James Patterson is an author of thriller novels, born in New York in 1947. His most famous series of novels are the Alex Cross series- centred on a detective cum psychologist who works in Washington D.C in a variety of different roles, from the homicide division of a police force to working as an agent for the FBI. As well as his Alex Cross series, James Patterson has written plenty of other books all of which tend to follow his excellence in thriller writing. Patterson is a phenomenally successful author- perhaps one of the most successful of his generation- he has nearly two and a half million fans on Facebook as well as numerous bestsellers.

Along Came a Spider

Along came a spider is the first book written by James Patterson about his detective character, Alex Cross. In the book Cross is dragged off a case in which two black prostitutes have been brutally murdered and is instead ordered to investigate the kidnapping of two nine year old children who attend a prestigious Washington school. However the kidnapper is demanding a ransom of ten million dollars. If you want to start reading the Alex Cross books, then it is a good idea to start with “Along Came a Spider” as it is the first in the series and many series of books tend to mention events in previous novels, which you may not fully understand unless you have started at the beginning.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Though not as famous as his Alex Cross series, the Daniel X series has also been very successful.. The main character, Daniel X has the power to create objects out of nowhere as well as to manipulate objects around him. Daniels parents were murdered when he was three by an alien known as “The Prayer”, who was looking for a list of alien outlaws. Daniel regains the list, and takes up his parent’s mantle as Defender of Earth and starts hunting down the aliens on his list.

Maximum Ride Books

Aimed at young adult readers, Maximum Ride is a series of books about six fugitive children who are 98% human and 2% bird as a result of scientific experiments. The first book in the series is “Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment” Of the six kids, Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Nudge and Angel, the book focuses on Max, who acts as a narrator in the story. The children were bought up in captivity, but find they are free until one of their number, Angel, is taken captive. Max, Fang and Nudge set off after the erasers (wolf like creations who like the taste of flying humans) who have taken Angel, while Iggy and Gasman have to defend their mountain house from the erasers.