Mystery Book Reviews

Book Review: Private

By Sandy Amazeen Jul 27, 2010, 21:08 GMT

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 youJack ...more

War hero and owner of Private Investigative, Jack Morgan has headhunted to best staff money can buy and is well equipped to handle most any challenge with the notable exception of his twin brother Tom. From early childhood the brothers were pitted against each other by their sadistic father until it became an established behavioral pattern neither is capable of breaking. With three high stakes cases involving serial killers, the vicious murder of his best friend’s wife and an NFL owner concerned about the integrity of the games, Jack has more then enough on his plate without having to deal with memory loss. As he attempts to help his brother, Jack is forced to question whether he is the one responsible for issuing death threats to his nare-do-well brother and maybe, capable of so much worse.

While loaded with weak plot twists and name-dropping, Patterson and Paetro’s latest work features a complex protagonist trying to do what is right, at least most of the time. The many subplots are neatly tied up by the end while leaving plenty of room for more from this updated version of Cain and Able that unfortunately, fails to stand out from the crowd.