James Patterson

James Patterson is an American author born in Newburgh, New York, in 1947, who worked in advertising at J. Walter Thompson -- eventually leading its North American operations -- before turning to writing full time. His debut novel, The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and he went on to create long-running series including Alex Cross, the Women's Murder Club, Michael Bennett, and Maximum Ride, with much of his later output written with co-authors. He holds the Guinness World Records title for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers by a single author. His honors include the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award (2015) and the National Humanities Medal (2019).