J. Penney’s New Identity
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. Originally published in THRILLER: Stories to Keep You Up All Night , edited by James Patterson, in 2006.
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!
Readers also enjoyed
Lee Child
Before he became the architect of modern vigilante fiction, Lee Child was a man on the brink of reinvention. In 1995, after being laid off from his job at Granada Television, he didn’t chase another corporate title. Instead, he sat down and started writing—armed with a blank page, a sharp sense of justice, and the idea of a lone drifter who didn’t belong anywhere but could set things right wherever he landed. That first story became Killing Floor. The character was Jack Reacher. And the rest is a revolution in the thriller genre.

