James Patterson (the author) is an idiot.

[JohnKSa]

At least when it comes to guns. You'd think a guy who makes his living writing novels primarily dealing with criminals and cops (and therefore guns) would make a token effort to learn the basics.

Some Patterson errors.

Clicking the safety on a Glock.

Checking for bullets in the magazine (or clip--can't remember) of a revolver.

A .40 caliber PSG-1 Sniper rifle.

A 30 gauge shotgun.

It really blows the entire "feel" of the story to realize that the guy who's writing it hasn't even attempted to make things line up with reality.

[P95Carry]

Not read his stuff John but heck - those are not even glaring errors ... they are joke material!

As with most gun owners and shooters, my assessment of any novel dealing with firearms in any way, is heavily affected by author's knowledge and or ability to research the gun issues. In fact the same could apply to things like vehicles too - part of the art of good writing is research .. he needs a ''gunnie'' co-author!

A 30 gauge shotgun.

I guess that's the 28 - just shrunk a weensy bit!?

[LadySmith]

In what book(s) did you find those errors? They're pretty bad.

[Sindawe]

As I see it, the thing is that he is writting entertainment, to sell books and make money. Not to educate his readership in the "gun-stuff". Happens all the time in the entertainment business. Idiocy in facts on firearms, logic, science (and not the Star Trek technobabble either, BASIC science, like seen in talking about genes in the movie Mission to Mars), plot holes big enough to drive a container ship through.

But what can ya do?

[USP45usp]

I forget the name of the person who wrote the books but the ?James Borlan? author (hey, give me a break, it's been ages since I read these) did extensive research on the guns in his books. At the back he would have all the specs of all the guns mentioned in the book.

I do wish that authors and screen writers would pay more attention to the guns that they write about. Nothing destroys a good movie when one of the actors says, "Be sure that the safety is on" and they have Glocks or even worse when they have a shoot out and the semi locks open and you hear "click, click, click" as the actor is pulling the trigger.

Wayne

[WvaBill]

I really like it in "Collateral," when faced with slide lock, Max continued to point his weapon at Vincent.

[The Grand Inquisitor]

Give these people break guys...they aren't experts on firearms and in actuality the things you listed seem about right along with what most people know about firearms (especially military arms).

Most people know "glock", "HK", "M-16", "Ak-47 ("Ak-74?, Don't you mean Ak-47...looks like you turned the numbers around because you don't know as much as me..." -I've heard this line TWICE!) and a few other names, but beyond that most people wouldn't think twice about a.44 Magnum AR-15 or a 9mm AK.

Actually, know that I have thought about it more - perhaps it's not such a big deal with everyday people, but when it comes to an author, he really should take a look at a reference work instead of just making ????? up.

[GaryP]

The book is "FICTION" nothing more nothing less, kind'a like Michael Moore's stuff! The difference between the two is the book is classified as such so no one should expect anything in it to be factual while MM's latest production is classified as a Documentary!

[Hawkmoon]

I read a cowboy novel awhile ago that was set in, I believe, 1860 -- definately pre-Civil War, because there were references to the possibility of a war back east drawing soldiers back from the frontier.

The hero carried a Colt revolver, of course -- and cartridges for it (?). He was often noted for having a lightning-fast draw (according to my gunnie cousin in AZ, fast draws in those days were impossible because the holsters were worn too high and the leather was too soft). He also carried a Henry rifle -- which I don't think had been invented by 1860, and certainly wasn't commercially available by then.

Worse, the hero engaged in a running gunfight, first with evil rancher/rustlers, and then immediately thereafter with a band of Indians. I counted something like 13 shots from the trusty Colt with nary a mention of a reload, and the flow of the action wouldn't have permitted one anyway.

None of them get it right. Not even Louis Lamour.

[dev_null]

There's a difference between not being up on all the hairsplitting details of a topic, and making glaringly obvious errors without the least effort to do some basic research. If I was writing a book in which the hero has to fly a plane, I would at least take the time to learn some basic terminology. I'm not going to have him putting his foot on a gas pedal or turning on the turn signal.

My roommate writes fiction and constantly pumps me for info, and has contacts at the local PD and the DEA where she can get answers to her questions. Authors who can't be bothered to do a bare minimum of research aren't worth reading IMO. (Hell, I've learned more history from Neal Stephenson, and George Macdonald Fraser ("Flashman"), than in all my history classes combined!)

- 0 -

[jsalcedo]

I remember the series of books by Don Pendleton and his team were very good about firearms accuracy.

In each country they would fight the bad guys who were armed with appropriate weapons in the right calibers at the correct ranges with all advantages and deficiencies particular to each weapon.

The main character carried a silenced Beretta 93R with an .44 automag
for heavy firepower. The back page of each novel had some kind of weapon drawn with all specs listed and a short history.

[RavenVT100]

I really like it in "Collateral," when faced with slide lock, Max continued to point his weapon at Vincent.

Yes, but the character Max is not used to guns and probably hasn't ever fired one in his life. That action would be consistent with someone who has never used a gun, especially under stress.

[gunsmith]

He was one of the keynote speakers at the million moron march,don't ever buy his books as he uses his $$ to help pass (unconstitutional) laws.

I suspect he intentionally puts misinformation in his books to make it more dangerous for the novice who has read his books.

[Valkman]

I love these "errors" - last night the wife had some show on and I watched as a guy got all nervous in his hotel when there was a knock on the door (it was the pizza guy). He grabs his gun, leaps the door as he racks the slide - and the slide locks back! He then proceeds to open the door even though he doesn't have a loaded weapon!

I think it was "Law & Order".

[Checkman]

About a week ago I watched a movie with Whoopi Goldberg, Tone Loc? and that one rapper from the movie SWAT - the really buffed bald headed guy. Anyway the movie is about a dysfunctional family gathering for the funeral of the father. One of the sons is driving cross country with his wife and kids and gets in a fight with his wife. He pulls the car over and whips out a S&W Model 15. I quickly noted that the cylinder was empty. SO there I was feeling pretty smug, until the wife looks closely at the gun and tells her husband that he needs to have a job if he wants to buy any bullets for the gun. As much as I hate to admit it I was impressed - actually I laughed out loud.

[USP45usp]

Don Pendleton, that was the one that I was thinking about.

Just watched a show (grade B (if you want to grade it that high) movie) and this guy is shooting it out with the cops and the slide is locked back but he is still shooting (the slide was locked back when he picked it off the motel bed, he didn't even load it or rack the slide to close it).

In the 10 or so minute take, he fired over 50 rounds, didn't reload, and all of this with a slide that was locked back.

Why oh why can't I find a gun like that .

Wayne

*just thought of something, maybe it was an open bolt pistol

[WvaBill]

Yes, but the character Max is not used to guns and probably hasn't ever fired one in his life. That action would be consistent with someone who has never used a gun, especially under stress.

Exactly why I liked it. Vincent, OTOH, started a reload, despite having no mags...muscle memory in action.

What other movie scene has shown the contrast between a novice and a well-trained shooter?

(Although, when Vincent said, "I do this for a living," I heard Josey Wales reply, "Dying isn't much of a living..."

[P5 Guy]

In the undergrounds hideout he picks up a Mosin Nagan 91-31 and goes on to rhapsodize about Mausers?

[gc70]

Good authors do good research; that's why some interested gentlemen visited Tom Clancy about the "military secrets" revealed in The Hunt for Red October.

[Ratus]

Even Clancy get its it wrong.

In “Rainbow Six”, he calls HK’s 10mm version of the MP5 an “MP10” it’s called an MP5/10

He’s not as bad as some others, for example I was reading a novel about a FBI profiler/computer hacker that infiltrated a group of serial killers online and started to hunt them down one by one. Everything seamed pretty good up to the point that they had a regular Browning Hi-Power act like a machine pistol

It just pulls me out of the story when they get it so wrong.

[BondageJaguar]

I'm pretty sure even H$K (yes, I used a $ instead of a &, aren't I witty and clever?) called it an MP10 during the prototype stages and even pretty recently. i could have sworn i saw it on their website a few years back.

[Art Eatman]

Jacket blurbs for a fair number of authors nowadays claim some background with the SEALS or the Green Beret or some such. Now, these guys supposedly know something about guns, right?

In one I read (I call a lot of this genre "Spies & FBI"--or &CIA or &President's Special Killer Team or whatever.) the author has his protagonist go to Quantico and check out a sniper rifle. He goes to the range and assumes a prone position to shoot Way Out Yonder. He loads a cartridge into his weapon. He then adjusts the scope and fires!

Mine eyes glazed over.

Then there's Martin Cruz Smith's "Gorky Park". In the grand denouement, our hero--who throughout the book has been said to be unfamiliar with handguns--has a snubbie .38. The Bad Guy shoots him at close range, hitting him in the leg with a hunting rifle. Our hero hobbles after BG, and with this "inaccurate revolver" manages to centerpunch him five times in the chest.

Ya gotta be pretty good and pretty darned fast to hit somebody five times in the chest before #2 or #3 has them well on their way toward horizontality...

Ain't magic and literary license wonderful?

, Art

[Standing Wolf]

If you can't get simple facts straight, you shouldn't try to masquerade as a writer. That kind of slovenliness might be good enough for journalists, but not for those who write—or claim to write—fiction.

[rock jock]

Some Patterson errors.

Clicking the safety on a Glock.

Checking for bullets in the magazine (or clip--can't remember) of a revolver.

A .40 caliber PSG-1 Sniper rifle.

A 30 gauge shotgun.

I know exactly which novel it is. I read that book two years ago and noticed the exact same glaring errors. I even mentioned to my wife that I was thinking of writing a letter to him letting him know that one hour on THR would have cleared up his misconceptions.

[Thumper]

The main character carried a silenced Beretta 93R with an .44 automag

Mack Bolan. Now there was a man.