Private London by James Patterson
From the Publisher…
For Hannah Shapiro, a beautiful young American student, this particular nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when Jack Morgan, owner of Private – the world’s most exclusive detective agency – saved her from a horrific death. She has fled her country, but can’t flee her past. The terror has followed her to London, and now it is down to former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London, to save her all over again.
In central London, young women are being abducted off the street. When the bodies are found, some days later, they have been mutilated in a particularly mysterious way. Dan Carter’s ex-wife, DI Kirsty Webb, is involved in the investigation and it looks likely that the two cases are gruesomely linked.
Dan Carter draws on the whole resources of Private International in a desperate race against the odds. But the clock is ticking… Private may be the largest and most technologically advanced detection agency in the world, but the only thing they don’t have is the one thing they need – time.
From Me…
In this James Patterson novel, the hero was extremely likeable, if not very predictable. Like most of Patterson’s main characters, Dan Carter is a tough guy with a complicated past. Dan has a complex love interest which is ignored most of the book except one brief encounter, as is the norm with Patterson books. The story was filled with twists and turns, some I saw coming and some that took me by complete surprise. Essentially, this was another James Patterson book.
I have read a lot of reviews that have criticized JP books for being so formulaic. I take issue with this complaint simply because I feel that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. JP is not the only author to take this approach to books. I’m sure we can all think of authors who do this, but off the top of my head Nora Roberts, Mary Higgins Clark, Danielle Steel and Nicholas Sparks. Anyone who buys any of these books knows exactly what they are getting and to complain about it after the fact is, I feel, unfair to the author.
All in all this was a good novel by Patterson. Not necessarily a must read but a fun one none-the-less.
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