Former President Bill Clinton and bestselling author James Patterson are collaborating once again on a new thriller.
On December 11, publishers Little, Brown and Company and Alfred A. Knopf announced their third co-written novel, “The First Gentleman,” set for release in the summer of 2025. The book will be published jointly by both publishing houses.
Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s partnership began in 2018 with the bestselling thriller “The President is Missing,” which sold over 3 million copies.
New Thriller Announced By Bill Clinton And James Patterson
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“The First Gentleman” centers on the United States’ first female president, whose husband faces a murder trial. As the president campaigns for reelection, a group of investigative journalists delves into the First Gentleman’s true motives, uncovering a web of secrets and intrigue.
“Jim and I always have a great time writing together, but we’re admittedly pretty tough on our fictional presidents,” Clinton told PEOPLE Magazine. “We’ve sent one chief executive into hiding to stop a global terror attack and thrust another into a deadly firefight to protect his family. In our new book, we really take the gloves off. I hope this one is as much fun to read as it was to write.”
What Is ‘The First Gentleman’ About?
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The duo’s new novel will be told “with Patterson’s signature suspense and will be informed by details that only a president can know,” per a press release. “
The First Gentleman is a story that only James Patterson and President Clinton can tell,” Hachette Book Group CEO David Shelley said in a statement. “I’m immensely proud to help bring it to the world, and I know it’s going to have readers across the world on the edges of their seats,”
James Patterson Opens Up About His Collab With Bill Clinton
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James Patterson, author of over 200 books and creator of the popular “Alex Cross” series—now adapted into a TV show on Prime—continues to dominate the literary world. In 2024, both Patterson and Bill Clinton released new works. Patterson published “The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians,” co-written with Matt Eversmann, on April 8, while Clinton released his latest memoir, “Citizen: My Life After the White House,” on November 19.
“President Clinton and I have written a couple of well-received thrillers so far. But The First Gentleman is at a whole new level,” Patterson said. “When we first got writing — two presidential administrations ago — we simply could not have dreamt this one up.”
Bill Clinton And James Patterson’s Past Collaborations
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Three years after their first bestselling collaboration, former President Bill Clinton and author James Patterson reunited for their second novel, “The President’s Daughter.” Published jointly by Knopf and Little, Brown, and Company, the book combines Clinton’s insider knowledge of the presidency with Patterson’s expertise in crafting suspenseful plots.
The story follows a former president and ex-Navy SEAL on a mission to rescue his kidnapped daughter. The gripping narrative takes readers on a journey from the political intrigue of Washington, D.C., to violent confrontations in New Hampshire and terrorist hideouts in Libya, delivering a high-stakes thriller packed with action and tension.
“The first thing we do is we agree on an outline,” Clinton told TIME Magazine of his writing process with Patterson. “Then Jim says okay, your job is to make sure it’s authentic. He’ll send me a draft of a couple chapters and then we go back over and over and over again, often trying to make sure that we fill these characters out. You want them to come alive, and the trick of a really good thriller is to have a hell of a good plot and make it exciting.”
Bill Clinton Praises James Patterson For His Writing Style
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Bill Clinton has nothing but admiration for James Patterson’s writing style.
“The way Patterson writes novels that draw you in, it’s also a safe space to say things that need saying,” Clinton said of his co-author. “I love [Patterson’s ‘Michael Bennett’ series]. But after you read it, you could never believe that you should, in a dangerous world with a crime rate going up again, defund the police.”
He added, “But you understand, just from reading it, how important it is that police be properly trained, try to defuse violence first and realize that the level of force brought to bear has to have something to do not only with the actual conduct of the person but also with the nature of the threat. People don’t have to check their identity at the door to start thinking clearly. That’s what Patterson does with his books, and that’s what we’ve got to do as a country.”
“The First Gentleman” is set to be published on June 2, 2025, and is now available for preorder at all major booksellers.
