James Patterson Rethinks ‘The Murder Of Stephen King’


James Patterson is rethinking his latest idea for a new murder mystery, because the would be novel casts fellow author Stephen King as the murder victim and, as hard as it is to believe, Mr. King isn’t viewing the idea as the compliment Patterson has intended it to be.

Although James has referred to The Murder of Stephen King as a tribute to the horror author and claims to have been a long time fan of King’s, it’s difficult to gauge the sincerity of Patterson’s words, considering the history shared between the two novelists.

The Stephen King – James Patterson Rivalry That Spawned A Book

It’s commonly known that Edgar Allan Poe made a small living by publicly bashing his contemporaries and, as Press of Atlantic City shares, that kind of bitter rivalry hasn’t been confined to the 19th century. Even in our present day, feuds between authors and novelists have become nearly as popular as the fiction they write. Take the relationship between Stephen King and James Patterson for example. While King has begrudgingly admitted that Patterson is a successful novelist, his opinion of James’ works are far less conciliatory. In fact, Stephen has described James’ writing as “terrible” on more than one occasion.

While King’s sharp words have undoubtedly stung Mr. Patterson, the author seems to have taken the high road.

“He’s taken shots at me for years,” Patterson once responded, when asked about the feud. “It’s fine, but my approach is to do the opposite with him—to heap praise.”

The highest praise Patterson can offer has been presented in his writing of The Murder of Stephen King, in which a new up and coming author, who is also a prison convict, outperforms Stephen King on the bestsellers lists. This, according to James, is a metaphorical killing of the king of horror, hence the book’s title.

“He’ll write a tell-all book from his prison cell and be crowned the new King of Horror,” states Mr. Patterson, who co-wrote The Murder of Stephen King, along with Derek Nikitas. “All the readers will scream: The King is dead; long live the King!”

The Murder Of Stephen King Has Been Killed, Says James Patterson

As well intentioned as The Murder of Stephen King may have been, James Patterson is now rethinking the publication of the manuscript and, as HitFix reveals, the author accepts that the book may cause undue hardships for The Shining author. It’s been just two weeks, since James announced the release of the book, but, in that time, the author, who is perhaps best known for Kiss the Girls, has had time to consider the ramifications of publishing the book.

“Fans of Stephen King have disrupted the King household in the past,” Mr. Patterson says, in explaining why he has chosen to cancel publication of The Murder of Stephen King.

Patterson goes on to explain that the idea for his book and the characters within the story all stem from his own imagination and that of his co-author, not to be confused or likened to the real Stephen King.

“My book is a positive portrayal of a fictional character, and – spoiler alert – the main character is not actually murdered,” said Patterson in a statement from his publisher. “Nevertheless, I do not want to cause Stephen King or his family any discomfort. Out of respect for them, I have decided not to publish The Murder of Stephen King.”

It has been revealed that there will still be a James Patterson novel hitting bookshelves on the date planned for The Murder of Stephen King, November 1. Taking the Titanic, which also is the product of a Patterson and Nikitas collaboration, will tell the story of a pair of thieves pretending to be a newlywed couple in order to be able to rob the ship’s wealthiest passengers.

[Featured Image by Robin Marchant/Getty Images]

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