James Patterson, the best-selling author of the Alex Cross series and other thrillers, announced today that he will write a book about disgraced NFL and University of Florida star Aaron Hernandez, who hanged himself earlier this month while incarcerated for murder.
Patterson, who resides primarily in Palm Beach, was visiting Congress Middle School in Boynton Beach to give away books and encourage reading. While there, he described the Hernandez project as a “tough book to write.”
“This is a man who he signed a $40 million contract,” Patterson (in grammar unbecoming a writer of his stature!) said to students. “He had a lot of stuff going for him but he never figured out enough about life. He went the wrong way.”
“The wrong way,” of course, is a somewhat mild and charitable description of the path of a man who veered abruptly from the NFL high life to a world of multiple shootings and murder.
Hernandez, who was named All-America at the University of Florida and achieved All-Pro status with the New England Patriots, had developed something of a sketchy reputation, frequenting strip clubs and flirting with illicit endeavors.
