James Patterson

About James Patterson

James Brendan Patterson was born March 22, 1947, in Newburgh, New York, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from what is now Manhattan University before completing a master's degree at Vanderbilt University. He spent the early part of his career as an advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson, rising to chairman of the agency's North American division before leaving in 1996 to write full-time. His debut novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1977, though it would be another two decades before Patterson became a full-time novelist.

A Publishing Phenomenon

Since then, Patterson has published more than 200 novels and holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers by any author. His long-running series include Alex Cross, following a Washington, D.C. homicide detective and psychologist; the Women's Murder Club, centered on four professional women investigating crimes in San Francisco; and Maximum Ride, a young adult science fiction series about genetically engineered, winged teenagers fighting the corporation that created them. He frequently collaborates with co-authors, a practice that has drawn criticism from some literary peers even as it has helped sustain his prolific output. Beyond fiction, Patterson has donated millions of dollars to literacy programs, including college scholarships for aspiring teachers and grants to independent bookstores.

Book Challenges

Titles from both the Women's Murder Club and Maximum Ride series appear in this catalog's ban records, with objections generally centering on graphic violence, mature crime-scene content, and romantic or physical content between teenage characters. 1st to Die, the Women's Murder Club's series opener, and Angel, the seventh Maximum Ride novel, are both included, part of a broader pattern in which Patterson's high-volume, fast-paced thrillers have occasionally been flagged for shelving decisions in school and youth collections. Books linked to Patterson are recorded here as challenged across 5 states and 11 districts.