Books that scream 'Blah'

Reading fiction is an amazing stress reliever. It is important for me to know for a fact that the author I read has taken enough or a lot of his/her precious time to create a masterpiece that is worthy of being read by thousands or millions of readers.
Come to think of it, a novel takes anytime between 4 hours to say 2 weeks to finish. That is a lot of time when you consider all the people reading!

So, my point now is how, simply How on earth can someone like James Patterson come up with so many novels, in a single year ?? This very thought deters me from reading any of his books.
I usually like to own the book I read and hence, the monetary value has to mean something.
I'd never pay good money to buy an author's work when he/she has taken no consideration for the quality of writing or more importantly, the reader's precious time.

I mean no offense to his ardent fans (if any) and these views are rightfully mine to publish.