What Chefs Think of James Patterson’s New Thriller, The Chef
Can you cook a roast beef po’ boy in the front seat of your car? And is that bulge in the maitre d’s side pocket a master wine list or a concealed Jericho 941 9mm semiautomatic?
New Orleans food experts Emery Whalen (left) and Brian Landry.
Photographer: Andrea BehrendsJames Patterson publishes books faster than most people read them. Over a four-decade career, he’s produced 250 titles and sold more than 385 million copies. He usually employs some help: Bill Clinton famously received a co-author credit for The President Is Missing last year.
His new book was completed with Max DiLallo, one of his regular collaborators. (They last worked together on the thriller Stealing Gulfstreams in 2017.) The Chef, out on Feb. 18 from Little, Brown & Co., turns Patterson’s attention to the world of food, focusing on a policeman turned food truck operator in New Orleans who uncovers a terrorist threat during Mardi Gras.