James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon (USA 2022)

From the Publisher:
Discover one of the greatest true crime stories in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it.
With the Beatles, John Lennon surpasses his youthful dreams, achieving a level of superstardom that defies classification. "We were the best bloody band there was," he says. "There was nobody to touch us." Nobody except the original nowhere man, Mark David Chapman. Chapman once worshipped his idols from afar -- but now harbors grudges against those, like Lennon, whom he feels betrayed him. He's convinced Lennon has misled fans with his message of hope and peace. And Chapman's not staying away any longer.

By the summer of 1980, Lennon is recording new music for the first time in years, energized and ready for it to be "(Just Like) Starting Over." He can't wait to show the world what he will do.

Neither can Chapman, who quits his security job and boards a flight to New York, a handgun and bullets stowed in his luggage.

The greatest true-crime story in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it. Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day -- and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon. Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 9781538703649 (August, 2022), 528 p., $10.99.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon (UK 2021)

From the Publisher:
The greatest true-crime story in music history.

A GLOBAL SUPERSTAR
In the summer of 1980, ten years after the break-up of the Beatles, John Lennon signed with a new label, ready to record new music for the first time in years. Everyone was awestruck when Lennon dashed off '(Just Like) Starting Over'. Lennon was back in peak form, with his best songwriting since 'Imagine'.

A DANGEROUSLY OBSESSED FAN
In the years after Lennon left the Beatles, becoming a solo artist and making a life with Yoko Ono in New York City, Mark David Chapman had become fixated on murdering his former hero. He was convinced that Lennon had squandered his talent and betrayed his fans. In December 1980, Chapman boarded a flight from Hawaii to New York with a handgun stowed in his luggage. He was never going home again.

A MURDER THAT STUNNED THE WORLD
Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is a true-crime drama about two men who changed history. One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day, and the other who ended the music with five pulls of a trigger.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon. The assassination that changed a generation. Arrow, ISBN: 9781787465442 (November, 2021), 464 p., £7.99.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon (USA 2021)

From the Publisher:
Discover one of the greatest true crime stories in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it.
With the Beatles, John Lennon surpasses his youthful dreams, achieving a level of superstardom that defies classification. "We were the best bloody band there was," he says. "There was nobody to touch us." Nobody except the original nowhere man, Mark David Chapman. Chapman once worshipped his idols from afar -- but now harbors grudges against those, like Lennon, whom he feels betrayed him. He's convinced Lennon has misled fans with his message of hope and peace. And Chapman's not staying away any longer.

By the summer of 1980, Lennon is recording new music for the first time in years, energized and ready for it to be "(Just Like) Starting Over." He can't wait to show the world what he will do.

Neither can Chapman, who quits his security job and boards a flight to New York, a handgun and bullets stowed in his luggage.

The greatest true-crime story in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it. Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day -- and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon. Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 9781538753033 (September, 2021), 464 p., $18.99.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon (UK 2020)

From the Publisher:
John Lennon was one of the world's most influential people.
Mark David Chapman was one of the most invisible.

By the end of 1980, the Beatles had been broken up for a decade - a decade John Lennon had spent in search of his true identity: singer, songwriter, activist, burn out. But now, he declared, "it's the perfect time to be coming back".

xcept that Lennon was a marked man. As early as the Beatles' controversial 1966 American tour, during which the band had feared for their safety, Lennon had complained, "You might as well put a target on me". The Nixon administration did just that, putting Lennon under FBI surveillance. If only the agents hadn't been so intently focussed on the star himself, they might have detected Mark David Chapman's powerful, ever-growing obsession with the man he'd grown up idolising.

Chapman, himself a tragic nowhere man, ultimately achieved the notoriety he craved by making the target on Lennon very real - and single-handedly wounding the spirit of a generation.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon. The assassination that changed a generation. Century, ISBN: 9781529125191 (December, 2020), 400 p., £20.00, eBook £9.99.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon (USA 2020)

From the Publisher:
Discover one of the greatest true crime stories in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it.
With the Beatles, John Lennon surpasses his youthful dreams, achieving a level of superstardom that defies classification. "We were the best bloody band there was," he says. "There was nobody to touch us." Nobody except the original nowhere man, Mark David Chapman. Chapman once worshipped his idols from afar -- but now harbors grudges against those, like Lennon, whom he feels betrayed him. He's convinced Lennon has misled fans with his message of hope and peace. And Chapman's not staying away any longer.

By the summer of 1980, Lennon is recording new music for the first time in years, energized and ready for it to be "(Just Like) Starting Over." He can't wait to show the world what he will do.

Neither can Chapman, who quits his security job and boards a flight to New York, a handgun and bullets stowed in his luggage.

The greatest true-crime story in music history, as only James Patterson can tell it. Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day -- and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.

James Patterson with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge: The Last Days of John Lennon. Little, Brown, & Co., ISBN: 9780316429061 (December, 2020), 434 p., $30.00, eBook $14.99.