Wow! ArtsBeat reports today that best-selling mystery author James Patterson has signed a hilarious seventeen-book deal with Hachette Book Group to cover his output through 2012 (if you’re bad at math, this means he has a lot of really fast writing to do). The agreement includes plans for novels starring Patterson’s detective characters Alex Cross (twice portrayed in film by Morgan Freeman) and Michael Bennett, as well as new entries in his young-adult series, Maximum Ride and Daniel X. It’s not yet clear whether any of these books have been started or if Patterson even has concrete ideas for them, so you probably shouldn’t be too surprised if the seventeenth one involves Detective Cross’s investigation into a misplaced set of car keys.
Not a Typo: James Patterson Signs 17-Book Deal [ArtsBeat/NYT]