James Patterson

As the creator of the Alex Cross series and the Women’s Murder Club, James Patterson has become one of the world’s most well-known novelists and his name dominates bestseller lists....

Born in New York in 1947 and with an MA in English behind him, Patterson spent thirty years in advertising while also honing his talents as a storyteller. After publishing his debut, the crime thriller The Thomas Berryman Number, in 1976 he produced a steady flow of standalone novels until he embarked on writing full time in the late 1990s.

By this stage in his career Patterson had already published the first three titles in his phenomenally popular Alex Cross series – 1992’s Along Came a Spider, 1995’s Kiss the Girls and 1996’s Jack and Jill. Following the eponymous hero as he works to solve cases across Washington DC, first as a homicide detective and then as an FBI agent, the series reached 32 books in 2024 with the publication The House of Cross and inspired a spin-off for children featuring Alex’s son Ali.

In 2000 Patterson launched his Women’s Murder Club series with 1st to Die and, aided by co-authors Andrew Gross and Maxine Paetro, has added new books to it almost annually since then. Set in San Francisco the series features four women whose skills as a homicide inspector, medical examiner, district attorney and crime desk reporter allow them to solve killings in which the perpetrators evade the usual procedures of detection.

Contrasting the themes of crime and detection for which he is most famed, James Patterson has also collaborated on fantasy series for children. These include Maximum Ride, about a group of winged teenagers fighting to find the truth about their past, and Daniel X, in which the orphaned hero and alien hunter strives to protect the earth from intergalactic threats.

Alongside these Patterson has lent his name to dozens of other books – fiction, non-fiction and graphic novels – and in recognition of his writing and philanthropic donations (over $100 million dollars’ worth) has received numerous awards including the National Book Foundation’s 2015 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.