Lee Child and Andrew Child: Safe Enough (USA 2024)

From the Publisher:
"I love writing Reacher but these stand-alone stories were a real delight for me... It was liberating. And fun." -- Lee Child

Twenty crime stories by the creator of Jack Reacher, never before collected
For the past twenty years, Lee Child has been one of the bestselling authors in the world, thanks to the popularity of his iconic and instantly recognizable hero Jack Reacher. But even at the height of Reacher's fame, Child's short story writing was not confined to the series; throughout the course of his career, he published tales about a range of characters on both sides of the law, including assassins, a body guard, CIA and FBI agents, gangsters, and more. Meticulously plotted and packed with Child's trademark action and suspense, the stories show the author's mastery of the short form, and they've never been collected before now.

In "Ten Keys," a drug-dealing hit man feels that he must unburden his fears and guilt to a stranger. A rookie cop in "Normal in Every Way" is assigned to the department's file room, where he makes connections to historic dates that could lead to solving crimes. A methodical bodyguard quits his job when he's outsmarted. A military mission is planned to perfection. A potential worker for the Manhattan Project is carefully surveilled by an FBI agent. A killer preys on other killers. Taken together, these stories are a riotous calamity of criminals and crime fighters; individually, they are expertly crafted, piercing tales that hit hard enough to leave a mark.

These twenty intriguing, thrilling, and rapid-fire fictions are sure to please new and longtime fans of Child and to illuminate a side of the author's work unknown to Reacher devotees. Featuring a colorful new introduction from the author, the collection stands as the first book written entirely by Child in three years.

Lee Child and Andrew Child: Safe Enough. And Other Stories. Penzler Books, ISBN: 9781613165669 (September, 2024), 304 p., $30.00, eBook $14.99.

Lee Child and Andrew Child: Safe Enough (UK 2024)

From the Publisher:
From the world's number one thriller writer, twenty pulse-pounding short stories are collected for the first time in one edition, complete with an introduction from the author.

Here are twenty meticulously plotted, intimate portraits of humanity at its best and worst, featuring assassins, CIA agents, gangsters, and more. A drug-dealing hit man unburdens his fears to a stranger. An overlooked rookie cop is assigned to the department's file room. A ruthless killer only kills bad guys. A methodical bodyguard quits his job when he's outsmarted. A military mission is planned to perfection...

Each story is entirely distinct. And with their economical prose and unexpected twists, each could only have been written by the creator of Jack Reacher.

The stories included in this collection are:
The Bodyguard * The Greatest Trick of All * Ten Keys * Safe Enough * Natural in Every Way * The .50 Solution * Publica Transportation * Me and Mr. Rafferty * Section 7 (a) (Operational) * Addicted to Sweetness * The Bone-Headed League... eard a Romantic Story * My First Drug Trial * Wet with Rain * The Truth About What Happened * Pierre, Lucien & Me * New Blank Document * Shorty and the Briefcase * Dying for a Cigarette * The Snake-Eater by the Numbers

Lee Child and Andrew Child: Safe Enough. A New Collection of Short Stories. Bantam Books, ISBN: 9780857506795 (August, 2024), 288 p., £22.00, eBook £11.99.