Nolan North will narrate the audiobook of the bestselling author and YouTuber’s forthcoming novel
Credit: Tyren Redd photography; Emilio Guede
NEED TO KNOW
- MrBeast and James Patterson’s survival thriller, The Most Dangerous Games, is out this fall
- The audiobook will be narrated by Nolan North and includes a guest appearance by MrBeast
- PEOPLE can reveal an exclusive print and audio excerpt of the novel
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at MrBeast and James Patterson‘s forthcoming co-written novel.
The Most Dangerous Games, out this fall from William Morrow Books, centers on a high-stakes competition known as The Games. The winner of the feat will come away with a billion dollars, but the trials won’t be easy. Surviving a freezing stint in Antarctica, shark-infested waters and deadly desert heat, with no hope of rescue, are just a few of the obstacles participants will face.
“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,” the book’s synopsis teases of the “unputdownable survival thriller.”
Credit: William Morrow Books
Patterson and the bestselling author and YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, first announced their novel collaboration in September 2025. The audiobook, out from HarperAudio, will be narrated by acclaimed actor Nolan North. It will also feature a guest appearance by MrBeast, who appears as himself in the novel.
“Getting to collaborate with a legend like Nolan North on my first audiobook was wild, and we had so much fun recording and bringing the world of the book to life,” Donaldson said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “Personally, I love audiobooks because they let me engage with stories while working and on the go — I can’t wait for everyone to hear what we’ve dreamed up.”
“I typically don’t do audiobooks, but it was such an honor to be invited and thrill to perform the words of one of the most talented and prolific writers of our time in James Patterson and the tour de force that is MrBeast,” North added of the opportunity. “I hope listeners enjoy The Most Dangerous Games.”
Credit: Courtesy of Nolan North
Patterson, who has written novels with celebrities including Viola Davis and Bill Clinton, noted that working on a book with Donaldson was a special experience.
“Jimmy dreams bigger than almost anyone I’ve ever met,” the author said. “When we started talking about this story, the only rule was that every page had to be bigger, faster and more surprising than the last.”
“Nolan North was the perfect person to bring it to life,” he added. “Put on your headphones — you’ve never heard an audiobook like this.”
Read and listen to an excerpt from The Most Dangerous Games below.
Credit: Tyren Redd photography
They stand in a mowed-down cornfield — flat stalks, torn earth, the sweet-rotten smell of husks. A thousand of them. Men and women from all over the world, packed shoulder-to-shoulder like they’ve been poured into this place, surrounded by what feels like almost as many red tents.
Too many to count at first glance. Identical. Clean. The red is too bright. Too intentional. The color of a warning. One you can touch. As soon as they’d arrived at the field, they’d all been given a number. A guard snapped a thin black wristband onto each of them. “For safety,” he said. It didn’t feel like safety.
There are armed guards, dressed in black, carrying what look to be military-style rifles, ringing the field — disciplined, ready. Not quite aiming. Not quite relaxed, either. There’s no shouting, no barking orders. They don’t look like men who expect trouble. They look like men who’ve already been told what trouble will look like, and exactly how fast it ends.
No one knows what’s inside the tents. And why the guards?
Since arriving here in Ohio the day before, in a place somewhere between Cleveland and Cincinnati, somewhere that refuses to resolve into a real place on any map, no one has been allowed inside the tents or even been allowed to get close to them.
The letter promised no cameras. The lenses above the tents disagreed — quiet, mounted high, watching everything. And once Hannah Wagner notices them, she can’t stop noticing the way the lenses seem to tilt. Not track everyone — just some.
Credit: Emilio Guede
They were ordered to turn over their phones — told they’d get them back after the first test. They’d also signed paperwork — stacks of it, clipped tight, meant to overwhelm. The title page called it a humanitarian resilience assessment. Nobody smiled at that.
This diverse collection of people of all ages has been flown here from their various countries, not knowing anything about what will be in store for them except what Jimmy described in his invitation letter. They know nothing about the games. Or where they’ll play out. For now, they’re all milling around trying to understand what the numbers they’ve been given signify. A thousand nervous patterns in one tight space. People whisper in different languages.
Some pray. Some pace. Some stand too still.
Wyatt Jordan wonders why there is a need for armed guards in this field.
“Are those men there to protect us?” Hannah Wagner asks him. She’s standing beside Alek — tall, Eastern European, calm in a way that feels practiced. Wyatt can’t tell if Alek is brave or just tired of being afraid.
“But from who?” he says. “Or maybe a better question is — from what?”
There is a man standing directly in front of him, one who’s only introduced himself as Jack, a hard-looking man with a southern drawl, tattoos on arms that look like the ink was burned into him along with his tan.
Jack follows Wyatt’s gaze to the rifles. Doesn’t flinch. He turns to Wyatt and says, “Possible they’re worried they might have to protect us from each other.”
Wyatt almost laughs— then doesn’t. Because the idea lands. “It’s not that at all,” Wyatt hears from behind him.
They all turn around.
Credit: HarperAudio
“Hi,” a tall young man says and smiles broadly. “I’m Jimmy.”
“No way!” Wyatt exclaims, because some part of him is still eight years old and watching a video where someone gives away a house like it’s nothing.
“Way,” Jimmy says and puts out his hand to shake. “And you’re Wyatt Jordan.”
Wyatt stands there feeling starstruck and dumbstruck at the same time. The MrBeast he’s grown up watching on screen is standing right here in front of him.
“You know who I am?”
Jimmy’s grin softens. “I do. I know some of you. Names, faces. And I’ve been given the basics on the rest. I know you too, Jack. And Alek, I appreciate you choosing to be here despite your circumstances.”
“Thank you,” Alek says.
“So wait… what…” Wyatt stammers. “What are you doing here?”
Jimmy glances out at the tents, at the guards, at the cameras that absolutely weren’t supposed to be here. For a heartbeat, he looks serious.
“Well, let’s see,” Jimmy says, choosing his words. “Since they asked me to be the one to invite you,” he says, “I kind of felt like I should show up for the first day of orientation and say hi.”
“Orientation,” Alek says with a dry edge.
“It does feel like the first day of school,” Jimmy says.
“Or boot camp,” Jack says. He doesn’t bother hiding the suspicion. “You gonna explain what’s actually happening?”
“Not everything,” Jimmy shrugs. “I’m happy to tell you what I’ve been told, but obviously I don’t know what I don’t know.”
“How about some highlights?” Alek asks.
Jimmy nods once. “I tried to give you those in the letter I sent to all of you. Without trying to sound like some philosopher — which, believe me, I’m not — I really am convinced that if this competition plays out the way I hope it will, this can be the first day of better days. For a lot of people who don’t usually get better days. I wouldn’t have put my name on it if I didn’t think it mattered.”
Wyatt knows a lot about Jimmy. Wyatt watches him and thinks, He looks young enough to be in the crowd.
“You really believe someone my age can be the leader you described?” Wyatt asks. “Or Alek. Or Hannah.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Jimmy says enthusiastically. “I’m not all that much older than some of you. There’s no age limit to being someone who tries to do the right thing.”
Wyatt hears the words and feels his stomach tighten. “Not sure about my leadership capabilities, not gonna lie,” he says.
“It’s no accident you’re here. The same goes for Jack. And Alek.” Jimmy looks at each of them.
“Hope you’re right,” Wyatt says, wondering just how much Jimmy Donaldson knows about him.
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Rupert Chadwick, the 14-year-old from England, joins the group. Wyatt had hung out with him a little the day before. Already he feels this kid is old and wise beyond his years. The way Hannah Wagner is.
“So this is all your idea?” Rupert asks, eyes fixed on Jimmy.
“I was asked to come up with a concept, amp up some challenges, look for some specific dynamics,” Jimmy says. “By people with a big vision for a better future. A better world. That reeled me in.”
“Something else you said in the letter,” Alek says. “You told us to trust you.”
“I meant it. I mean it even more now that I’m meeting you guys,” Jimmy says. “I’m not going to pretend I can control everything here. But I can promise you this: I’m going to do what I can to keep it honest.”
“Then what’s with the cameras?” Alek asks. “In your letter, you said—”
“Nothing goes public. No live-stream. No uploads. They’re for internal monitoring only — security. It’s important everyone is safe. At least, that’s the line I was sold.”
Jack notices. “Well, that’s not the most comforting.”
“To be brutally honest, I just asked about them too,” Jimmy replies thoughtfully. “They were a surprise to me. And, when it comes to important things, I’m not a big fan of surprises.”
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They hear a crackling sound from the loudspeakers situated around the field, followed by a man’s voice. The voice that follows is too smooth. Too steady. Like it could go all night without breathing.
“May I have your attention please?” “Who’s that?” Alek asks, shoulders tense. “Your Host,” Jimmy says.
“Time for your first tests,” The Host says through the speakers. “And for the games to begin. Remember: You are being evaluated in ways you won’t perceive. We watch your wristbands. We know who freezes first.”
Wyatt can’t help himself. He’s willing to put his voice to the nerves they’re clearly all feeling at the moment.
“What tests?” he yells out.
“The red tents, of course, Mr. Jordan,” The Host says. Wyatt turns to ask Jimmy what that means. But Jimmy is gone.
Excerpted from THE MOST DANGEROUS GAMES by MrBeast and James Patterson. Copyright © 2026 by MB B&A, LLC. From William Morrow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Excerpted by permission.
The Most Dangerous Games will be published on Sept. 1 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.
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