James Patterson

In 1976, a 29-year-old writer published a debut book called The Thomas Berryman Number that went on to capture the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. But James Patterson didn't quit his day job until two decades later — after he'd launched his series starring detective Alex Cross, and set out to work full time as the architect of the modern blockbuster.  More than 350 million books sold later, he's now indubitably one of the most widely read fiction writers on the globe, writing and co-writing a vast array of propulsive stories  — not only thrillers but middle-grade humor, dystopian fantasy, and even picture books for the youngest readers.  On the occasion of his new thriller The People vs. Alex Cross, James Patterson sat down with Bill Tipper to talk about where his astonishing career started.