The police can’t help youFormer 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 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.
About the Book:
Case #2: Justine Smith is a shrink, a forensic profiler, and the second in command at Private. She has been working the Schoolgirls case for the past two years. High school girls are being killed in a variety of different methods with a trophy taken from each girl and later left for the authorities to find, with no prints or means to trace the killer. At their wits end and with a public outcry to find this monster, the LAPD and the DA approved Private to work the case as a public service – pro bono. Justine and Emilio Cruz – a gifted investigator at Private with a bulldog-like personality – try to sort through the evidence, interviewing old witnesses, and retesting old forensic samples in their state of the art lab, hoping for a break in the case. What they discover is shocking and sickening.
Case #3: The NFL gambling fix case was really intriguing. I loved how this case was laid out, investigated, and wrapped up. It probably took up the fewest amount of pages in the book, but it was my favorite case! Someone seems to be throwing games – for big payoffs. But, who is behind it? And why? Jack and his investigating partner, Del Rio, are on the case, determined to find answers.
Mixed in with the cases, as always, we have to have a little romance and some nookie here and there. Jack had a relationship with Justine in the past and is currently having fun with his receptionist at Private. Jack’s personal life is like a roller coaster. He is haunted by dreams of the time he was in Afghanistan and actually died, but was brought back to life by his fellow Marine, Del Rio. He keeps having flashes of something he missed and is trying desperately to put the pieces together so he can move on with his life. It doesn’t help that he receives daily phone calls telling him, “You’re dead, Jack.” Add to it a father who is in jail and a brother with a huge debt and hates Jack with a passion, and you have a novel ripe with a deep and emotional character.
The characters in this book are fantastic and I loved them all. I really hope we get to see lots more of Private in the future because this is the Patterson I love. One of his best book ever – I definitely recommend it!
