Monday, December 20, 2010

Audiobook Review: Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro


Here is a summary of Private from the Hachette website:

The police can't help you

Former Marine helicopter pilot 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 into the investigation of a multi-million dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of 18 schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to home: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer.

Only one place to turn: Private

But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, Morgan has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans. With a plot that moves at death-defying speeds, Private is James Patterson sleekest, most exciting thriller ever.

My Review:
This was another action packed audiobook that Patterson offers to us that actually puts us on the trail of a few mysteries that Jack is trying to solve.  The 'easy on the eyes' Jack Morgan runs Private, a private investigation agency that caters to the stars, but finds himself needing to confront his personal demons before he can move on in his own life.

Jack has never forgiven himself for an event that happened in Afganistan and it has seemed to torment him every day of his life.  Because of this memory he put up an emotional wall that won't allow him to live his life to the fullest.  Once Jack realizes how he has been living, he becomes frustrated at how he has treated those that really care about him.

Jack helps to reveal an NFL scandal that is operated by the mafia and while investingating this case, he finds information that is mafia related to another case.  This book is packed with action, suspense and romance as Jack solves not only these cases, but also helps to catch the serial killer that is murdering the school girls.

Although I loved the quick-paced action that this book kept feeding me, I found myself wanting to know more about Jack's character.  More than anything I wanted him to be able to forgive himself for what happened in Afganistan so he could move on with his life and deal with his family issues.  This was a great audiobook that was read by Peter Hermann and if you are a Patterson fan I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

My Rating:  3/5

Disclosure:  This audiobook was provided to me from Anna at Hachette in exchange for an honest review.

2 comments:

Veens said...

Sounds like a good book but I am not a Patterson fan.
Sometimes it is important to forgive oneself and move on, that is very important :)

bermudaonion said...

This was just okay for me, too - I thought there were just too many plot lines going at the same time. One could have been dropped so the others could be developed better.