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Private Games (Other Private Offices)

by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), Mark Sullivan

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 · rating details · 8,035 ratings · 715 reviews

Private, the world's most renowned investigation firm, has been commissioned to provide security for the 2012 Olympic games in London. Its agents are the smartest, fastest, and most technologically advanced in the world, and 400 of them have been transferred to London to protect over 10,000 competitors who represent more than 200 countries.

The opening ceremony is still hou...more

Hardcover, 409 pages

Published January 19th 2012 by Century (first published January 1st 2012)

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Jan 17, 2013 Pam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: patterson-james

This book is the third in Mr.Patterson's new series (the Private/Jack Morgan series) and, in my opinion, is the best one yet. The first two books deal with a private security agency, aptly named Private, and its owner, Jack Morgan. Based in Los Angeles, the first two books are good. The first sets the scene, so to speak, for the entire series by giving the background of Mr. Morgan and Private, while the second finds Mr. Morgan in a bit of hot water himself. (And, no, I'm not going to go into all...more This book is the third in Mr.Patterson's new series (the Private/Jack Morgan series) and, in my opinion, is the best one yet. The first two books deal with a private security agency, aptly named Private, and its owner, Jack Morgan. Based in Los Angeles, the first two books are good. The first sets the scene, so to speak, for the entire series by giving the background of Mr. Morgan and Private, while the second finds Mr. Morgan in a bit of hot water himself. (And, no, I'm not going to go into all that here. You'll have to read Private (the first book) and Private #1 Suspect (the second book) to get that information.)

This third book begins in London with a new Private location and a new Private operative added to the cast of characters. As you might surmise, since the book is set in London and is titled "Private Games," the backdrop for the story is the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Peter Knight, the London operative of Private, is a recent widower with two young children...and he falls right into the middle of a madman's attack on the Olympics. A lunatic calling himself "Cronus" (after the Titan of Greek mythology) and his three "Furies" (again, after the avenging creatures of the same name from Greek mythology) have taken it upon themelves to restore the Olympic games to their original and former glory and to "cleanse" the modern-day Olympics of their greed, fraud, and hubris. To that end, Cronus and his three Furies (females, of course) weave in and out of the Olympic games, seemingly at will, killing wantonly and gruesomely. An unknown London Sun reporter receives the first letter from Cronus...and she too is drawn in. Add to the mix Peter Knight's sister-in-law who, of course, just happens to work for Scotland Yard (and who hasn't forgiven Peter for the death of his wife...her sister...three years earlier when Peter's twins were born). From the first page (where Cronus narrates his beginnings) to the last sentence, I was completely hooked! And, although I do find some of Mr. Patterson's work predictable and formulaic, I have to say that I had no clue how this was going to end!!

I do have to point out that all three of the Private novels were co-written with other authors (Maxine Paetro for the first two and Mark Sullivan for Private Games). In recent years, Mr. Patterson has done this on numerous occasions, but that does not take anything away from the content of any of these books. In fact, Ms. Paetro has been a co-writer for a number of Mr. Patterson's Women's Murder Club and Alex Cross books, although I believe Mr. Sullivan is a new co-writer. Other co-authors (Andrew Gross and Peter De Jonge) have gone on to author books of their own...with Mr. Gross being one of my favorite authors as well.

But I digress...Private Games is a fast-paced murder mystery that will keep you guessing to the end. Although I think it is best read after reading the first two Private books, I think it is not absolutely necessary to read the first two books as the fact that Private Games is in a completely different setting from the first two books and has a different protagonist than the first two books would allow it to stand on its own. I highly recommend Private Games!!(less)

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Nov 16, 2012 Rhiannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a FANTASTIC read!! My first James Patterson novel - I know, where have I been?! He can write, he can create all-consuming tension and he can delivery an excellent story. I had always thought that Patterson novels were cheap thrillers but I was completely blown away. Sure, there were a few cheesey lines - I think my favourite was his comparison of Karen Pope, Sun reporter (and on that topic, why on earth does he use The Sun as his reporting newspaper of choice? I wasn't happy about that!), t...more

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Nov 09, 2012 ѕєяєηιтι rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction-mystery, detective-cop-undercover-pi, read-in-2012

Türkçe'ye "Oyun" adıyla çevrilmiş kitabımız

Konusunu ben çok beğendim bir kere 2012 Londra Olimpiyatlarında geçiyor benim gibi sadık bir Olimpiyat Seyircisinin kesinlikle hoşuna gideceği bir konu tabii kurgusal bir şekilde yazılmış karakterler ama arada bildiğimiz isimler Usain Bolt vs gibilerde var - (view spoiler)

yanlız bu seri olayı karışık biraz kabustan sonra okunması lazım en a...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Anna Cheang rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is satisfactory in terms of suspense, story line, descriptions, very good in general. I enjoyed reading this book and I enjoyed the links to the ancient olympics that are explained in the book. one part i was very disappointed with was the motive for the killings...while the murderer got his just deserts at the end, his motive was not well developed. Yes he had an obsession with the ancient olympics and was psycho in the fact that he thought he was doing what was right in the eyes of t...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Darth_hamster rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Living in London during the Olympics and having a mild interest in Greek/Roman mythology, I thought this would be an intriguing listen for those early morning commutes on what turned out to be empty trains, thanks Boris.

Imagine someone had briefed a sun journalist to write a thriller in a weekend, and at the last minute they're told the subject - the Olympics. There are clumsy fumbles all over it - a private security firm called F7 - yeah right who could that be? The names of the characters irri...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Matthew Gerber rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Got the audio book of this for a long drive. While entertaining and engaging for that particular format, I couldn't get over the "villian" (And more over, his "voice" on the recording). The villian was super annoying, and he has chapters dedicated to him where he is revealing his evilness and how it came to be. So, basically the kid got beat by his parents, jumped by a bunch of kids once, and injured in the olympics. So that's motive to stage and mastermind a bunch of killings? It just didn't ma...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Peterb rated it 2 of 5 stars

After reading the first book I decided to have a quick peek to check the order I should read the series because even on the website it seemed a bit slapdash. After reading the first couple of pages I found that Private London actually was a precursor to Private Games and I am glad that I read them in that order: 1 Private - 2 Private #1 Suspect - 3 Private London - 4 Private Games.

When I started reading Private Games I thought who the hell is this Peter Knight, what has happened to Dan Carter? T...more

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May 22, 2012 elaynne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Downloaded from Audible.com
Narrated by: Paul Panting

Initially, I wanted to just write "ho-hum" but it was a little better than that. Just.

Private is a world-renowned security company hired to help provide security for the 2012 Olympics being held in London, England. Peter Knight, a widowed father of twins, is the British investigator assigned to the project. From the beginning, it seems that random tragedy is haunting the games but Chronos begins taking "credit" for the deaths. It becomes a race...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Delaney Diamond rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller

I couldn't decide at first if I wanted to give this book a 3 or 4, but once I thought about it, I decided it did deserve a 4 because the things I didn't like were minor when I took the book in its totality.

What I didn't like:
Peter Knight's twins did a couple of things that I don't think children their age should be able to do. I was so surprised that at one point I ended up flipping back to reread passages to make sure I hadn't misread their age. They have very well-developed motor skills for...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Joe rated it 1 of 5 stars

I won't say this is the worst techno-thriller I have ever read. I read a lot of them. But my goodness, this book was awful!

I've read other James Patterson books and some of his earlier stuff was pretty good. But in a techo-thriller, the author has to get the "techno" part absolutely right. And the "thriller" part has to at least hold up. In this book the techno was clangingly, distractingly inaccurate and fanciful. To the point of wanting to hurl the book across the room. The thriller part was s...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Johnnie Gee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Private has gone international and has been commissioned to provide security to the Olympic Games in London. After reading the other two books I was really looking forward to this one and what a disappointment, first none of the main characters are carried over with the exception of Jack and maybe a couple of others all with minor parts. Knight who has two small hellish children is the main man in this overdone, unrealistic story from start to finish.

I am not sure who wrote it but it certainly w...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Shelly Blackmore rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

"Private Games" is the latest novel from the literary machine known as James Patterson; the latest in the Private/Jack Morgan series, although Jack plays a very minor roll in this installment. This one focuses on Peter Knight, an investigator in Private's London office during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Bad guy wants to ruin the Olympic's, Good guy wants to save them, family in trouble...you get the picture. As most of Patterson's novels go, it's a good story with a great twist, and it's always fu...more "Private Games" is the latest novel from the literary machine known as James Patterson; the latest in the Private/Jack Morgan series, although Jack plays a very minor roll in this installment. This one focuses on Peter Knight, an investigator in Private's London office during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Bad guy wants to ruin the Olympic's, Good guy wants to save them, family in trouble...you get the picture. As most of Patterson's novels go, it's a good story with a great twist, and it's always fun to try and figure out who the bad guy is, even though you get glimpses from his POV throughout the book. It was halfway through before I knew whether it was a man or woman. Classic Patterson style.

However, like most of Patterson's latest novels, it's only as good as the co-author who does the actual writing. In this case, I thought Mark Sullivan did an ok job, but the guy grew up in Boston and lives in Montana, and he wrote British like a guy who grew up in Boston and lives in Montana. Basically, I'm saying he was trying too hard to make his characters British and they came off sounding corny and contrived. I don't know about you, but I don't need a lot of British words (lads, nappies, fanny - which by the way, if he really knew what that meant in Britain, he would NOT have had a three-year-old saying it, etc.) to be able to hear the characters I read about with their proper accent. Not that the Brits don't use those words, only that they were thrown in in such a way to force upon a reader that "hey - remember we're in London here." Yeah, I know. You told me that in the very beginning.

As much as I love James Patterson, I do miss the early days when I knew that when I picked up a Patterson novel, I would get his story in his words, the way he meant for it to be told. He's a master story teller, and though I rarely miss a new release, it still bothers me that he's more about churning out book after book, raking in the almighty dollar, then he is about getting his masterful stories written the way they should be. By him.

Note - There are a couple of Patterson co-authors who are worthy of his stories - Michael Ledwidge and Maxine Paetro for example. However, it is still a crapshoot.(less)

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Mar 11, 2012 Aaron rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a spinoff from one of Patterson's newest series. Readers are introduced to members of the Private investigation firm's London branch on the eve of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. It is also just in time for a new series of murders that seem centered around the games.

The first victim is a major organizer for this year's games and the soon-to-be father-in-law of Peter Knight, our hero. After having to tell his mother of her fiances death, Peter finds himself being drawn into an investigatio...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it 5 of 5 stars

Review: Private Games - Book #3 Private Series -James Patterson and Mark Sullivan -January 2012
When It comes to James Patterson's books , no matter what the genre he has written in - I will read them without a doubt as he does wonders , the writing style never gets old or boring as we see with some authors when they have written 10+ books . One of the things that I think keeps James Patterson's books alive is the fact that he offers unknown authors the chance to place their writing in his story....more

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Sep 24, 2012 Marianne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Private Games is the second of the Private International series by James Patterson, set in London at the time of the 2012 Olympic Games (very topical) and co-written with Mark T. Sullivan. Private has been engaged by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games to assist with security. Private’s London office has just suffered a massive blow with the loss of five of its staff in a suspicious plane crash (thereby neatly, in one sentence, disposing of Dan Carter, Kirsty Webb, Suzy Malone a...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Benjamin Thomas rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

So my mother-in-law came for a visit last week and, knowing I read a lot of books, she insisted I read this latest and greatest book by James Patterson. Of course, just about all of me defenses went up because:
1) It's a James Patterson book. Now, I've enjoyed some of his early Alex Cross books but his novel manufacturing machine that cranks out 12-15 new books per year from his "co-authors" is a real turn off for me;
2) It's a recommendation from somebody who reads a moderate amount but rarely...more So my mother-in-law came for a visit last week and, knowing I read a lot of books, she insisted I read this latest and greatest book by James Patterson. Of course, just about all of me defenses went up because:
1) It's a James Patterson book. Now, I've enjoyed some of his early Alex Cross books but his novel manufacturing machine that cranks out 12-15 new books per year from his "co-authors" is a real turn off for me;
2) It's a recommendation from somebody who reads a moderate amount but rarely enjoys the same stuff I do;
3) I have waaaay too much stuff on my TBR shelves and there are far too many great-looking books coming out that I can't wait to get my hands on/download to my e-reader to be wasting time on something else.

But in the end...it's my mother-in-law. And so I did. And I could justify it by telling myself it's all about the 2012 Olympics in London that starts tomorrow. I would get points for timeliness.

Unfortunately, the book lived up to my low expectations but no further. This is actually the third novel in the "Private" series but features a new London-based protagonist and should easily stand alone. And it would have if only it had legs. The hero of the story is Peter Knight (very imaginative), an agent in the "Private" security firm which has been hired to provide security for the London Olympic Games. The story was a bit slow getting started but I did enjoy the descriptions of the major Olympic moments and the fictional athletes. Peter Knight, unfortunately, came across as a rather cliched character and a buffoon. He was matched only by the equally inept bad guy, a character going by the name "Chronos". Chronos is presented as an evil mastermind and yet makes mistake after mistake, absolutely none of which is capitalized on by our Mr Knight. In fact Knight's discoveries of clues were virtually all accomplished by accident. When he is in danger it is only through the actions of others, including his mother and his just-turned 3-year old son, that he is rescued. The final 30 pages or so provided some saving grace for this novel, raising it from 1 star to 2, and resulted in some satisfaction in the resolution. But for me it was too little, too late.

It would seem Mr Patterson needed to spend a bit more time in the editing role for this novel. As it stands, it is more like a badly done comic book than action/suspense novel. I remain wary of my mother-in-laws recommendations...(less)

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Apr 27, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

A much better book than I expected it to be, as I am not a big 'newer series' fan of James Patterson. The book was quite good at setting the hero and villain sections and did offer some great build-up as it gave first hand villain chapters, as well as some great background. A little longer than most Patterson novels, yet still the 130+ chapters to tease you into reading 'just one more before I put it down'.

Set against the backdrop of the upcoming London Olympics, Patterson sets a nice scene and...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy

The year is 2012. The Location is London and the backdrop is that of Olympic Games. Can things get any bigger? Huge number of agents has been assigned to the security detail of anybody who is somebody at the games. They are the best at what they do and have the latest technology to back them up. A high ranking games official is brutally murdered and a man named Cronus sends a letter to a reporter Karen Pope claiming responsibility. Peter Knight gets involved in this case twice over as not only t...more The year is 2012. The Location is London and the backdrop is that of Olympic Games. Can things get any bigger? Huge number of agents has been assigned to the security detail of anybody who is somebody at the games. They are the best at what they do and have the latest technology to back them up. A high ranking games official is brutally murdered and a man named Cronus sends a letter to a reporter Karen Pope claiming responsibility. Peter Knight gets involved in this case twice over as not only this was important to him professionally, but he also has a personal interest. With too much at stake, Peter cannot under any circumstances rule this as a mere co-incidence. Together with Karen, Knight has to discover the identity of the killer before it is too late.

I am a huge Alex Cross fan but it has been quite a while since I last picked up James Patterson Novel. Reading ‘Private Games’ almost managed to remind me why I liked his work so much. Though Peter Knight is no Alex Cross and doesn’t completely fit the general profile of private investigators - he is definitely an interesting character. Overall, the way he handled the case was quite impressive but few of his mistakes were very amateurish making me think ‘Oh Come on!’

Obviously with Olympic Games in London, the backdrop of this book is HUGE. Just as the thought of Olympic Games create an image of grandeur in my mind and this novel helped me to picturise it even more clearly. It had the glamour, the adrenaline, and the nerves – whatever feelings that come with an event like this. Mystery fanatics like me may be able to guess out the mystery part, but that does not actually take the charm out of the book. In this case, the journey is eventful enough to keep you going even though you know what to expect at the destination. And the climax was too… I do not know how to explain exactly without giving any spoilers. So let me just say the climax was a bit too implausible for me. The storyline was fast paced and the author has taken care to try and keep the readers engrossed within the pages with doses of mystery, action and psychosis.

To round it off, it turned out to be a pretty mediocre book, certainly not something I expect with the cover that says James Patterson on the front. Well, he has set the bar of expectations so high for himself that he is bound to miss it at times. I wouldn’t probably go out of my way to recommend this book but at the same time I wouldn’t advice not reading it.
(less)

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Jun 25, 2012 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I believe this is the first fiction book of Patterson's I've read, and while I enjoyed it, I suspect it was more because of the setting than anything drawing me in to the lives of the characters. This appears to be the newest in a series of books, and there was minimal introduction to the characters except for Knight, the lead investigator for the Private Company. Also, Patterson alludes to a plane crash that brings certain characters together, but for such an important event to get just a minor...more I believe this is the first fiction book of Patterson's I've read, and while I enjoyed it, I suspect it was more because of the setting than anything drawing me in to the lives of the characters. This appears to be the newest in a series of books, and there was minimal introduction to the characters except for Knight, the lead investigator for the Private Company. Also, Patterson alludes to a plane crash that brings certain characters together, but for such an important event to get just a minor mention, I suspect it happened in the book immediately preceding this one.
In 'Private Games', Private is among the security firms hired to keep the London Olympics safe from terrorism, but before the Games even open, one of the key figures in bringing the Games to London is murdered gruesomely, and the head of security is nearly run over by a taxi while consulting with Knight on the murder. A reporter for one of the local newspapers gets a letter signed by a person named Cronus, explaining the justification for killing the man, before it is even known that he is dead. As the Games begin, more deaths of important figures, from athletes to coaches, come at the hands of Cronus, and his 3 female assistants, the Furies.
Readers get insight into Cronus' mind and how he or she and the Furies are able to pull of what they've done. We also learn pretty quickly that Knight is a single father of 3 year-old twins who have burned out many nannies in their lives, losing another right before the Games. A godsend comes in Marta, a recent Estonian immigrant, who seems to have a way with these kids, but readers already know that Marta is one of the Furies. I wished I could jump through the pages and tell Knight about her before she killed his kids, but alas it is just a book.
Overall, Patterson kept me guessing until the end, as I thought I knew who Cronus was a few times, but then a clue would lead me down another path, or back on one I left earlier in the book. If I had any complaint, it would actually be the relative few acts of terrorism committed by someone who professes to be repulsed by the modern Olympic Games, and that most of the dirty work is left to the Furies. Again, I liked the book because it was set at the Olympics, so I'm not sure I'd read others in the series since global terrorism isn't one of my favorite reading topics.(less)

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Apr 17, 2012 Alison rated it 5 of 5 stars

James Patterson does it again: a very fast paced book that has the reader turning pages as quickly as they can to find out what the villain will do next, will he/she be caught (aren't they always) and what the mistakes are that he/she made. The time is current, 2012, the place: London, England for the Olympics. Someone, however, does not want the Olympics to take place as they've strayed far from the original concept. Corporate greed, bribes, steroids, vanity making tons of money off of endorsem...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Simply fabulous! The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because a book has to be truly unique for me to do that (think The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series or Hunger Games). I did not have much enthusiasm when I first got this book, however, because I was not a big fan of the first two in the series. I decided to read it, anyway, and am so glad that I did! In Private, and Private #1 Suspect, Patterson seemed to give too much artistic license to his co-author, and the books somewhat los...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Bobby rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: london, fiction

In an effort to broaden my horizons into best-selling fiction that my patrons read, I decided to pick this up. This will probably be my first and last foray into the publishing behemoth that is James Patterson.

I know something is poorly written when I'm constantly thinking to myself, "I could write this". My expectations were pretty low and I was simply hoping to be entertained, but found even that a struggle. A few issues: 1. Their research of London seemed limited to Fodor's guide and a crappy...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the Private series by James Patterson. Whereas the first two books in this series center around the U.S. division of Private Investigations and the owner, Jack Morgan, this book concentrates on the British division of Private and one of its investigators, Peter Knight. Knight is a widower raising a set of 3-year old twins, balancing his home life with his professional life as Private is enlisted to help with the security of the 2012 London Olympic games. As the games ap...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Dan Schwartz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

This is a prime example of how great Patterson can be. A truly remarkable story that once again delves deep into the mind of the psychotic and takes you on a trek on the thought process and rationalization of why they do the things they do. Such a great villain (one of my favorite in all of the Patterson works), and such a great hero to put up against him, the valiant Peter Knight. I hope that Knight shows up in another story (or perhaps a series), or at least Patterson will join teams with Mark...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars

In Private Games the private security firm is hired to provide protection for the olympic events taking place in London in 2012. They provide 400 top agents to cover all 10,000 participants. A day prior to the commencement of the games one of the top organizers is murdered, shortly thereafter a newspaper reporter received a package containing a written document advising her of a psychotic man who is hidden behind the assumed name of Cronus. Previously he saved the lives of 3 ladies who are kille...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Shelley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The best thing about this book is the setting at the London Olympics, especially since they haven't happened yet. I had the John Williams themes playing in my head the whole time -- build in soundtrack. Other than that, this book is fairly lame. Maybe it's the page long chapters that disrupt the flow of the story. This seems to be a Patterson thing (although who knows how much of the writing he actually does himself) that is driving me crazy. The "twists and turns" are pretty predictable, the my...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Cecile Msays is currently reading it

"Private Games" by James Patterson is about a detective agency named 'Private' and a detective in the agency named Knight. Knight is a man who's wife died after giving birth to his now 4 year old twins. The story begins with the murder of Knight's soon-to-be step-father, accompanied by a note regarding the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This story shifts to the point of view of the murderer, who calls himself Cronus, and Knight, who is trying to stop him. Knight soon realizes that Cronus is tryin...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was stuck getting my vehicle repaired unexpectedly so I was without a book. I saw "Patriot Games" in a store and after much deliberation I decided that perhaps it would turn out to be than I expected. I should gone with my gut feeling.

The story centers around the 2012 Olympics in London and a madman who is bent on destroying the modern Olympics forever because the games have been corrupted by money and cheaters. What ensues is a story that I found to be utterly ridiculous and boring. The chara...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, james-patterson, library-books

As my two stars would suggest this was okay! But that's pretty much about it. This is far from the best book off the Patterson production line.

I didn't really expect too much from this book though as I have not really liked this series compared to Patterson's other series novels. I despised Private, but actually quite liked Private: London, not so much for the story but due to certain parts of that book being set around where I live so I could atleast appreciate that the book had been well rese...more As my two stars would suggest this was okay! But that's pretty much about it. This is far from the best book off the Patterson production line.

I didn't really expect too much from this book though as I have not really liked this series compared to Patterson's other series novels. I despised Private, but actually quite liked Private: London, not so much for the story but due to certain parts of that book being set around where I live so I could atleast appreciate that the book had been well researched. This book however was not well researched, something that is blindingly obvious when one of the charcters (I can't remember which character it was) is recollecting the day in London after the city was awarded the 2012 Olympic games. However considering the day after London was awarded the games the city was bought to a standstill as a result of the 2005 London bombings there was no mention of this in the characters recollections (although it is mentioned in another part of the novel).

Also, as stated I quite liked Private: London, so when I realised on page one that the characters from that book had been killed off to make way for the new characters in this installment I was not impressed. I see no reason why the previous characters couln't have handled the events in this book instead of the cardboard cliches that we were actually given. And when the causes of the characters from the previous novels death is revealed towards the end of this book it just seems pointless and crow barred in.

Another thing I really didn't like about this book were the fictitious names given to characters who are obviously based on real life people, such as Mayor "Morris" of London. The fictitious "fastest man on earth" competing at the 2012 games, and the fictitious "knighted 5 time gold medal winning British rower". It was obvious who the real life counterparts of these characters were supposed to be so I see no reason why real names couldn't have been used, it's been done many times before and even by Patterson himself.

The main charcters three year old twins in this book seemed to have a vocabulary and understanding way beyond their years so again a lack of research is an issue. Also considering this book was set in Britain and features mainly British charcaters it was littered with "Americanisms" so once again research issues. And then the team said to be representing Britain in football at the Olympics were England rather than the team GB squad that will actually be representing us. So one massive research failure there. And civillians being allowed to carry hand guns on the streets of London during the Olympics. I don't care how big the Olympic contract the security company supposedly has and how much papperwork and red tape the authour reckons the character would have to go through. It wouldn't happen.

One other thing that really grated me about this book (although more on a personal level than a direct critisim) was that one of the main characters was supposedly a journalist fot The Sun newspaper. And with my personal views on that paper after their infamous The Truth headline I don't feel that that newspaper deserves the free publicity and advertising generated from this book and for me the inclussion of any other newspaper would have made the reading experiance a little more enjoyable.

And Finally every twist and plot line in this book were blindingly obvious from the off, so for a thriller it wasn't very, err, thrilling. I suppose it was inevitable that we would get a book from someone based on terroissm at the 2012 games. And whilst this book had potential such as the God complex of the main attagonist combined with his troubled and injured past plus the comparisons between the ancient Olympics and the modern games. But for me this book just plainly failed to deliver on so many levels - something that is illustarted perfectly with the stupidly absurd climax to this stroy.(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

We're back in London (England) for this 4th book in the Private series and I was initially disappointed. The book started out with the same style as that of Private London which I found to be a step down the rung compared to the other two Los Angeles based Private books. Might have something to do with the style of the co-writers Maxine Peatro vs Mark Sullivan, but I'm not sure. Perhaps others didn't enjoy the Private London book as well as the others either as this book starts out by stating al...more

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The subject of a Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every fifteen hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In the past three years, James has sold more books than any other author (according...more

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