echo
by Michael Connelly · 2002 · Crime
“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?” — via Article, May 2013
Postmortem
by Patricia Cornwell · 2021 · Crime
“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?” — via Article, May 2013
The Deep Blue Good-by
by John D. MacDonald · 2013 · Crime
“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?” — via Article, May 2013
Casino Royale
by Ian Fleming · 2012 · Fiction
“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?” — via Article, May 2013
