James Patterson

If You Like James Patterson…
Try These Authors

The thrillers written by James Patterson are most obviously characterized by fast, unrelenting pacing, high levels of violence, and engrossing plots. The majority of his works fall into the mystery-thriller-crime novel category, and Patterson tends to give insight into both the criminals and the crime-solvers in his novels. Many readers of Patterson’s works enjoy series characters, such as his detective/psychologist Alex Cross or the multiple characters in the Women’s Murder Club series. But many readers don’t consider the presence of continuing characters to be as important as the pulse-pounding pacing that Patterson employs.

Much of Patterson’s writing in recent years has been in partnership with other authors. Patterson usually comes up with the plot idea and major events of the book, but the other author(s) flesh it out into a full novel. In 2015/2016, Patterson also launched the Bookshots publishing venture — a variety of short (150 pages or less) novels, mostly in the thriller category, designed to appeal to readers unwilling to commit to longer, more complex novels. Most of the novels released as Bookshots volumes have been under Patterson’s name.

The authors listed below write works that share similar stylistic elements with Patterson, particularly in the area of pacing. The author names are hotlinked to their holdings in our catalog, so that you may check on the availability of their titles in print, electronic or audio formats.

Stephen J. Cannell
Harlan Coben
Michael Connelly
Jeffery Deaver
Joseph Garber
Thomas Harris
Greg Iles
John Katzenbach
Douglas Kennedy
Dean Koontz
Herbert Lieberman
Phillip Margolin
David Martin
Ronald Munson
Mark Olshaker
T. Jefferson Parker
Richard North Patterson
Ridley Pearson
John Sandford
Andrew Vachss

last updated January 2005 sdc

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