James Patterson, Vicky Ward to write book on UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing

NEW YORK — After teaming up on a bestseller about the murder of four University of Idaho students, James Patterson and Vicky Ward are collaborating on a book about the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the hunt for his alleged killer, Luigi Mangione. Little, Brown & Company announced the book, which currently has no title or release date. Patterson, one of the world's bestselling novelists, and Ward, an investigative reporter who has worked at CNN and Esquire, plan to draw upon exclusive interviews, firsthand reporting and court transcripts, among other sources. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a federal murder charge for last December's shooting of Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, has since become a symbol of frustration with the health care system. "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," Patterson said in a statement Wednesday. Patterson's and Ward's "The Idaho Four," published last month, quickly became a national bestseller after Bryan Kohberger was sentenced July 23 to four consecutive life sentences without parole for the fatal stabbings of students Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Kaylee Goncalves in 2022.