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Jack Reacher has returned in yet another novel from Lee and Andrew Child.\xa0

\u2018The Secret\u2019 is the 28th book in the series and was released only a few months before the second season of the TV show is set to be released in December.\xa0

Lee Child told Newstalk ZB\u2019s Mike Hosking that this is the last of their transitional collaborations, after which Andrew will be taking over completely.\xa0

He said that he made himself a promise years ago that his career wouldn\u2019t end with a downwards slope.\xa0

\u201cI tried to remain as self-aware as I could,\u201d Child told Hosking. \xa0

\u201cWhen was the moment that I was just running out of gas, running out of energy?\u201d\xa0

So while Lee Child is going to stop, his brother Andrew is taking over and keeping Jack Reacher alive.\xa0

\u201cThe secret is really Andrew\u2019s book and it\u2019s very good, and that\u2019s driving me crazy,\u201d he said.\xa0

\u201cHe could be better than me.\u201d \xa0

When it comes to the TV show, Child is an executive producer and consultant.\xa0

\u201cI don\u2019t really want a role,\u201d he confessed.\xa0

\u201cI truly believe the best thing to do is hand over the project and give them confidence to do it on their own, without me looking over their shoulders.\u201d \xa0

Child\u2019s wound up being a \u201cfriend of the production\u201d, as he puts it, as the showrunners would call him up and ask for his insight and input.\xa0

Although he\u2019s officially stepping back from writing Jack Reacher novels, he said it doesn\u2019t feel like a huge step.\xa0

\u201cYou learn very early on,\u201d he told Hosking. \u201cThat the readers grab him, the readers fall in love with the character, and from that point onward, the reader owns Reacher.\u201d\xa0

\u201cIt fades away from you over time.\u201d\xa0

Child said he wanted to be decisive in avoiding that downward slope, saying that he\u2019s glad he did it this way.\xa0

\u201cWe\u2019re going to get another ten, twelve, fifteen years of Reacher that I could not have done myself.\u201d\xa0

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