In Northern Ireland, from the late 70s to the early 90s, the IRA killed over 40 alleged informers.

But the man who often found, tortured and sometimes killed these people on behalf of the IRA

was himself an informer, a secret British army agent with the codename Stakeknife.

Who gets to play God? And why me? Why my family?

When lies are still being told to this day, who do you believe?

I wouldn't even know where to start, and I'm with the IRA.

Steakknife.

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Hello, is every dysfunctional town dysfunctional in its own way?

Today on Open Book, we're investigating crime thrillers with a strong sense of place,

and we start with The Master.

The author Lee Child's story reads like fiction.

Twenty-three novels ago, a redundant British TV producer makes a last-ditch attempt to resurrect his livelihood

by buying a notebook and pencil with which to compose his debut.

Today, he's a number one bestseller, penning each new story from his Manhattan penthouse

overlooking Central Park. Jack Reacher, the huge footloose, avenging

ex-military policeman Lee created, is one of the best-known fictional characters in the world,

loved by readers and even fellow writers, and has been controversially embodied on screen in two

outings by the more diminutive Tom Cruise.

In his latest adventure, past tense,

Reacher finds himself at a fork in the road and chooses the path that takes him back in time

...