Private by James Patterson and Maxine Patero
Author James Patterson is prolific. We are all aware of that fact. He writes book after book after book. Sometimes he writes alone and sometimes he collaborates with other authors such as Maxine Paetro. Even when writing with others the Patterson hallmarks are there. He writes very simple crime tales. He uses brief chapters in all of his stories. And the hero/heroine usually has a stand out characteristic to help with audience identification. Such is certainly the case with >em>Private, his latest collaboration with Paetro.
In Private the lead character is Jack Morgan, owner/operator of a private investigation organization that goes by the name of "Private." Jack has a very successful business and it is staffed with excellent, handpicked persons. But even with all of his success, Jack is a troubled man. He has nightmares that relate back to his days as a Marine helicopter pilot. He saw combat and that is where his nightmares took root.
Jack is also conflicted in his love life. He is currently seeing his secretary Colleen, but he still has thoughts of Justine who is one of his investigators. They were once involved but she ended it because he would not/could not open up to her.
"Private" has three major cases pending. One involves the murder of Jack's best friend's wife. The second is possible game tampering in the national football league. His uncle Fred owns one of the teams. The third is a series of killings of young girls in the LA area. These are brutal murders that must be related but have no distinct connection.
All three crimes are solved before the book ends and in logical fashion. Oddly none of the three cases draws much interest or enthusiasm from the readers. They are too predictable, too by the numbers and too luckily solved. Clues and evidence just seem to fall into the investigators' laps.
Patterson's name on the cover appears to be enough to guarantee best seller status, but if the caliber of the stories remains at Private level then this is eventually going to change. Or at least it should. But who knows! Readers are creatures of habit and for right now the name of Patterson is like an addiction. He keeps the supply of stories coming and the readers lap it up.
Private is not a bad read but it isn't a great one either. It falls into the land of the mediocre and for an author with the talent of James Patterson that shouldn't be enough. Let's hope he slows adown and gives his readers more of his best.
Private is published by Little, Brown. It contains 385 pages and sells for $27.99.
www.jackiekcooper.com