His earlier books before he had them all Ghost written have a bit more depth, but it's essentially a formula that he uses because it sells big.

Try the first Alex Cross Book, Along Come A Spider. It's when Patterson was still actually doing the writing.

Ah amazing. I didn’t even realise he had a ghost writer. But it shows because the book was garbage 😂 I usually read historical fiction Eg Sharon Kay penmann, Margaret George or fantasy Eg Robin Hobb so that might explain why I felt like I was missing the genius of these books 😂

Trust me, I don't think anyone ever accused Patterson of being a genius! LOL he writes fast paced thrillers, most of which are garbage but there a few that are decent enough if you're in the mood for them I've found

If you like historical fiction and want some historical type thrillers check out James Ellroy. He's fantastic

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Haha. I suppose it’s what sells, easy books to read for pleasure. I do like to be intellectually challenged a bit when I read 😂 any other crime authors you think I should give a try?

Sorry I edited my above comment but you might have missed it.

If you like historical fiction, James Ellroy does Crime thrillers set mostly in LA in the 1950s and he's sensational

Also have you heard of In The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco? It's a medieval Detective story.

I also like James M. Cain, Michael Connelly and Richard Stark for noir type stuff.

Yes.

He's one of those authors that could be categorised as "writing for people who don't like to read".

Accurate! 😂 I might suggest him to my partner. He struggles with reading but I think he would like these books and it’s positive to have books for different reading abilities and types. I’m glad I gave it a go - after all I’m trying to come outside of my reading comfort zone, so far I think mission accomplished

Thanks so much those books sound interesting and I’ll give them a go 😊

If you like a mix of historical fiction and historical fantasy try Elizabeth Kostova

Ooo I’ve heard of her. Thank you I’ll add her to my wish list 😊

My favorite was The Historian by her, but its also her longest work (and imo best).

I tried reading In the name of a rose. But i just couldnt. Ive read novels with that kind of language/writing style before fine but i just couldnt with this one. It killed my will to read for 6 months lol. Cause i was on i think chapter 5? But i cant DNF books, i hate doing so. So i couldnt start another book without finishing that one. So it just killed my will to read. Until i coaxed myself into letting go lol

Does it get interesting? Cause i dont wanna spend 2 chapters describing a building again

It's dense that's for sure, I loved getting sucked into that world and plowed through it, but I could see how it's not to everyone's tastes.

Yes, its very verbose, i was very into it until they reached the cathedral/abbey/whatever it was. Might give it another go

If you like historical crime, there are the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters (set in Egypt primary, turn of the century) and the Father Cadfael books by Ellis Peters (he's a monk). Agatha Christie's books are also generally excellent to read, quite devious, and they're set around WW2-ish. She wrote for decades. They were contemporary at the time, but are definitely more historical now.

Thanks all - some interesting things to explore. I’ve just started a Harlan Coben book and thus far it’s much better then James Patterson 😂

Man, Patterson must have fallen off a cliff.

Coben’s Myron series are very superficial easy reads. Fun, but very little depth to them.

Christian Cameron writes wonderful medieval fiction with a strong basis is reality.

I worked in a bookstore for many years and Patterson was universally disliked for his obvious motivation of selling as many books as possible. Any creative process for him stopped being a factor many years ago. He is a master of easily digested 2-3 page chapters obviously geared towards giving non readers a sense of accomplishment.

Can definitely relate to this description of his writing style 🥴

I’m reading Win at the moment. At least the chapter length in this book allows an idea to be developed 😂

I'm in charge of collection development for a public library and the reason Patterson stays on top of the popular authors list is quantity over quality. I swear it seems like he has something published weekly. Last week I was reading through a list of upcoming titles and came across a toddler board book he wrote about using the potty.

That’s hilarious - especially as I’m potty training my 3 year old at the moment 😂

You'll have to wait until March for what I'm sure is a riveting story of an elephant learning important life skills. Toddlers will be on the edge of their potties.

I will say that his method of having ghost writers that get credit on the cover seems to help aspiring authors get a foot in the door because I've noticed a lot of them go on to publish their own books.

True although the ghost writer of 1st case didn’t exactly sell themselves to me 😂

I’ve picked up Janice Hallett The Appeal at the library today for after the Harlan book. I’m hoping it’ll be good too. The blurb has interested me anyway.

Yes, all of his books are like that. James Patterson is a grocery store novelist. Broad appeal, highly accessible, quantity over quality.

A super long time ago, I really liked a couple books by him that had kids that were genetically engineered to have wings. This was a really long time ago (20+ years)

I liked his books as a weird middle schooler.

Probably not very good by adult standards lol.

If you like historical crime Anne Perry is fun although stay with her early stuff. She's also an irl murderer so that's a weird meta layer.

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Agree about the early stuff. Kiss the girls was a good read and a guilty pleasure but he very quickly jumped the shark.