James Patterson, Facebook partner up for his newest thriller
Best-selling American author James Patterson may have reinvented the way books are read with his newest release “The Chef.”
Starting on Tuesday, the thriller is free on Facebook Messenger as a virtual, three-hour experience that Patterson described as a “book-meets-a-movie.”
“What’s great about it is there’s text, but then you go to film,” he said on Tuesday during an interview with FOX Business’ Connell McShane. “To my knowledge, no one’s ever done anything like it, which I love.”
Based in New Orleans, “The Chef” follows the story of a police detective by day and a famous food truck chef by night (Caleb Rooney) who suddenly comes under investigation for a murder he’s accused of committing in the line of duty. While fighting the charges, Rooney discovers a larger plot at hand by a group of would-be, local terrorists.
When he approached Facebook about the project, Patterson said the social media giant was eager to work on it.
“They said, ‘Yeah, we’re interested. It’d be cool to do that,’” he said.
In order to make the project work, Patterson said he condensed the book so it’s not as long - although he’ll publish a 400-page version of the novel in February.
To read the book, users can open the mobile Messenger app and search for “The Chef by James Patterson.”