Jack Reacher creator Lee Child is to appear in Carlisle alongside his brother and fellow thriller writer Andrew Child as part of this year’s Borderlines Carlisle Book Festival.
The Lake District-based author will take to the stage at the Old Fire Station on Tuesday, October 20, the day the brothers' latest Jack Reacher novel, Chain Reaction, is published.
The book is the 31st thriller in the hugely successful series and the seventh collaboration between Lee and Andrew Child.
The Old Fire Station said the evening would see the pair discuss their work, with a book signing to follow the event.
Lee Child, who was born in Coventry and raised in Birmingham, now lives in the Lake District and has longstanding links with Cumbria.
Earlier this year, while appearing at the Illuminate festival in Kirkby Lonsdale, he said: 'I wrote the first three Jack Reacher books in Kirkby Lonsdale, and they went on to become the foundation of what has turned into a $3bn global entertainment franchise.'
He added: 'Clearly, Kirkby Lonsdale was an inspiration for me.'
Child has also recalled in an autobiographical account published by Penguin how the series began.
He said he took three pads of paper, a pencil, sharpener and eraser home to Kirkby Lonsdale in September 1994 before sitting down at his dining-room table three days later to start writing the book which became Killing Floor.
Even the name Jack Reacher has a Cumbrian connection.
Asda marked the story with a plaque at its Kendal store last year, quoting Child as saying: "One Tuesday I walked into Asda in Kendal with a new hero in my mind.
"When I walked out, I had his name - Reacher."
Child has recalled being asked by another shopper to retrieve a can from a high shelf, prompting his wife Jane to joke that if his writing career did not work out he could become a 'reacher' in a supermarket.
In an account published by Penguin, Child said: "I thought, great name!"
The Carlisle event begins at 7.30pm, with doors opening at 7pm. Tickets cost £22 including one copy of Chain Reaction, or £30 for the book and two tickets.
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