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Jan 17, 2012

thewanderingjew rated it:

This was a great book to listen to as I traveled. It really held my interest and the length was perfect for a day's drive, 6 CD's.
Private is a very posh detective agency that handles high brow clients with problems they wish to keep quiet and out of the media. They are working pro bono with the police, to solve a serial murder case. The murderer is using the internet to snare his victims with faked text messages. Young schoolgirls are being lured to their deaths. Since the agency is also wo More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Nattakorn rated it:

I thought PRIVATE was okay. It was an enjoyable, easy to read, for me. Small chapters help keeping the pace at high-speed, I thought.
The parallel stories ran well with Jack Morgan jumping around from place to place.
I'm a bit disappointed with the predictable conclusion of the stories when the build-up of each was excellent.

It really came down to what you expected from reading this book.
If you want a complex thriller novel with grand information based on deep researches More...

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Nov 14, 2011

Landon rated it:

Jack Morgan runs Private, the world's most powerful investigation firm. With a team of the best in their field experts, he takes on some of the biggest cases in Los Angeles. Private is currently working on three huge cases, a serial killer that targets teenage girls, the murder of Jack's good friend Shelby, and a huge NFL gambling scandal. To top it all off, Jack has a very interesting private (though nothing to do with the firm this time) life. He receives a call almost everyday simply saying " More...

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Oct 10, 2011

Asmita rated it:

Private has actually disappointed me. I was expecting a lot more. James Patterson has tried to fit in a lot of things in very few pages and the characters are somewhat loose. What I mean to say is that the reader does not get the sufficient amount of time to actually know them. For example, Justine, now she is a very strong woman, but she has no tragedy and she is this picture-perfect woman. Then, we have Jack Morgan. Well, the first impression that I get of him is that he is a Romeo and he is h More...

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Aug 19, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 31, 2011

Books-treasureortrash rated it:

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes

Private is a detective agency, so not surprisingly there are three story lines running at the same time all revolving around different cases. Throw into the mix Jack Morgan's personal life and you have an interesting story.

Private is told in the third person narrative from the various different characters, with the main protagonist being Jack Morgan, the owner of Private, a very high end PI firm. James Patterson co-wrote this book with Maxine Paet More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Lainy rated it:

Blurb from goodreads

Former Marine and CIA agent Jack Morgan inherits his father's renowned security and detective business--along with a case load that tests him to the breaking point. Getting to the bottom of an NFL gambling scandal and an unsolved LAPD investigation into 18 school girl slayings would be enough. On top of all that, Morgan takes on solving the horrific murder of his best friend's wife.

As Morgan fights the urge to exact brutal revenge on that killer, he has More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Mike rated it:

I thought this was an alright mystery novel. I liked the parelell stories and the cast of characters but felt that some of it was just... so last generation.

For instance: There's an implication in the Steam Cleaner(I listened to it as an audio book so I'm sure that it's spelled differently but I don't know how. I figure it's "SteamKleana" or something like that) story that all people who play violent video games want to commit terrible murders. This is annoying. I play a lot More...

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Feb 11, 2011

Luanne rated it:

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro have teamed up again for their 8th successful collaboration. Private is the first in a new series featuring former Marine Jack Morgan. Morgan inherited both money and his business from his incarcerated father. The name of the firm? Private.

With money being no object, Morgan is able to hire the best in every field. Private's forensic labs are better than many law enforcement agencies. And discretion is the word at Private, as they cater to high profi More...

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Feb 09, 2011

Delaney rated it:

There was plenty taking place in this book to keep you occupied. Jack Morgan is the owner of Private, an investigation firm which was originally founded by his father and brought back to life after his father died in prison. Jack's organization can get things done the police can't, and they've been hired by the LA police to crack a series of murders of teenage school girls.

Two other crimes need to be solved at the same time. One concerns the death of Jack's best friend's wife, and t More...

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Jan 04, 2011

Karen rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Nov 02, 2010

Patty rated it:

A private detective agency that solves some pretty nasty crimes that the police can't or won't be able to solve is bound to be a good story. However, somewhere in there we are also dealing with the main character, Jack’s, regular wartime nightmares, a prank caller who calls him every morning and says very ominously “You’re Dead”, his clearly unhinged identical twin brother AND with his commitment issues with the employee he’s screwing and his ultimate regret for dumping the girl he used to scre More...

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Oct 10, 2010

Mrs W rated it:

Private is a book written by James Patterson (and Maxine Paetro) who is a well known author of crime thriller novels. Wow. Sorry James, but this is a really crappy book. The story line is all over the place, the characters are completely undeveloped and the “reveal” at the end is totally predictable. This was the first time (that I know of) that I read a book that has a “ghost writer”. That’s right people, the person who you thought wrote the book (ie. The person’s name written in big red block More...

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Oct 09, 2010

Denise rated it:

3.0 out of 5 stars Typical recent Patterson thriller, October 9, 2010

This review is from: Private (Hardcover)
This novel provides exactly what fans of James Patterson have come to expect from his recent (co-authored) novels. It's a quick and easy read -- nothing deep or thought-provoking here. It provides enough intrigue to be called a thriller and though short on suspense, the narrative moves along smoothly juggling a couple of different plot lines: the unsolved murd More...

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Oct 07, 2010

Richard rated it:

First of all, look at the author names on the book cover. I guess Mr. Patterson was unhappy with his coauthor the day he approved the art, but her name is very subtle at the bottom of the book.

Second, I think they have overdosed on Dirk Pitt, Stone Barrington and Secret Agent 007 with their depiction of Jack Morgan and his protection/private detective agency, Private. Resurrected from his worthless father's defunct company with $15,000,000 in stolen money dad gave Jack shortly before More...

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Sep 08, 2010

Aaron rated it:

Patterson and Paetro have been teaming up for some time to work on the Women's Murder Club series. They seem to be kicking off a new series with this volume. The primary character is Jack Morgan, a former Marine and the owner of an investigative firm called Private. He has assembled an interesting team of investigators that includes a psychologist, a computer specialist, a crime scene investigater, and as well as a few regular detectives. The team basically works like a police unit, only they ar More...

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Sep 04, 2010

Trak rated it:

I borrowed two books by Patterson from a friend and I read this book in a couple of hours. Short chapters, short sentences, and overall the book falls short. I became tired of these so-called imperfect characters with their personal hangups and flashy lifestyles. I just could not find anything that I liked about them. I mean if one was killed off I would not have shed a tear at all. The continual name-dropping of celebs was as boring and did not add to the book at all except to say this agency r More...

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Aug 27, 2010

Jessica rated it:

Jack Morgan has returned home from Afghanistan after being shot down from his helicopter. Upon his return, his father, who is in jail, requests that Jack reopens his investigative firm, Private. Jack builds up the investigative firm into a successful and elite firm that caters to the creme de la crop of Los Angeles.

As he is getting ready to escort one of his clients into an awards ceremony, he receives a call from his best friend. He rushes over to find his friend's wife, More...

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Aug 20, 2010

Kavyen rated it:

Jack Morgan heads “Private” an exclusive private investigative firm. Jack monitors the operations and the investigations in the company’s offices located in New York, Europe and Los Angeles. The story and investigation for this book is based in Los Angeles.

Three cases are investigated simultaneously by Jack and his very efficient crew. The first is the murder of his ex who happens to have been married to his good friend – obviously his friend becomes the prime-most suspect making his i More...

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Aug 03, 2010

Kaye rated it:

Another page turning Patterson novel. I actually read the first 85 pages while eating lunch at McDonalds. Which goes to show it doesn't take a lot of concentration to plow through the story. In this case "Private" is the name of an exclusive detective agency. There were many different plots going on a serial murder of teen girls in LA, fixing of Pro-football games, run in with the mob and the shooting of a bests friends wife. Any of these could have probably carried the story alon More...

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Jul 14, 2010

Ramona rated it:

Another good collaboration between Patterson and Paetro. Private is the story of former Marine helicopter pilot, Jack Morgan, who makes his father's private investigative company a huge success after it's left to him upon his father's death in prison. Jack struggles with his own personal demons and his troubled relationship with his twin brother, Tommy, while solving three high profile cases with his team of experts in Private. His international investigative company, Private is able to get t More...

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Jul 01, 2010

Beverly rated it:

When reading reviews, particularly on Amazon, I’ve noticed a lot of complaints about how the Patterson books are written. As a reader, what I care about is the end result. I want a good story. Sometimes, Patterson’s formula works and sometimes it doesn’t. I enjoy The Women’s Murder Club series and the Alex Cross series (though I must admit, I’m behind on both series.) So far I’ve enjoyed the books written with (or some might say by) Maxine Paetro.

I found Private to be a good st More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2010

Giovanni rated it:

Not a fancy title, but sometimes less is more, and in this case I think we get more. I am not going to be giving anyone a news flash that is a regular follower of my rants here @ The Scoop. I like James Patterson’s work. I read almost all of his work from his graphic novels (see our archives), young adult (Daniel X), and just about all his regular material. I got excited when I saw that he had this new series coming out: Private.
I really enjoyed this novel, I am not going to make any bones More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 19, 2010

Tim rated it:

As Bugs Bunny would say: "And then the FLOOD!"

First, the cover of both the American and British editions have absolutely nothing to do with the novel. "Murder Most Beautiful"? What the heck does that have to do with anything? Answer: nothing.

Second, as the first line of the "review" indicates there are enough plot threads in this one slim volume for five or six novels...if those novels had real character development and something approaching More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 24, 2012

Jennie rated it:

The problem with this book was that it focused on the wrong plot and was written for the wrong character. I found Justine Smith to be infinitely more interesting than Jack Morgan. I also found myself immersed in Justine's murder case and was quite perturbed when I found myself reading about Jack again. (Although, can we please get over this "Gamers are Murderers" trope? It's rather tired). Justine was flawed and impassioned and had a very interesting mystery to solve. The solution to J More...

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Aug 16, 2011

Tara rated it:

from Amazon.com:

The police can't help you

Former CIA agent Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily--and his staff of investigators uses the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases.

The press will destroy you

Jack is already deep in More...

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Feb 05, 2012

Aira rated it:

OKAY, where shall i start?
This was my first ever James Patterson novel. Thanks to my lovely friend, I broke my Patterson virginity. When I read this, it felt like it could be a plot for a tv series, ie Castle or something in that genre.
Three different cases, three different issues. Main guy, Jack is in trouble.
First, one is Jack's ex girlfriend, Colleen who was murdered in his home.
*gulp and gasps*
who would kill sweetheart Colleen and who would go out of their way t More...

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Aug 18, 2011

Mark rated it:

To say I was very disapointed with this book is a big understatement. What could have been a really thrilling read turned out to be nothing more than a mundane series of plots that limped their way to a very flat conclussion. I am generally a very big James Patterson fan and have read most of his work (including his childrens books) But he knocks out so many stories these days that finally the inevatible has happened and they have become so dumbed down that I found myself not caring at all what More...

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Nov 03, 2010

Lacy rated it:

I read some other reviews and a lot of people are bashing this book, but you know it depends what you're looking for in a read whether you'll enjoy this or not. Patterson's books have the short chapters which may seem choppy to others, but I enjoy it very much. I read different books at different times during the day. On both of my 15 minute breaks, I can read Patterson books because I'm not getting into a cahpter that last 100 pages and I won't be able to come to some sort of stopping point. More...

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Feb 14, 2011

Barbara rated it:

I enjoyed this book immensely. There is a ton of stuff going on and lots of characters. Let's see, Jack Morgan stars as the owner of Private, a private investigations firm for the stars. First of all, Jack suffers from PTSD due to a stint in Afghanistan where terrible things happened. Him and his very elite crew have the following cases going on simultaneously: a professional football gambling scheme, Jacks' best friend's wife has been murdered, a serial killer killing school girls and in J More...

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