James Patterson rules Paste BN's list, again

Here’s a look at what’s new on Paste BN’s Best-Selling Books list…

The No. 1 Club: James Patterson is batting 3-for-3 this year with his adult thrillers, and it’s only May. The prolific novelist lands at No. 1 this week with 15th Affair (Little, Brown), the 15th title in the Women’s Murder Club series.

He hit No. 1 on Feb. 4 with NYPD Red 4, co-written with Marshall Karp, and No. 1 on March 24 with Private Paris, co-written with Mark Sullivan.

15th Affair is co-written with Maxine Paetro. Their last Women’s Murder Club title, 14th Deadly Sin, also landed in the top spot, on May 14, 2015. (Deadly Sin, just released in paperback, is back in the top 50 at No. 40  this week.) In 15th Affair, Detective Lindsay Boxer turns to the Murder Club after her husband disappears under suspicious circumstances.

Overall, this is Patterson’s 26th book to make its debut at No. 1 on Paste BN’s list, with or without a co-author.

Patterson’s kids’ books, while best sellers, have not fared as well as his adult fare. Jacky Ha-Ha, co-written with Chris Grabenstein, entered the list at No. 54 on March 31 and climbed to No. 40.

Chicago-bound: Thousands of booksellers and publishers are descending on Chicago for BookExpo America, the annual industry gathering, which moves out of New York City for the first time in a number of years. When BookExpo wraps up Friday, attention will shift to BookCon on Saturday, a multi-author event open to the paying public.

Authors of course will also be in attendance at BookExpo, among them Sebastian Junger, Louise Penny, Colson Whitehead, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jennifer Weiner. The BookCon lineup includes comedian Tig Notaro, who has written a memoir; the Property Brothers; Jazz Jennings; and young-adult authors such as Veronica Roth, James Dashner and actor Chris O’Dowd.