| Andrew Gross | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 Manhattan, New York United States |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Middlebury College Columbia University |
| Period | 1990–present |
| Genres | Thriller |
|
www.andrewgrossbooks.com |
|
Andrew Gross (born 1952) is an American author of thriller novels including four New York Times bestsellers. Best known for his collaborations with suspense writer James Patterson. Gross’s books feature close family bonds relationships characterized by loss or betrayal and large degree of emotional resonance which generally lead to wider crimes and cover-ups. They have all been published by William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins.
Contents |
Andrew Gross was born in New York City in 1952. He grew up in [[Manhattan] and attended the Barnard School for Boys. Both his father and his grandfather on his mother’s side were successful clothing manufacturers.
Gross received a degree in English from Middlebury College in 1974.[1] After a two-year stint in Denver,[2] where he worked as a dress buyer, and then opened a stew-and-soup fast food pilot named Ebeneezer's, he went back to work for his family’s publicly-held apparel firm, The Leslie Fay Companies,[3] named after his mother. While there, he received a Masters in Business Policy from Columbia University in 1982.[4]
Gross attended the Writers Program at the University of Iowa. He took three years to finish a draft of his first book HYDRA, a political thriller, in 1998. He recalls “after dozens of rejections from agents and ultimately publishers, not knowing what my next step in life was, and sitting around my study, wondering what cliff I was going to drive our SUV off of, I received a phone call from someone who asked, ‘Can you take a call from James Patterson?’” Gross met with Patterson and discussed the early concepts for what ultimately became the Women's Murder Club series. Patterson explained that the head of his publishing house forwarded Gross unpublished manuscript to him with the words scratched on the cover: “This guy does women well!” Patterson and Gross formed a partnership in less than a week.[5]
Gross worked with Patterson of several books in this series, including SECOND CHANCE and THIRD DEGREE, both of which went to Number One. Then, they branched out on different themes together, co-authoring the top bestsellers, THE JESTER, LIFEGUARD, and JUDGE AND JURY.[6]
In 2006 pursued his own writing career leaving Patterson. In 2007, THE BLUE ZONE, debuted on the NYT bestseller list in the United States. A year later, It was followed up by The Dark Tide ( 2007), which was nominated for Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association.[7] THE DARK TIDE featured the Gross’ fictional detective Ty Hauck of Greenwich, Connecticut, who became the lead character in his corruption and political conspiracy-based bestsellers Don't Look Twice and Reckless.
In 2011 Gross departed from Ty Hauck, writing Eyes Wide Open building on two personal stories from his own past.
In 1979, he met his wife Lynn on a blind date in New York City, New York and they were married three years later. In 1984, Gross took over HEAD Sportswear, the struggling arm of the iconic ski and tennis brand, and by 1989, had repositioned it into the Number One upscale producer of tennis and ski apparel in the United States,[8] and a thriving brand in Europe as well, before leaving for a larger role at Leslie Fay, then with close top a billion dollars in annual sales[9] and on the New York Stock Exchange.
As Gross describes it, ”sometimes the toughest thing about being in a family company is that it's filled with your own family,” and in 1991, he left to pursue his own opportunities at Le Coq Sportif,[10] a boutique tennis/ golf brand, and Sun Ice, Inc, a Canadian skiwear manufacturer, the latter, “ending poorly and abruptly,” as Gross says, “and hastening my writing career.”