Welcome to Self-Destructing Book Reviews! 
 
 At one time, this was a portal dedicated to a unique James Patterson novel – and even belonged to the author – however, now it’s been converted into a book review site. How awesome is that? 
 
 Our primary focus will be James Patterson’ novels, but we will also be reviewing similar books in related genres. 
 
 Feel free to join the discussion and thanks for visiting! 
 
 Below you will find a list of all the novels we’ve reviewed. 

 He's got bazillions of fans, sold hundreds of millions of books, and has been called the best paid writer in the world. But this is probably the first time James Patterson will release a book that will actually explode. 
 
 The best-selling author's newest thriller Private Vegas hits stores on January 26th, but before that, Patterson and agency Mother are giving fans the chance to get an early look, with a catch. The first copy will cost $294,038, but it comes with a private trip to an undisclosed luxury location, a five-course dinner with Patterson, and a SWAT team for book handling. Leave it to the world's best-selling writer to make his own thriller into the thrill. 
 
 Another 1,000 people in the U.S. will get early access on January 21 to an alternative, free app version, but have only 24 hours to finish it before it disappears in what Mother calls "a cinematic and spectacular way." If you're not one of the first 1,000 readers, you can still follow their progress in real-time and have the ability to "steal" time from those readers through a new site, SelfDestructingBook.com. Designed to 
 
 bring the thrill of Patterson’s book to new heights, the site shows who and where in the world the book's early readers are, how far along through the book they've read and gives you the option to sabotage their efforts by cutting their 24 hours short. "I’ve been in the business of thrilling people for almost 40 years," said Patterson in a statement. "So much has changed and I want to make sure I keep my readers on the edge of their seats. Faced with imminent destruction, the act of reading against a clock allows fans to become a character in their own thriller." 
 
 Nothing says "relaxed reading time" quite like a horde of web lurkers trying to steal your book before you can finish it or, in the case of whoever buys the luxury experience, the imminent threat of an explosion. 

 (Courtesy of Little, Brown) 
 
 James Patterson just finished spending $1 million to build up independent bookstores. Now he’s getting ready to tear something apart: his next book. 
 
 His new novel, “Private Vegas,” blasts off with a flashy marketing scheme that offers one copy of the book for $294,038. 
 
 “Too much,” you say? Don’t worry, you’ll get more than Patterson’s breathless prose. The buyer of this special copy of “Private Vegas” will also enjoy: 
 
 • A first-class flight to an undisclosed location. 
 
 • Two nights stay in a luxurious hotel. 
 
 • 14k gold-plated binoculars inside a fine-leather case engraved with Patterson’s initials. 
 
 • A five-course dinner with Patterson. 
 
 • The whole Alex Cross book series autographed by Patterson. 
 
 But wait, there’s more! You’ll be able to watch a SWAT team destroy the novel in what the publisher calls “a spectacular fashion.” This hilariously hyperventilating video gives a preview: “Welcome to an experience that will blow your mind. Hopefully, not literally.” 
 
 But even if you don’t have $294,038 to spend on Patterson’s latest book, 1,000 lucky readers can enjoy the thrill of watching it disappear. “Private Vegas” will be offered as a self-destructing app for the iPad. Once you begin, you’ve got 24 hours to finish, and each page disappears — forever! — as you turn it. 
 
 Those 1,000 panicked e-readers will be able to track each other’s progress and “steal time” from others. According to Little, Brown, the app is “designed to bring the thrill of reading James Patterson’s book to unprecedented heights.” 
 
 Patterson says, “The brilliant ad agency, Mother, came up with the outrageous idea of the self-destructing book. But I must admit, I was a superb, dream client.” 
 
 For a man who’s spent so much money trying to preserve indie bookstores, blowing up a book might seem counterintuitive. But Patterson is modest about his own work. “I don’t know if my books qualify as treasures,” he says, “but they are very fast, exciting reads. They are meant to be read in 24 hours — or less.” 
 
 If your interest falls somewhere between spending 24 hours or $294,038, you can always buy the regular old hardback for $28. But what fun is that?
– Reading a James Patterson book is all about thrills, though usually they're just on the page. But his new novel, Private Vegas, will, he says, let readers "become a character in their own thriller." That's because one copy of the book is due—literally—to explode, with a SWAT team in charge of the blast, the Washington Post reports. The reader of that copy will have to be a serious fan: He or she will pay $294,038 for the book and a luxury trip to an undisclosed location, as well as a five-course meal with the author, Fast Company reports. According to a promotional video, that fan will read the explosive book "from afar using gold binoculars." But experiencing the self-destructing book doesn't require you to go to all that trouble. A thousand readers can share the experience digitally via an app version of the book. They'll only get 24 hours to read it before it self-destructs in "a cinematic and spectacular way," ad company Mother says, per Fast Company. In fact, those readers may get even less time to read the book, since others can visit SelfDestructingBook.com and "steal" their reading time. Finally, if you prefer your thrills to last a little longer, you can get an actual copy of the book on January 26, when it arrives in stores. As far as we know, that version won't self-destruct.