Title: Private
(Jack Morgan Series #1)
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
First published: March 23rd 2009
Finished reading: November 29th 2012
Pages: 400
“People trust me with their secrets, and I’m not sure why. It must be something in my face, probably my eyes.”
I normally enjoy the work of James Patterson, but I have mixed feelings about this one. Maybe it is because he wrote it together with Maxine Paetro. Maybe it is because it felt like they tried to squeeze in too many storylines into one book. Maybe it is because the many sub plots confused me and I couldn’t make out what the main story was. And it could have even been because of the shallow way of concluding each sub plot. What I can say is that this book could have been that much better if they would have sticked with just one main story. The general idea is very promising and the main character definitely interesting. It’s just a shame they decided to develop the story the way they did. All in all I would recommend picking up a different book if you want to enjoy Patterson’s work.
Private is about Jack Morgan, an ex-Marine who still struggles with memories of the war. His dad is in prison and asks Jack to take over his investigation company called Private. The company works for high profile clients and has access to the best equipment and staff. When the wife of a Jack’s good friend was murdered, he uses his resources to help find the truth. At the same time, they are both investigating the murder of various school girls and the possible fixing of NFL football matches by referees. Last but not least, his brother shows up with an enormous gambling dept and asks for help.
A lot of cases at once, and it becomes hard sometimes to keep following the different story lines. Although Patterson wrote better ones, this one is still interesting enough to keep reading if you have a copy at hand.
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