Question: What was the middle name of the best-selling book author of Alex Cross ?

text: List of best-selling books
List of best-selling book series -- Between 50 million and 100 million copies

This page provides lists of best-selling individual books and book series to date and in any language. Best selling refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Comics and textbooks are not included in this list. The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. This list is incomplete because there are many books, such as The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, or A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, that are commonly cited as best-selling books yet have no reliable sales figures. Similarly, many notable book series that sold very widely are poorly documented (Land of Oz) or consist of multiple sub-series (Tom Swift). According to Guinness World Records as of 1995, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion copies sold and distributed. The Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, also known as the Little Red Book, has produced a wide array of sales and distribution figures - with estimates ranging from 800 million to over 6.5 billion printed volumes, with some claiming the distribution ran into the billions and some citing over a billion official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations. Exact print figures for these and other books may also be missing or unreliable since these kinds of books may be produced by many different and unrelated publishers, in some cases over many centuries. All books of a religious, ideological, philosophical or political nature have thus been excluded from the below lists of best-selling books for these reasons. Having sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling is the best-selling book series in history. The first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books of all time.
Book series Author ( s ) Original language No . of installments First published Approximate sales
A Song of Ice and Fire George R. R. Martin English Currently 5 ; 7 Planned ; 3 novellas + 1 guide 1996-present 90 million
Discworld Terry Pratchett English 41 1983-2015 90 million
Nijntje ( Miffy ) Dick Bruna Dutch 119 1955-present 85 million
Alex Cross James Patterson English 21 1993-present 81 million
Anpanman ( アンパンマン ) Takashi Yanase Japanese 150 picture books 1973-2013 80 million
Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey English 12 plus spinoffs 1997-2015 80 million
Fear Street R. L. Stine English 114 1989-present 80 million
Pippi Långstrump ( Pippi Longstocking ) Astrid Lindgren Swedish 3 + 3 picture books 1945-2001 80 million
The Vampire Chronicles Anne Rice English 13 1976-present 80 million
The Wheel of Time Robert Jordan , Brandon Sanderson English 15 1990-2013 80 million
OSS 117 Jean Bruce French 265 1949-1992 75 million
Winnie-the-Pooh A . A. Milne ; illustrated by E. H. Shepard English 2 1926-1928 70 million
Magic Tree House series Mary Pope Osborne English 56 1992-present 70 million
Left Behind Tim LaHaye , Jerry B. Jenkins English 16 1996-2007 65 million
A Series of Unfortunate Events Lemony Snicket aka Daniel Handler English 13 1999-2006 65 million
Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder English 12 1932-2006 60 million
Jack Reacher Lee Child English 22 Novels + 11 Short Stories 1997-present 60 million
The Magic School Bus Joanna Cole , illustrated by Bruce Degen English 131 1986-2010 58 million
Where 's Wally ? Martin Handford English 13 1987-present 55 million
Men Are from Mars , Women Are from Venus John Gray English 15 1992-present 50 million