Patrick Larkin (novelist)

American novelist

Patrick Larkin (born ) is an American novelist and speechwriter. He worked with Larry Bond on several novels, such as Red Phoenix, Vortex (1991), Cauldron (1993), The Enemy Within (1996), and Day of Wrath (1998).

Larkin received a high school diploma from Kennewick High School in Kennewick, Washington, in 1978 and a degree from the University of Chicago. At the beginning of his career, he was among a group of 14 staff for Congressional Republicans whom he worked three years for. As part of his job, he was the speechwriter for 140 members of the United States House of Representatives. After quitting his Washington, D. C. job, Larkin became a Pacific Gas and Electric Company speechwriter at their San Francisco office to fulfill his wish to be close to his family. The book's copyright page bears his name. He equally split the royalty payments with Bond. Red Phoenix had 250,000 hardcover copies released in June 1989 and one million paperback copies in May 1990. The Wall Street Journal ranked the book as third on its best seller list. The New York Times Best Seller list included for 15 weeks where the book at one point was ranked sixth. Larkin and Bond signed a $1million agreement to collaborate on producing two more books. Although the duo would each receive 50% of the money, the next two books' covers would again omit his name. and The Moscow Vector (2005). The Globe and Mails Margaret Cannon reviewed Larkin's book Robert Ludlum's The Moscow Vector. She wrote that the book "makes liberal use of the late Robert Ludlum's name", and said, "The actual author is Patrick Larkin, and while he may be channelling Ludlum's spirit, he's not imbued with Ludlum's talent."

Larkin is married and has two children.