Author James Patterson is going to complete an unfinished manuscript by the late Michael Crichton according to the Wall Street Journal.
Crichton’s estate has provided Patterson with over 100 pages of a novel. The book is about Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Volcano which is on the verge of erupting and that threatens a secret cache of chemical weapons. Coincidently enough, the volcano started erupting last month. That may have given Crichton’s estate a push to complete the novel.
James Patterson to Finish Michael Crichton Book
Patterson never met Crichton but he says he knows him “through his books.”
“Michael’s ability to tell a story that is propulsive while you learn things about the subject area he’s writing about is what pulled me in,” Patterson said of Crichton.
Many people know Crichton from his books such as Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Congo and Sphere. All of them have been made into movies over the years. The Jurassic Park franchise has made over $2 billion at the box office in total.
Michael Crichton’s Passion Project
Sherri Crichton, the widow of the author and the chief executive of CrichtonSun, the company that oversees the estate, was the one who found the manuscript.
“Michael had been working on this book for years, it was his passion project and centered in the place that inspired him the most, Hawaii,” she said.
Crichton did a lot of extensive research on the book including interviews with volcanologists and location scouting.
A Unique Partnership
Paterson is a best-selling author who has sold over 425 million copies. He has published over 200 books in his career and holds the record for the most books to top the New York Times bestselling list.
He is an interesting choice as he has been criticized for not taking a lot of time on his books. Only time will tell if this was a good move. The novel is set to be published in 2024.