James Patterson - Writers Forum

Small-town_Wright · 03-01-2006, 05:11 PM

I love what i've read by him. I read "When the Wind Blows" and "Maximum Ride". Any one else like this guy?

Dephere · 03-01-2006, 05:37 PM

I don't know him, but I seem to remember you talking about him in the "I am..." thread, I may just have to check him out.

What kind of books?

Wilderness · 03-02-2006, 12:20 AM

Ohhh. I have read Honeymoon, 4th of July and Lifeguard.
I love his stuff. Its a good quick read cos the chapters are short.

Lani

Lorlie · 03-02-2006, 01:28 AM

James Patterson can write, I think I may have read everything he has written.
I enjoyed it all immensely, it is quick and easy reading.
I can not honestly say it is the stuff that stays with you forever in the style of 'my favorite author' style but his work is enjoyable.
When I go on holidays I like to have some of his books with me, you do not lose interest and the pages keep turning and turning.

Another great, for me, is Jeffery Deaver, the coffin dancer, the bone collector, and lots more.

Lorlie

Stewart · 03-02-2006, 06:09 AM

Not for me, I'm afraid. I read Along Came A Spider and I've tried to read Kiss The Girls and When The Wind Blows but they just weren't that interesting enough at the start to care beyond the first few pages. I suppose it's down to the fact that I'm not really interested in action and the shallow depth of bestselling fiction.

But, what irks me most about Patterson is the fact that he is flooding the market with his name. I thought Stephen King was bad when I saw two books were being released by him this year; Patterson has eight. Of course, Patterson's name just appears on half of them as he can't be bothered to write much these days, it seems. He just comes up with a plot and tells it to some unknown hack who goes and writes the story for him. Sad, really.

Mike C · 03-02-2006, 09:30 AM

Patterson is a hack - a 'brand'. To him books are a commodity to be promoted like coca-cola, nothing more.

http://workingknowledge.hbs.edu/item...trepreneurship

beautifulempress · 03-02-2006, 10:30 AM

He's been accused of being too commercial and a "hack" I know, but I personally like his books. I agree that he's not one of those authors that come to your mind when you think of your favourite author, but I find his books really enjoyable to read. I liked "Cradle and All" and the series with the Women's Murder Club. And I love my favourite character, Alex Cross. I think Patterson wrote the character of an African American really well

Mike C · 03-03-2006, 11:28 AM

Of course, with Patterson it's always hard to know if he actually wrote it or if it was one of his stable.

Aleks · 03-11-2006, 03:36 AM

I think Patterson's plots get a little bit tiresome. There's pretty much no variation if you strip it down.
Maybe ok for a quick enjoyable read but I'd hardly call it gripping.

Avarice · 03-11-2006, 07:56 AM

I havent read any of his work so I wont attack that but he truly does look like an old Shylock, on his main site my ear drums nearly blew out when that airplane sound kicked off. It's not like a real writers site like Ellis or King, it all screams " buy buy buy" and if you go to " about patterson" the clown he got to write it didnt even bother to re-read it:

With a body of work gorssing over 1.5 billion dollars

I wouldnt mind if he wasnt a writer but just looks like an avaricious idiot.

[thats my hatred for the day, next stop, mother theresas secret casinos]

Lucifiel · 03-11-2006, 05:16 PM

Bah. I've read "Along came a spider" and it was so long-winded in some scenes, the romance really boring, that I skimmed through the last 50 or so pages of the book! In some pages, I actually found myself mentally editing his sentences(I do that sometimes when I find sentences which are completely unreadable.)! By the way, the romance scenes were pain-inducing.

Small-town_Wright · 07-06-2006, 02:24 PM

Thanks for a lenthy ... discussion. I think.

Scarecrow's Arrow · 07-14-2006, 02:09 PM

I like his books for when I want a quick read- good for on the beach.

Firewriter23 · 07-14-2006, 02:34 PM

I heard my radio station talking about him one morning about the new book Lifeguard. I wanted to read it but never got a chance to get to the store and get a copy...Does anyone know if its good or not?

Amour · 07-14-2006, 03:33 PM

I (unfortunately) got Maximum Ride for a Christmas gift this year. I tossed it on my bookshelf, uninterested. A few months ago, I ran out of books, and picked it up. I read the first 3 chapters, slammed the cover, and drove down to the bookstore to return it.

I know this isn't 'supposed' to be his best "book", and it seemed like it was geared towards 10 - 14 year olds, but from what I can tell, he is a formula brand name, looking for the easiest way to make a fortune. I haven't read anything else by James Patterson (nor do I plan to), so I can't rip him apart to hard.

I too found myself editing the writing on the first page. The best part of the book was the 20$ store credit I got for returning it. :p Horrible stuff, in my opinion.