I have never read a Jack Reacher novel. I picked up Killing Floor about a year ago, but never made it far. The context just wasn’t right for me at the time. Someday, I may pick it up and read it in a sitting. It was the same time the first time I tried to read Foundation. I was 11 or 12, and it was the first time I think I tried reading a book that had such dramatic jumps in timelines. The fact that the protagonist for both parts of the book had the initials H.S. made it hard for me to follow. I don’t know why. But a few years later I picked it up again and proceeded to read the entire series over the course of a week.

So why did I pick up Reacher Said Nothing? Because even knowing so little about Reacher, I am always fascinated by the process authors take to create. Martin’s book delivered that, though a bit unevenly. To be fair, the book was never sold as only being about the writing process. My three stars are only because I found it uneven in representing the narrative. It was good, but it wasn’t the best example of this kind of book. It does have the distinction of being one of the only I’ve seen that was written by an observer rather than autobiographical. It does add a slightly objective angle that can be lost – most folks don’t write about all of their bad habits while creating.

Probably more interesting to Reacher fans, but still a decent insight into yet another writers process. Or lack thereof.
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Lee Child's life as the writer of such a popular series is well described by Andy Martin. Martin was able to have close access to Child through the months that he was writing Make Me, to the point of watching Child typing at his computer day after day, and watching the author deal with autograph hunters and interviewers asking questions such as why would anyone buy his books?

I thought a lot about what I would write about Reacher Said Nothing, about the things I found most interesting. Unfortunately, if I describe these things, it will give too much away. I will say this: the agonizing process of choosing the right word, and the description and proper names of certain kinds of word groupings and sounds - reading about all of those things has opened up a technical slant on the subject that I'd never known about. It's the perfect kind of discussion to have when it comes to Lee Child and his Reacher books. ( )

Jack Reacher may be a man of few words, but his creator, Lee Child, shares his world and his creative process in intriguing vignettes penned by author Andy Martin who is an unabashedly irrepressible fan. Lee Child is thoughtful and amusing; the book is informative and inspiring as it offers readers an enjoyable look at creativity and the complex writing process that gives birth to one of today’s most recognizable literary characters.

Highly recommended. ( )