James B. Patterson is an American author famous for his thriller series, romance & non fiction novels and many individual pieces of literature. His best known work is the series about Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist from Washington D.C. who works with the local Police Department; but Patterson has also written many more popular book series, such as:

• Maximum Ride
• Daniel X
• Women’s Murder Club
• Witch & Wizard
• Maximum Bennett

Author Background

James Patterson originally worked in advertising, but he eventually got tired of this profession and decided to write something more attractive to people: books. You can hate him or adore him, but the fact is the numbers  and awards speak for themselves:

• BCA Mystery Guild’s Thriller of the Year
• International Thriller of the Year award
• The New York Times & Guinness World Record for best selling hardcore cover fiction titles (63)
• sold more copies than Stephen King and Dan Brown combined
• … and many more

Patterson himself admits he’s nothing but a storyteller. His writing could be better, but for example I don’t really care that much about literary theory and rather enjoy a good story – which is exactly where he excels. I mean, you wouldn’t probably write more than 70 books if you sucked and no one read your books, would you?

James Patterson Book List

Without any further ado, let’s have a look at the complete biography sorted chronologically in individual genres:

1. Independent Novels

• The Thomas Berryman Number – 1976
• Season of the Machete – 1977
• Virgin – 1980
• The Midnight Club – 1988
• Hide & Seek – 1996
• Miracle on the 17th Green – 1996, co-author: Peter De Jonge
• See How They Run – 1997,
• When the Wind Blows – 1998
• Black Friday – 2000
• Cradle and All – 2000
• Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas – 2001
• The Beach House – 2002, co-author: Peter De Jonge
• The Jester – 2003, co-author: Andrew Gross
• The Lake House – 2003
• Sam’s Letters to Jennifer – 2004
• Honeymoon – 2005, co-author: Howard Roughan
• Lifeguard – 2005, co-author: Andrew Gross
• Beach Road – 2006, co-author: Peter De Jonge
• Judge and Jury – 2006, co-author: Andrew Gross
• The Quickie – 2007, co-author: Michael Ledwidge
• You’ve Been Warned – 2007, co-author: Howard Roughan
• Sundays at Tiffany’s – 2008, co-author: Gabrielle Charbonnet
• Sail – 2008, co-author: Howard Roughan
• Swimsuit – 2009, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• The Postcard Killers – 2010, co-author: Liza Marklund
• Don’t Blink – 2010, co-author: Howard Roughan
• Toys – 2011, co-author: Neal McMahon
• Now You See Her – 2011, co-author: Michael Ledwidge
• Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life – 2011, co-author: Chris Tebbetts
• Kill Me If You Can – 2011, co-author: Marshall Karp
• The Christmas Wedding – 2011, co-author: Richard DiLallo

2. Non-Fiction Books

• Against Medical Advice: A True Story, co-author: Hal Friedman
• The Murder of King Tut – 2009, co-author: Martin Dugard

3. Alex Cross Series

• 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’s Trial – 2009
• I, Alex Cross – 2009
• Cross Fire – 2010
• Kill Alex Cross – 2011

4. Daniel X Series

• The Dangerous Days of Daniel X – 2008, co-author: Michael Ledwidge
• Daniel X: Watch the Skies – 2009, co-author: Ned Rust
• Daniel X: Demons and Druids – 2010, co-author: Adam Sadler
• Daniel X: Game Over – 2011, co-author: Ned Rust

5. Witch And Wizard Series

• Witch and Wizard – 2009, co-author: Gabrielle Charbonnet
• Witch and Wizard: The Gift – 2010, co-author: Ned Rust
• Witch and Wizard: The Fire – 2011, co-author: Jill Dembowski

6. Women’s Murder Club Series

• 1st to Die – 2001
• 2nd Chance – 2002, co-author: Andrew Gross
• 3rd Degree – 2004, co-author: Andrew Gross
• 4th of July – 2005, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• The 5th Horseman – 2006, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• The 6th Target – 2007, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• 7th Heaven – 2008, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• 8th Confession – 2009, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• The 9th Judgment – 2010,  co-author: Maxine Paetro
• 10th Anniversary – 2011, co-author: Maxine Paetro

7. Jack Morgan Series

• Private – 2010, co-author: Maxine Paetro
• Private London – 2011, co-author: Mark Pearson

8. Maximum Ride Series

• Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment – 2005
• Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever – 2006
• Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports – 2007
• Maximum Ride: The Final Warning – 2008
• MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel – 2009
• Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel – 2010
• Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel – 2011

9. Michael Bennett Series

• Step on a Crack – 2007, co-author: Michael Ledwidge
• Run for Your Life – 2009, co-author: Michael Ledwidge
• Worst Case – 2010, co-author: Michael Ledwidge
• Tick Tock – 2011, co-author: Michael Ledwidge

10. Miscellaneous – Graphic Novels

• Daniel X: Alien Hunter – 2008, co-author: Leopoldo Gout
• Daniel X: Manga 1 – 2010
• Daniel X: Manga 2 – 2010
• Maximum Ride, Vol. 1 Manga –  2009, co-author: NaRae Lee
• Maximum Ride, Vol. 2 Manga –  2009, co-author: NaRae Lee
• Maximum Ride, Vol. 3 Manga –  2010, co-author: NaRae Lee
• Maximum Ride, Vol. 4 Manga – 2011, co-author: NaRae Lee
• Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland – 2010, co-author: Dara Naraghi
• Witch & Wizard: Operation Zero – 2011, co-author: Dara Naraghi

Final Words

As you can see, Patterson has a lot of fellow writers who collaborate with him on his extremely successful books. However, he insists that it’s for the best and he does his fair share of work and frankly, if his colleagues hypothetically agreed not to disclose that he doesn’t do squat, it’s their problem that they don’t receive the recognition they deserve…

Thank you for reading!