Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Jack Morgan is a war hero. Returning home from Afghanistan after being wounded, Jack is called into California State Prison to visit his father, Tom, who is serving a life sentence for extortion and murder. Before being incarcerated, Tom ran a private investigation firm called 'Private'. Tom wants Jack to re-start the company, to make it great again, and gives him access to a $15 million dollar account in the Cayman Islands to do it with. Five years later and Jack has set up offices spanning the globe. Private's services are much sought-after and Jack has clients ranging from movie stars to politicians. Jack is keen to keep the business legal and not fall into the same traps as his father. But when the mob come calling, they are not easy to refuse. On a rare night off accompanying a client to the Golden Globe awards, Jack receives a phone call from school friend Abbie Cushman. Abbie's wife has been murdered and he desperately needs Jack's help. The murder is brutal and with no apparent motive; fingers begin pointing towards Abbie. Jack is certain that Abbie didn't kill his wife, but he will have to work night and day to prove it. Meanwhile, Jack's second-in-command at Private, Justine Smith, is helping the L.A.P.D. in a serial killer investigation. Over the past two years, twelve school girls from the same area in L.A. have been murdered. The killings are highly professional and so far the Police have no leads whatsoever. Justine has been called in to make use of her experience and Private's resources. A breakthrough is desperately needed, because these killings show no signs of stopping.

Jack and Justine, our main characters, work at Private, a private investigation company which gained its' success through Jack's unsavory father. There are three cases in this novel. Justine is working on the case of the missing school girls; school girls who are tricked into their abductions and murdered. Jack is working on determining whether NFL games are being fixed and trying to figured out who killed his best friend's well-loved wife. Of course, there are love interests. Justine is in a long term relationship with the DA and Jack has found himself a nice Irish girl who, you know, just happens to be his assistant.

Books are like people. If you lead with the negative, chances are you will pass up on a good thing. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. There were parts of this book I found unsatisfying, particularly the relationship between Jack and Colleen, but overall I enjoyed the character interactions. Another downfall was the anti-climactic capture. Maybe I'm off balance, but I like a little more excitement when it comes to finally capturing the bad guys. What's the point of suspense if it ends in a less than satisfying climax? Initially, I was going to rate this a 2-star for “It's okay”, but I do like the book so I upped it to 3.

Also, I listened to this book instead of read it. For me, it's harder to get into a book that way because I'm a visual person. Reading the words off the paper make it more appealing and helps me associate the name to the character. The audio didn't have a consistent volume, so I was constantly turning it up and down in the car.

On a side note, and maybe I'm alone in this, but the deal with Colleen at the end annoyed me. It was unnecessary and I didn't like that the authors went there. Maybe the writers felt the need to better end her story, but c'mon... Do it with her death by a serial killer, not her attempt at self-destruction. Then again, maybe it just hit a little close to home and it bothered me that he thought only of himself and not so much of her.

For what it was, it was good. I only had mild annoyances for the main girl, Reed, but those soon passed. I think its a slow burn character build up for her, but boy did she frustrate me. Not only did she do everything for the Billings Girls, but she also forgave Thomas too quickly. Too bad he was too perfect it was impossible.

This was a very quick read, done in a 2.5 hour flight. I'm a bit confused by the whole book as the ending was not really an ending. I was left wanting more and I'm sure that was why it was that way, although it was very abrupt. I don't usually pick up YA books so this must have been a freebie for the Kindle because I don't think I would have picked it up otherwise. It was a nice surprise.

There is something fascinating about what teenagers will do to be accepted. We all did it to some extent growing up and it is amplified in this book. Reed wants to be accepted and finds herself doing things that she never thought she would be involved in.

I will probably read the rest of them as they are like “candy”. Easy going down and you feel a little guilty for reading it. But you need “treats” every once in a while.