James Patterson is a best-selling American author known for his thrillers, mystery books, and crime fiction. He’s one of the highest-paid authors of all time, has the most New York Times bestsellers, and in 2010, he became the first author to sell one million ebooks. He is also a generous philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to classroom libraries across the country.
We researched many online booksellers to compile this list of the top James Patterson novels that are must-reads. Over 125 million readers rate, review, and share their favorite books on Goodreads alone. So, whether you’re seeking for a new fascinating James Patterson read or expecting to discover your next favorite mystery or thriller, here’s a list of the finest James Patterson novels, according to various online booksellers and reviews.
1. Along Came a Spider
If you’re thinking whether you should read James Patterson, this book is a fine place to start, but be warned: this series is pretty extensive.
Alex Cross, the protagonist of this book, is well-known to every James Patterson fan. Alex Cross is a clever investigator who is on a cat-and-mouse pursuit with Gary Soneji, a brilliant serial murderer who is so brilliant that the authorities are having difficulty apprehending him. Alex works with Jezzie Flannagan, the Secret Service’s supervisor, to capture and outwit the villain while solving murder cases.
The book contains stories in the mystery, crime, suspense, and thriller genres.
The unpredictable page-turning plot twists will keep you guessing as to how things will play out.
Check it out on Amazon and we promise you it would be the best thriller you’ve read in a while
2. Red Alert: An NYPD Red Mystery
In this New York Times bestselling mystery, the NYPD’s most elite task force must protect the city from a shadowy killer with a vendetta.
The richest of New York’s elite congregate at The Pierre’s Cotillion Room to raise funds for people in need. A devastating explosion shakes the room, bringing back harrowing memories of 9/11. Is the explosion a terrorist act… or a homicide?
In a remote part of New York City, the next victim is a well-known female director. Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald, detectives, are on the case. However, the crimes continue to escalate as a shadowy assassin brilliantly executes his vendetta – and threatens to bring down NYPD Red in the process.
This is yet another James Patterson thriller that will make you turn pages all night.
Check it out on Amazon and we promise you it would be the best thriller you’ve read in a while.
3. Murder house
The Murder House is a stand-alone novel co-written with David Ellis.
No. 7 Ocean Drive is a stunning multimillion-dollar oceanfront mansion in the Hamptons, where money and power have no limits.
However, its lovely gothic exterior conceals a horrible past: It was the site of a series of heinous murders that were never solved. It’s known as the Murder House because it’s neglected, abandoned, and said to be cursed, and locals avoid it.
Detective Jenna Murphy used to be a local, but she hasn’t come back since she was a child. The former New York City cop expects her lush and rich surroundings to be a hotbed of ghastly depravity as she attempts to escape her turbulent past and repair a career on the rocks.
However, when a Hollywood power broker and his mistress are discovered dead in the abandoned Murder House, the grisly murder scene exceeds anything Jenna has seen in Manhattan. And what appears to be a simple case turns out to have as many terrible secrets as the Murder House itself.
Jenna rapidly finds that the mansion’s history is far more sinister than even the town’s most gossipy gossips could have guessed. As more deaths are discovered and the secret Jenna has been trying so hard to keep hidden creeps up on her, she must risk her own life to uncover the truth – before the Murder House takes another victim.
Without a doubt, one of James Patterson’s best books!
Check it out on Amazon and we promise you it would be the best thriller you’ve read in a while.
4. Maximum Ride
Maximum Ride, also known as Max, is fourteen years old and has experienced what it’s like to soar above the globe. She and the other members of the “Flock” – Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel — are just like any other kid. Except for the fact that they have wings and can fly.
It may appear to some to be a dream come true, but their lives can turn into a living nightmare at any time, such as when Angel, the youngest member of the Flock, is kidnapped and transported back to the School where she and the others were genetically altered by malevolent doctors. Her companions furiously try to save Angel, but they soon find themselves in yet another nightmare when the School dispatches wolf-human hybrids to find them – alive or dead. Max realizes along the way that her mission in being born is to save the planet – but can she?
The book is part of a series that you will become engrossed in, and it will undoubtedly transform you into a reading addict.
Check it out on Amazon and we promise you it would be the best YA books you’ve read in a while
5. The President Is Missing
In The President Is Missing, President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan is defending himself against possible impeachment and the threat of a terrorist cyberattack when he receives a message through his daughter indicating the presence of a traitor among his close confidantes.
President Duncan, unable to rely on those closest to him, goes out on his own to thwart an attack from a deadly computer virus with the ability to wipe out electronic devices across the United States. With the virus’s activation date approaching and forces uniting against him, Duncan must rally his allies, find a method to stop the attack, and determine out who the traitor is before it’s too late.
If there was any doubt, this book is for the politicos and wonks out there, as any book co-authored by Bill Clinton would be. It’s a political thriller fact-checked by a former President, and it sounds extremely good.
Check it out on Amazon and we promise you it would be the best political thriller you’ve read in a while.