He replied James Joyce, Bill Clinton and Hunter S. Thompson.
Would Patterson like to meet him?
So we spent a couple of hours down in Boca Raton, Patterson recalls.
And, I mean, who wouldnt enjoy the hell out of that?
It was an experience of a lifetime for me.
I just wanted to meet Jim, Clinton chimes in.
I read a lot of fiction, and a huge number of political thrillers I mean, a lot.
And I like a series, so I love his Alex Cross series.
Their global thriller,The President Is Missing,hit shelves on June 4.
The gist of the 528-page, 128-chapter potboiler is that spoiler alert!
The result would be catastrophic, shutting off all our power, wiping all computers, eliminating everyones wealth.
Can President Jonathan Duncan save America?
The book should kindly the fans of both men and then some.
Prologue
Q: First, congratulations.
I found your book to be a smart, twisty thriller a terrific read and very contemporary.
Patterson:Dont be afraid to put that right in the article.
[Laughter]
Q: How did the collaborative process work between you two?
Clinton:First of all, Jims the greatest storyteller in history.
All of my entertainment was storytelling.
But Jims good like nobody else.
So it was his idea that the president is involved in a crisis.
Q: How did you divide up the work?
Patterson:We alternated wordsthe, man.
The first draft was like a thriller cartoon.
Facts matter.Patterson:So we did drafts; we did different sections together; we worked on the research.
We also had research and some writing help from a lot of people.
And we just kept working to make it more and more real.
No torrid romances …
Patterson:Sex didnt play a part.
[It was about] five incredibly difficult days.
Romance makes no sense, and we dont need it.
Q: How much Clinton is in this book?
Patterson:Duncan is not Clinton.
And obviously, its not a memoir.
But it is what a lot of people want when they read a memoir.
They want to know what its like.
The Plot Thickens
Q: How did you settle on a cyberattack involving the president?
If the lights go out, it will.
In theory, making fun of the presidency would be OK, except thats all were getting.
This is a president we should all agree on hes not President Clinton.
We dont really even know what party he belongs to.
Fact or Fiction?
Q: The opening scene is the president being put through a brutal mock impeachment hearing.
Was that a blast from the past?
Its just the way it is.
And also keep in mind a fundamental difference.
Thats totally different from me.
So we tried to make it as educational as possible, without losing the entertainment.
