Suddenly, Patterson's own writing had a focus: suspense and excitement. "I never thought of making it as a writer," he recalled in the
Publishers Weekly interview. "That seemed presumptuous to me." Instead, he landed a job as a junior copywriter at J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. But he also kept writing, and completed a novel in his off-hours.
The Thomas Berryman Number is the story of an investigative reporter seeking to discover the killer of the popular black mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. A Library Journal reviewer heralded the novel as "an encouraging change from the usual thriller, brilliantly written with a faultless ear for real speech and an accurate eye for real people." Alice Cromie of Booklist found the story "gripping," with "superb suspense and magnificent narration." The Thomas Berryman Number earned Patterson an Edgar Award in 1977. Three more novels, The Season of the Machete, The Jericho Commandment (later re- published as See How They Run), and Virgin followed.
Patterson's personal life took an unfortunate turn in 1981.
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