Lee Child is the pen name of Jim Grant. He was born in Coventry, England in 1954. He attended law school at Sheffield University, worked in the theater, and finally worked as a presentation director for Granada Television. After being laid off in 1995 as a result of corporate restructuring, he decided to write a book. The Killing Floor won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and became the first book in the Jack Reacher series. In 2012 the first motion picture feature of Jack Reacher was released staring Tom Cruise.