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James Patterson: Some of his new books will self-destruct

One reader will have the opportunity to see a copy of Patterson's book 'Private Vegas' destroyed by a bomb squad, while other readers will see their e-versions of the book vanish after 24 hours.

'Private Vegas' is by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

James Patterson has a magic trick for you: If you participate in a promotion for his upcoming book "Private Vegas," your copy of the book will disappear after 24 hours. 

One thousand readers will have the chance to download “Vegas” as an e-book before its official release, but they’ll only have 24 hours to finish the book. And if you're one of those thousand readers, beware: Other readers will know how far you are in the novel and some may try to steal your time. It's all part of the unusual promotion campaign.

In addition, one copy of "Vegas" will be available for $294,038. If you’re the reader who purchases that special copy, you’ll get a first-class flight to a mystery destination, a hotel room for two nights, dinner with Patterson, gold-plated binoculars that have the author’s initials on them, and autographed copies of the “Alex Cross” books. This journey will involve an exploding book, too – according to the website for the opportunity, a bomb squad will be involved with the destruction of that particular copy of “Vegas.”

As for those who want the free e-book copy, according to the The New York Times, they can head to the self-destructing book website beginning at 12 p.m. on Jan. 21 to receive a code to get the self-destructing e-version. 

For the rest of the public, “Vegas” will be released on Jan. 26. 

Patterson worked with the creative agency Mother New York to create this unusual promotion, according to Mashable. 

“Publishing, in my opinion, needs to get out there competing with everything else in the world — movies, television, etc. etc.," Patterson says. "It just seems to me I’m in a position to do that. I went to a very good small advertising agency [and said], 'Let's do something that's relevant to what I do, very unusual, that will draw attention to books and this book in particular.”

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