James Patterson’s novels have earned him $700m. Now he’s written a memoir

BOOK OF THE WEEK 

THE STORIES OF MY LIFE 

by James Patterson (Century £20, 368pp) 

Anyone who has ever started a James Patterson thriller knows how damned difficult it is to put down. And the same is true of this vivid, invigorating memoir. 

Patterson is a gazillion-selling literary leviathan, sweeping away more or less all in his path; one of the world’s best-selling and most lucrative authors whose sales top around 400million, earning him a fortune of about $700million on the way. 

He’s certainly the world’s most prolific writer, with more than 400 titles to his name: thrillers, non-fiction on subjects ranging from Jeffrey Epstein to the Kennedys to ER nurses, plus true crime books, children’s and young-adult stories.