Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Private Investigator, Jack Morgan, takes over an investigation firm called Private. The firm was given to him by his father, a criminal serving time in jail and not a man Jack ever got along with. Jack surrounds himself with a group of dedicated individuals who help him keep his agency running smoothly as they solve some of the most difficult cases they could imagine.

Jack is presented with a case from his uncle, who owns a football team, which threatens to destroy the NFL. It’s up to Jack to uncover a gambling ring and find out who in the league is cheating and is about to cause a huge scandal which will bring the sport to its knees.

Then, there’s the case of the high school girls who are the victims of a serial killer. The girls are being led to their death in a devious plan which can’t seem to be stopped as the clever murder leaves no clues behind.

The third case hits too close to home for Jack. His best friend’s wife was murdered in what appears to be a mob-related execution. There’s no way Jack will back down on this one, especially since the wife used to be his girlfriend.

Jack fights his own personal demons throughout this book which include his time in the war in Afghanistan, a twin brother who wants nothing to do with him and an office romance which threatens his emotional stability. Toss all these things together and life is not going very well for Jack Morgan.

Talk about a fast-paced book…the pages just fly by in this one. It’s amazing to me that this writing team continues to put out books that I can’t put down. This had a great storyline with a great new cast of characters. I hope there will be another book as I’d love to revisit these characters.



For reading challenge:

James Patterson Reading Challenge