Reacher returns in Nothing To Lose
On his way to San Diego, Jack Reacher finds himself in Colorado between the towns of Hope and Despair. When he is arrested for being a vagrant, Reacher decides to fight the law and investigate bizarre circumstances in Nothing to Lose. Bestselling author Lee Child answered some questions about his latest thriller for The Big Thrill.What sparked the idea for Nothing to Lose?
This book is more externally driven than most of mine. The ideas came from observations and conversations as I travel America, and from five years of correspondence with service personnel currently on active duty.
Did you pattern the towns Hope and Despair on real towns?
They're fictional, but they stand in for the kind of lonely, forgotten places that fascinate me.
Why do you think Reacher doesn't just walk away?Well, he almost did, remember? If the town cop had dumped him to the west, he would have shrugged and continued his journey. But he was dumped to the east, where he had come from, and Reacher hates turning back.
How do you feel about the Iraq War and soldiers going AWOL?
It's a complex issue, and those active-duty personnel I talked about earlier express themselves through Reacher in the book.
What will Reacher run into in San Diego?
Reacher survived San Diego with no incidents at all, and he's in New York City by the time the next book starts. It's called Gone Tomorrow and it will be out a year from now.
Contributing editor Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket
Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library
Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle
Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine. 
