Private

Book one of the by-now very well established PRIVATE series of crime novels from The Incredible James Patterson Book Machine is the perfect example of not only how he writes his books, but also why they sell so incredibly well. Jack Morgan runs a firm of international private detectives, complete with a huge budget and the most talented and skilled of staff (in the world, no less) to keep it successful.

In this opening salvo, the reader doesnt just have a single plot line to follow, or a single murder to solve. We have several of both running at once. Mixed up with the violence contained within the books covers are real life characters, with their own personal problems to solve, growing pains to get used to, heart aches to get over, and of course thugs (and killers) to beat up, or to put in jail, or simply to kill (in self defence, of course).

Book one is principally about catching the long term serial killer of school girls. The count is up to eighteen (yes, i said eighteen!) by the time the story gets started and we learn some disgusting facts about life in the far-too-accessible internet age when we are introduced to the sickos that are on the murdering spree. Then a major betting scandal hits the NFL, and Jack agrees to investigate. And to top it all off, the wife of Jacks best friend is found murdered in her bedroom, leaving the husband (Jack’s best friend) as the main suspect. With the open-case count at three, the firm closes its doors to any more, but that means making an enemy of a local mafia boss. Yikes! And they come to get their revenge at the books forty percent mark, but even then, the baddies get more than they bargained for.

Being book one of the series, we learn how the business got started, and we are gifted with a tiny dose of emotion with a cameo appearance from Jack Morgans father before he dies in prison. I think the book could have benefited with a larger (background) role for him to play, as well as more (realistic) grieving from the son when we learn what happened to his Dad.

But Mr Pattersons books have never been big on emotional depth; they are plot driven, action based classics. And as the famous old saying goes, if it aint broke, dont fix it!

This is clearly a solid beginning to this series. The release is not a new one; I think the book count in PRIVATE is approaching ten by now (May 2015). This one is not rushed by any means, but having just read PRIVATE VEGAS a few short weeks ago the newer books feel smoother and more sophisticated .

But this book is a great read in the James Patterson Genre, so I am happy to give it four solid stars.

BFN Greggorio!

I was wary about starting this series because of all of the mixed reviews that it received. I bought the first one used at a great price, so I could not turn it down.
I am glad that I gave it a chance.
From reading this first installment, Private seems like it can be a good series.

Private was fast-paced and full of action. It was driven by a few very strong characters that I want to learn more about also.

Jack Morgan suffers from PTSD but runs one of the best private investigation agencies in the world.

Justine works for private and is a great female protagonist. I tend to think that comes from Pattersons co-writer being Maxine Paetro on this one. She is also involved in the Womens Murder Club series and I can see a lot of that in Justines character.

Del Rio is a great supporting character for Jack.

They are all very strong and lead certain parts of the story. I hope they stick around for more installments.

The story itself was jam packed with different cases and lots of action. The main case was about missing school girls that turned up murdered. The other cases took a back seat role to this one.
It is better to have one main storyline than to try to pay attention to all of them in an equal manner. The book would either be way too long or too confusing. I feel that it was done right with this one.

I read most of the book in one sitting. I did not want to put it down.

I am looking forward to reading the next installment in the Private series.

5/5 Stars

I thought that it was really good reading. There was more than one story going, but yet it was easy to follow. Not sure how much of it was actually written bu Patterson, but it was still pretty good.

James Patterson writes some of the best. I’ve read a lot of his books and hope to read a lot more. Private introduces Jack Morgan at the end of his time as a chopper pilot with the Marines. Jack opens a business, Private Investigation, and goes on to be one of the best known, most successful and definitely the sexiest private investigator. This book takes us through several cases and sets the stage for Patterson’s Private series. I think it’s as good as Patterson’s Alex Cross series. Highly recommended.

Captivating from start to finish. James Patterson churns them out like a machine. I suspect his coauthor does most of the writing. I liked the characters. Jack is a tourtured veteran and so is Del Rio. They function as a team and run the PI firm, Private. All the cases were diabolical.

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