And the world's best-selling author is....

...James Patterson? Then again his books are always on the new release tables and I couldn't tell him apart from Michael Connelly, John Sanford or any of those, though it seems likely they're imitating Patterson (even down to jacket design). This profile is actually pretty interesting even if it doesn't make me want to read any of his books. The journalist might have added a bit more context - this type of industrial fiction production dates back at least to Fantomas and American pulps and runs up through 50s/60s paperback originals and series like Mack Bolan, Perry Rhodan and The Executioner with companies like Harlequin coming from a less author-centered angle. Ever notice how people whose work is critically disparaged tend to fall back on the "well lots of people like it" defense. There is some truth in that but it's also worth remembering that Hitler won an election as far as the wisdom of crowds (if we didn't need reminding). It's hard to tell how much Patterson actually uses this himself and how much is just the journalist picking quotes.