Why Bill Clinton has written a thriller novel with James Patterson

Bill Clinton says he “loved” being president of the United States. Now he has teamed up with the world’s bestselling novelist, James Patterson, to write a political thriller that draws on his time in the White House, called The President is Missing.

“I love thrillers,” says the former president. “I read huge numbers of them. I’ve just finished the third book in the Red Sparrow trilogy [by Jason Matthews].”

He’s “a fan” of Patterson’s work too and has “devoured” all 25 of his books featuring the detective-turned-psychologist Alex Cross.

“I didn’t read much murder fiction or thrillers until the early 1980s and I just got into them,” adds the man who was elected president in 1992 and served for two terms.

Throughout that time, he had been harbouring a dream to write one himself. “I’d always wanted to do it,” he explains.

It is the first time a former US president has written a thriller.

BBC