James Patterson is one of the most prolific writers working today, and with CNN investigative reporter, Vicky Ward, he is now setting his sights on unpacking the case of Luigi Mangione in an upcoming nonfiction book from Little, Brown and Company. Mangione, of course, is best known as the man who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he was exiting a hotel in Midtown Manhattan in 2024.  

The book will reunite Patterson with co-writer Vicky Ward. Together, they wrote the recent nonfiction book, The Idaho Four, which came out last month. In a press release from Hachette, Patterson explained his interest in Mangione’s case: “This is a story about the American Dream Gone Wrong. It’s also a story of one young man’s descent from Ivy League graduate to notorious accused killer to so-called political martyr. The Idaho Four was inspired by the photo of the four tragic victims. Like millions around the world, Vicky and I were riveted by coverage of the five-day manhunt from Midtown Manhattan to Altoona, Pennsylvania.” 

Likewise, Ward said, “This story touches all of us. It goes to the heart of the social, cultural and political issues dividing the US right now. Nothing is more of a reviled black box than the health insurance industry, and it’s time to open it up, through a crime that has caught the attention of the country.” 

Together, Patterson and Ward hope to take Mangione’s story “beyond the headlines” through extensive research and exclusive interviews with people involved in the case. At this time, neither a title nor a release window for the book has been confirmed by Hachette.