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 lost the tone and tempo of a Patterson book. On top of this, I didn't find Jack Morgan, the lead character, to be very likable. All of that has changed in Private Games.

The book is set amidst the summer Olympics, 2012, held in London. A Patterson-esque madman is on the loose with plans to wreak untold death and destruction, and forever snuff out the spirit of the Olympic games. As is the case in most of the Alex Cross series, this perpetrator has a chapter devoted to him here in there throughout the book, where he speaks to us in the first person and we can truly see how deranged he is.

Our lead character is Peter Knight, who is employed by Private's London office. Peter is a fairly recent widower with two small children, reminding me of both Alex Cross and Michael Bennett. I'm not sure why James Patterson tends to widow his heroes, but it is certainly a technique that evokes the reader's sympathy immediately. We also get to know Peter's mother, Amanda, his sister-in-law, Elaine, and members of his staff at Private London. It works. I immediately liked this brave single Dad and was rooting for him throughout the book.

Without spoiling anything, I can say that Patterson leads us through the twists, turns, and suspense that make him the #1 author in the world. I couldn't put the book down! I hope we'll be seeing more of Peter Knight in the future. I suspect that we will.