James Penney's New Identity
By Lee Child and James Patterson
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Before Jack Reacher became the seminal, nomadic hero he is today and #1 New York Times–bestselling writer Lee Child reached his current iconic literary stature, there was James Penney, who we meet in this intense thriller short.
Penney was originally envisioned as a character in Child’s second Jack Reacher tale, Die Trying. Though an interesting character, Penney was ultimately excised during the editing process and readers didn’t have the pleasure of meeting him.
Now he’s been resurrected in a tale that features a brief glimpse of Jack Reacher’s early career. Don’t miss this heart-pumping tale of suspense!
Lee Child
Lee Child, previously a television director, union organizer, theater technician, and law student, was fired and on the dole when he hatched a harebrained scheme to write a bestselling novel, thus saving his family from ruin. Killing Floor went on to win worldwide acclaim. The Midnight Line, is his twenty-second Reacher novel. The hero of his series, Jack Reacher, besides being fictional, is a kindhearted soul who allows Lee lots of spare time for reading, listening to music, and watching Yankees and Aston Villa games. Lee was born in England but now lives in New York City and leaves the island of Manhattan only when required to by forces beyond his control. Visit Lee online at LeeChild.com for more information about the novels, short stories, and the movies Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, starring Tom Cruise. Lee can also be found on Facebook: LeeChildOfficial, Twitter: @LeeChildReacher, and YouTube: LeeChildJackReacher.
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James Penney's New Identity - Lee Child
LEE CHILD
Lee Child’s debut novel was Killing Floor, a first-person narrative introducing his series character Jack Reacher, and although clearly a fast-paced thriller it shared characteristics with the classic limited-universe Western. At the time Child was also an experienced media professional, aware that his second book had to be written before significant reaction to his first had even been received. To avoid stereotyping—which can affect a writer as much as any performer—Child determined to make his second book, Die Trying, as different as possible, albeit part of the same series. His plan was to stake out a wide left field, right field
territorial span between books one and two, one in which the rest of the series could happily roam. Therefore Die Trying featured third-person narration and a classic high-stakes, multistrand thriller structure. But, in its first draft, that structure went one strand too far. There was a character—James Penney—who had an appealing introduction and backstory, but who clearly didn’t have any valid place to go. So Penney wasn’t featured in the completed novel. Instead, he languished on Child’s hard drive until a request came from an obscure British anthology for a short story. Child repackaged Penney’s narrative and added a prequel-style ending, featuring a brief glimpse of Jack Reacher’s early career. The story was published, but with limited distribution. Now it comes to life again, revised and renewed, in hopes of reaching a wider audience.
JAMES PENNEY’S NEW IDENTITY
The process that turned James Penney into a completely different person began thirteen years ago, at one in the afternoon on a Monday in the middle of June, in Laney, California. A hot time of day, at a hot time of year, in a hot part of the country. The town squats on the shoulder of the road from Mojave to L.A. Due west, the southern rump of the Coastal Range Mountains