James Patterson is the best selling American author of many thriller novels. Extremely popular worldwide, James Patterson has sold over 230 million books. He is known for writing captivating stories with a twist that his fans cannot get enough of. From Alex Cross to the Women’s Murder Club series, Patterson has been writing gripping fiction since 1976. He also writes romance stories and non-fiction.
Patterson was born March 22, 1947 in Newburgh, New York. He majored in English and graduated from Manhattan College with a Bachelor’s Degree and went on to a Master of Arts from Vanderbilt University, graduating both summa cum laude. He worked in New York in advertising as an ad executive for Burger King. He also came up with the “Toys R Us kid” slogan. In 1997 he married his current wife Lori Solie. They have one son together, named Jack. Patterson lives in Briarcliff Manor, New York and Palm Beach, Florida.
James Patterson has written 71 novels in total since beginning his career over thirty years ago. He holds the New York Times record for being a best selling author in hard cover books and also is in the Guinness Book of World Records under the same prestige. It’s hard to believe, but one out of every seventeen hardcover novels sold in the United States is a book authored by James Patterson. Nineteen of his novels have been consecutive #1 best sellers on the New York Times and he has sold more books than Dan Brown, Stephen King, and John Grisham combined. He is the first author to be on the best selling list for children and adult books at the same time.
His series include the Alex Cross novels, the Michael Bennett series, Private, Maximum Ride, Women’s Murder Club, Witch & Wizard, Daniel X, and his Middle School series for young adults.
Patterson has written 21 novels in the popular Alex Cross series. His first novel published in the series was 1993’s Along Came A Spider. It stars Alex Cross, an extremely intelligent African-American forensic psychologist and detective. Cross is a homicide investigator in the Washington, D.C. area. After the death of his father a year after his mother, Cross is sent to live with his grandmother “Nana Mama”. He has a degree from John Hopkins University in psychology, worked as a farm migrant laborer, and practiced psychology until he became jaded with the politics of the medical profession. He chose to join the police force and became addicted to solving cases.
In Along Came A Spider, Alex Cross is called in to investigate a case with two dead prostitutes and a baby. Not shortly after, Cross finds he has to contend with psychotic math teacher Gary Soneji. Soneji has kidnapped two children and Cross is pulled off the homicide to cover the kidnapping. Soneji strikes again and murders an FBI Agent who has been talking about Soneji on television. Cross scours the apartment and discovers Soneji’s obsession with the kidnappings and his dream of becoming famous as a criminal. What follows is an elaborate game as Soneji’s personality is unraveled and the mission to retrieve the children plays out.
Kiss The Girls was published two years later in the second novel in the Alex Cross series. His enemy this time is a serial killer who calls himself Casanova and a mysterious killer who calls himself The Gentleman Caller. Cross is called back home only to be informed that his niece, Naomi Cross, is missing in North Carolina. He travels there and meets up with his partner Sampson only to find out that as many as ten women have been abducted, all of them having received notes from Casanova. Elsewhere, a woman named Dr. Kate McTiernan also falls into the hands of Casanova.
Kiss The Girls is full of twists and turns as the DEA, FBI, and Alex Cross race to find the identity of the two killers. When the attacks change in dynamic, Cross has reason to suspect the two are working together to take down their targets… which include Alex Cross himself. Kiss The Girls was made into a movie in 1997. It starred Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross and Ashley Judd as Dr. Kate McTiernan.
Along Came A Spider was the second movie made in the Alex Cross franchise, premiering in 2001. Morgan Freeman once again took on the role of Alex Cross. This time Cross must pursue a man who kidnapped a senator’s daughter. He teams up with a Secret Service agent, played by Monica Potter, to pick up their trail. Along the way, Alex starts to find that money is not the only thing the kidnapper wants. He also wants Alex’s help in blasting open the scandal of the century.
Recently the franchise was rebooted in the 2012 movie, Alex Cross. Starring Tyler Perry as the James Patterson protagonist, Alex Cross must pursue military-trained assassin turned murderer Picasso(Matthew Fox) as they play an elaborate game of cat and mouse.
The Women’s Murder Club series is comprised of a whopping twelve novels. In this series, a group of professional women work together to solve homicide cases. A reporter, an assistant, a medical examiner, and a homicide detective Women’s Murder Club was adapted into a television series for ABC in 2007. Starring Angie Harmon, the show ran for one season and thirteen episodes until its conclusion in 2008. The first book in the series, 1st to Die, was made into a film for TV in 2003.
Patterson’s “Virgin” hit the small screen in the made-for-tv movie Child of Darkness, Child of Light. In this supernatural movie, a Priest investigates two virgin pregnancies which may end in the birth of a child of good and a child of ultimate evil.
Miracle On The 17th Green aired on tv in 1999 in which a man chooses to enter a professional golf tournament after losing his job and feeling a general lack of connection with his job, his children, and his marriage.
Sunday’s At Tiffany’s was made into a movie by Lifetime starring Alyssa Milano, about a girl grown up whose childhood imaginary friend returns to warn her about the man she is now engaged to.
James Patterson has donated $850,000 to reading-based programs and launched ReadKiddoRead.com in 2008.
Books in order of publication:
Alex Cross Books
| Along Came a Spider | (1993) | |
| Kiss the Girls | (1995) | |
| Jack & Jill | (1996) | |
| Cat and Mouse | (1997) | |
| Pop Goes the Weasel | (1999) | |
| Roses Are Red | (2000) | |
| Violets Are Blue | (2001) | |
| Four Blind Mice | (2002) | |
| The Big Bad Wolf | (2003) | |
| London Bridges | (2004) | |
| Mary, Mary | (2005) | |
| Cross | (2006) | |
| Double Cross | (2007) | |
| Cross Country | (2008) | |
| Alex Cross’ Trial | (2009) | |
| I, Alex Cross | (2009) | |
| Cross Fire | (2010) | |
| Kill Alex Cross | (2011) | |
| Merry Christmas, Alex Cross | (2012) | |
| Alex Cross, Run | (2013) | |
| Cross My Heart | (2013) | |
| Hope to Die | (2014) | |
| Cross Justice | (2015) | |
| Cross the Line | (2016) | |
| The People vs. Alex Cross | (2017) | |
| Target: Alex Cross | (2018) | |
| Criss Cross | (2019) |
Alex Cross BookShots
| Cross Kill | (2016) | |
| Detective Cross | (2017) |
Travis McKinley Books
| Miracle on the 17th Green | (1996) | |
| Miracle at Augusta | (2015) | |
| Miracle at St. Andrews | (2019) |
When The Wind Blows
| When the Wind Blows | (1998) | |
| The Lake House | (2003) |
Women’s Murder Club Books
| 1st to Die | (2001) | |
| 2nd Chance | (2002) | |
| 3rd Degree | (2004) | |
| 4th of July | (2005) | |
| The 5th Horseman | (2006) | |
| The 6th Target | (2007) | |
| 7th Heaven | (2008) | |
| 8th Confession | (2009) | |
| The 9th Judgment | (2010) | |
| 10th Anniversary | (2011) | |
| 11th Hour | (2012) | |
| 12th of Never | (2013) | |
| Unlucky 13 | (2014) | |
| 14th Deadly Sin | (2015) | |
| 15th Affair | (2016) | |
| 16th Seduction | (2017) | |
| 17th Suspect | (2018) | |
| The 18th Abduction | (2019) | |
| The 19th Christmas | (2019) | |
| The 20th Victim | (2020) |
Women’s Murder Club BookShots
| The Trial | (2016) | |
| The Medical Examiner | (2017) |
Maximum Ride Books
| The Angel Experiment | (2005) | |
| School’s Out Forever | (2006) | |
| Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports | (2007) | |
| The Final Warning | (2008) | |
| MAX | (2009) | |
| Fang | (2010) | |
| Angel | (2011) | |
| Nevermore | (2012) | |
| Maximum Ride Forever | (2015) |
Honeymoon Books
| Honeymoon | (2005) | |
| Second Honeymoon | (2013) |
Michael Bennett Books
| Step on a Crack | (2007) | |
| Run for Your Life | (2009) | |
| Worst Case | (2010) | |
| Tick Tock | (2011) | |
| I, Michael Bennett | (2012) | |
| Gone | (2013) | |
| Burn | (2014) | |
| Alert | (2015) | |
| Bullseye | (2016) | |
| Haunted | (2017) | |
| Manhunt | (2017) | |
| Ambush | (2018) | |
| Blindside | (2020) |
Michael Bennett BookShots
| Chase | (2016) | |
| Manhunt | (2017) |
Daniel X Books
| The Dangerous Days of Daniel X | (2008) | |
| Watch the Skies | (2009) | |
| Demons | (2010) | |
| Game Over | (2011) | |
| Armageddon | (2013) | |
| Lights Out | (2015) |
Witch & Wizard Books
| Witch & Wizard | (2009) | |
| The Gift | (2010) | |
| The Fire | (2011) | |
| The Kiss | (2013) | |
| The Lost | (2014) |
Jack Morgan/Private Books
| Private | (2010) | |
| #1 Suspect | (2012) | |
| Private Games | (2012) | |
| Private London | (2012) | |
| Private Berlin | (2013) | |
| Private Down Under | (2013) | |
| Private L.A. | (2014) | |
| Private India | (2014) | |
| Private Vegas | (2015) | |
| Private Sydney / Private Missing | (2015) | |
| Private Paris | (2016) | |
| The Games | (2016) | |
| Count to Ten | (2017) | |
| Private Princess | (2018) |
Private BookShots
| Private Royals | (2016) | |
| Private: Gold | (2017) |
Middle School Books
| The Worst Years of My Life | (2011) | |
| Get Me Out of Here! | (2012) | |
| My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar | (2013) | |
| Summer of the Booger-Eater | (2013) | |
| How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill | (2013) | |
| How I Got Lost in London | (2014) | |
| Ultimate Showdown | (2014) | |
| Save Rafe! | (2014) | |
| Just My Rotten Luck | (2015) | |
| Dog’s Best Friend | (2016) | |
| Hollywood 101 | (2016) | |
| Escape to Australia | (2017) | |
| From Hero to Zero | (2017) | |
| Dog Diaries | (2018) |
Middle School: I Funny Books
| I Funny | (2012) | |
| I Even Funnier | (2013) | |
| I Totally Funniest | (2015) | |
| I Funny TV | (2015) | |
| School of Laughs | (2017) | |
| Around the World | (2018) | |
| The Nerdiest, Wimpiest, Dorkiest I Funny Ever | (2018) |
Confessions Books
| Confessions of a Murder Suspect | (2012) | |
| The Private School Murders | (2013) | |
| The Paris Mysteries | (2014) | |
| The Murder of an Angel | (2015) |
NYPD Red Books
| NYPD Red | (2012) | |
| NYPD Red 2 | (2014) | |
| NYPD Red 3 | (2015) | |
| NYPD Red 4 | (2016) | |
| Red Alert | (2018) |
Treasure Hunters Books
| Treasure Hunters | (2013) | |
| Danger Down the Nile | (2014) | |
| Secret of the Forbidden City | (2015) | |
| Peril at the Top of the World | (2016) | |
| Quest for the City of Gold | (2018) |
House Of Robots Books
| House of Robots | (2014) | |
| Robots Go Wild | (2015) | |
| Robot Revolution! | (2017) |
Invisible Books
| Invisible | (2014) | |
| Unsolved | (2019) |
Jacky Ha-Ha Books
| Jacky Ha-Ha | (2016) | |
| My Life is a Joke | (2017) |
Detective Harriet Blue Books
| Never Never | (2016) | |
| Fifty Fifty | (2017) | |
| Liar Liar | (2018) | |
| Hush Hush | (2020) |
Crazy House Books
| Crazy House | (2017) | |
| The Fall of Crazy House | (2018) |
Instinct Books
| Murder Games | (2017) | |
| Killer Instinct | (2019) |
Max Einstein Books
| The Genius Experiment | (2018) | |
| Rebels with a Cause | (2019) |
Rory Yates Books
| Texas Ranger | (2018) | |
| Texas Outlaw | (2020) |
Ali Cross Books
| Ali Cross | (2019) |
Tom Moon Book
| Lost | (2019) |
Amy Cornwall Book
| The Cornwalls Vanish | (2019) |
Standalone Novels
| The Thomas Berryman Number | (1976) | |
| Season of the Machete | (1977) | |
| The Jericho Commandment | (1979) | |
| Virgin | (1980) | |
| The Midnight Club | (1988) | |
| Black Market | (1994) | |
| Hide & Seek | (1996) | |
| See How They Run | (1997) | |
| Black Friday | (2000) | |
| Cradle and All | (2000) | |
| Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas | (2001) | |
| The Beach House | (2002) | |
| The Jester | (2003) | |
| Sam’s Letters to Jennifer | (2004) | |
| Lifeguard | (2005) | |
| Beach Road | (2006) | |
| Judge and Jury | (2006) | |
| The Quickie | (2007) | |
| You’ve Been Warned | (2007) | |
| Sundays at Tiffany’s | (2008) | |
| Sail | (2008) | |
| Swimsuit | (2009) | |
| The Postcard Killers | (2010) | |
| Don’t Blink | (2010) | |
| Toys | (2011) | |
| Now You See Her | (2011) | |
| Kill Me If You Can | (2011) | |
| The Christmas Wedding | (2011) | |
| Guilty Wives | (2012) | |
| Zoo | (2012) | |
| Mistress | (2013) | |
| First Love | (2014) | |
| Homeroom Diaries | (2014) | |
| Public School Superhero | (2015) | |
| Truth or Die | (2015) | |
| Murder House | (2015) | |
| Woman of God | (2016) | |
| Word of Mouse | (2016) | |
| Woman of God | (2016) | |
| Humans Bow Down | (2017) | |
| The Black Book | (2017) | |
| Pottymouth and Stoopid | (2017) | |
| Laugh Out Loud | (2017) | |
| The Store | (2017) | |
| Expelled | (2017) | |
| The President is Missing | (2018) | |
| Not So Normal Norbert | (2018) | |
| Disasterland | (2018) | |
| Juror #3 | (2018) | |
| Unbelievably Boring Bart | (2018) | |
| The 13-Minute Murder | (2018) | |
| The First Lady | (2018) | |
| Murder in Paradise | (2018) | |
| Brilliant Lies | (2019) | |
| The Chef | (2019) | |
| The Cornwalls Are Gone | (2019) | |
| Katt vs. Dogg | (2019) | |
| The Inn | (2019) | |
| The Warning | (2019) | |
| Sophia, Princess Among Beasts | (2019) |
Short Stories
| Bloody Valentine | (2011) | |
| Boys Will Be Boys | (2011) |
Short Story Collections
| Two from the Heart | (2017) | |
| The House Next Door | (2018) |
Anthologies
| Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night | (2006) | |
| The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 | (2015) |
Maximum Ride Graphic Novels
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 1 | (2009) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 2 | (2009) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 3 | (2010) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 4 | (2011) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 5 | (2011) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 6 | (2012) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 7 | (2013) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 8 | (2014) | |
| Maximum Ride, The Manga: Vol. 9 | (2015) |
Daniel X Graphic Novels
| Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 1 | (2010) | |
| Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 2 | (2011) | |
| Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 3 | (2012) |
Witch & Wizard Graphic Novels
| Battle for Shadowland | (2010) | |
| Witch & Wizard, The Manga: Vol. 1 | (2011) | |
| Witch & Wizard, The Manga: Vol. 2 | (2012) | |
| Witch & Wizard, The Manga: Vol. 3 | (2013) |
Graphic Novel
| Zoo: The Graphic Novel | (2012) |
Picture Books
| Santakid | (2004) | |
| Give Please a Chance | (2016) | |
| Penguins of America | (2017) | |
| Big Words for Little Geniuses | (2017) | |
| The Candies Save Christmas | (2017) | |
| Give Thank You a Try | (2017) | |
| The Candies’ Easter Party | (2018) | |
| The Candies Trick or Treat | (2018) | |
| Cuddly Critters for Little Geniuses | (2018) | |
| The Elephant Girl | (2022) |
James Patterson’s Murder Is Forever Non-Fiction Books
| Home Sweet Murder | (2018) | |
| Murder, Interrupted | (2018) | |
| Murder Beyond the Grave | (2018) |
Non-Fiction Books
| Torn Apart: The Heartbreaking Story of a Childhood Lost | (2008) | |
| The Murder of King Tut | (2009) | |
| Filthy Rich | (2016) | |
| All American Murder | (2018) | |
| The House of Kennedy | (2020) |
Zoo BookShot
| Zoo 2 | (2016) |
BookShots Flames
| The McCullagh Inn in Maine | (2016) | |
| Learning To Ride | (2016) | |
| Sacking the Quarterback | (2016) | |
| Bodyguard | (2016) | |
| The Mating Season | (2016) | |
| Hot Winter Nights | (2016) | |
| 50 Hidden Desires | (2017) | |
| Princess in Maine | (2017) | |
| A Wedding in Maine | (2017) |
Hotel Bookshots
| The Hostage | (2016) |
Luc Moncrief Bookshots
| French Kiss | (2016) | |
| The Christmas Mystery | (2016) | |
| French Twist | (2017) |
Jon Roscoe BookShots
| The Hostage | (2016) | |
| The Verdict | (2016) | |
| Kidnapped | (2016) |
Diamond Trilogy BookShots
| Dazzling | (2016) | |
| Radiant | (2016) | |
| Exquisite | (2017) |
Standalone BookShots
| Little Black Dress | (2016) | |
| The Witnesses | (2016) | |
| Let’s Play Make-Believe | (2016) | |
| 113 Minutes | (2016) | |
| Hunted | (2016) | |
| Break Point | (2016) | |
| Black & Blue | (2016) | |
| Killer Chef | (2016) | |
| $10,000,000 Marriage Proposal | (2016) | |
| The Women’s War | (2016) | |
| Taking the Titanic | (2016) | |
| Trump vs. Clinton: In Their Own Words | (2016) | |
| Airport: Code Red | (2016) | |
| Heist | (2016) | |
| Come and Get Us | (2016) | |
| Hidden | (2017) | |
| The House Husband | (2017) | |
| Achilles | (2017) | |
| Malicious | (2017) | |
| Juror #3 | (2017) | |
| The Shut-In | (2017) | |
| Night Sniper | (2017) | |
| Nooners | (2017) | |
| Diary of a Succubus | (2017) | |
| Stealing Gulfstreams | (2017) | |
| The Dolls | (2017) | |
| The Killer’s Wife | (2017) | |
| Scott Free | (2017) | |
| Black Dress Affair | (2017) | |
| The Moores are Missing | (2017) | |
| The Lawyer Lifeguard | (2017) | |
| Sexy Summer Flings | (2017) | |
| Stingrays | (2017) | |
| Deadly Cargo | (2017) | |
| After the End | (2017) | |
| Steeplechase | (2017) | |
| Dead Man Running | (2017) | |
| Absolute Zero | (2017) | |
| You’ve Been Warned – Again | (2017) | |
| Dawn’s Early Light | (2017) | |
| Avalanche | (2017) | |
| Kill and Tell | (2017) |
BookShots Collections
| Kill or Be Killed | (2016) | |
| The Family Lawyer | (2017) |
Oak Lawn Library Friends 