YouTube megastar and entrepreneur Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, just launched his new novel, The Most Dangerous Games, and like everything he touches, it's getting picked apart. Reports have claimed the thriller is "on track to be a historic bomb," but a senior-level source with knowledge of the numbers is pushing back on that narrative.
According to IGN, the source says presale figures are actually "beyond four digits" and "tracking well for a debut novel."
The Most Dangerous Games, co-written by Donaldson alongside Alex Cross author James Patterson, hit shelves on September 1st. As of this writing, it's sitting at No. 2 on Amazon's best-selling list for new releases.
A fictionalized version of a large-scale MrBeast survival game, The Most Dangerous Games is described as a "survival thriller about what people will do to become The One who can save the world." The synopsis reads:
A thousand strangers receive the invitation. One hundred make the cut. An unprecedented competition from MrBeast, the world's #1 creator with more than a billion followers, and James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling author, where the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The Games begin in Antarctica, where one wrong step on the ice kills you, and they never let up: Shark water off a remote Chilean island, desert heat that cooks you where you stand, storm-battered peaks, and caves so black you cannot find your own hand. No rescue. No second chances. A billion dollars to whoever is still standing.
Then the terrain stops being the thing that can kill you, and the other players start. Alliances turn into ambushes. Trust becomes the sharpest weapon. And somewhere above it all, a hidden voice is watching every move, testing, deciding who deserves to survive.
It sounds a bit like Battle Royale meets Squid Game, which makes for an intriguing premise. The challenge, however, could be reaching an audience that doesn't necessarily gravitate toward reading. MrBeast has the largest YouTube channel in the world, but much of his audience is used to consuming his content through video. With the novel, Donaldson seems to be hoping he can introduce some of those younger fans to the fun of reading, especially in an increasingly tech-focused world.
“Growing up, I didn’t read too much,” Donaldson said during a recent appearance on Good Morning America. “Then I started reading a lot of biographies and fell in love with reading. I was like, ‘Wow, I really wish that I got exposed to books earlier,’ because I learned a lot through it. So hopefully, for a lot of younger people, this is a book that once they read it, they’re like, ‘Wow, reading can be a lot of fun.’”
“It’s a very gripping thriller story that once you start reading it, it’ll hook you to the end,” he added.
The Most Dangerous Games is now available with prices ranging from $14.99 on Kindle to $35 for the hardcover.