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Private (Private, 1) Hardcover – Large Print, June 28, 2010

by James Patterson (Author), Maxine Paetro (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12,480 ratings
See all formats and editions
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Former Marine pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a prestigious investigation company. But the world's darkest secrets can only stay private for so long . . .




Private: it's 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.




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.




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.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 19
    Private
  2. Print length
    464 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Little, Brown and Company
  5. Publication date
    June 28, 2010
  6. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.5 x 9.36 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0316096237
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0316096232
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"James Patterson knows how to sell thrills and suspense in clean, unwavering prose." -- People

"Patterson's novels are sleek entertainment machines, the Porsches of commercial fiction, expertly engineered and lightning fast." -- Publishers Weekly

"The prolific Patterson seems unstoppable." -- USA Today

About the Author

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Tiger Woods, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. Patterson has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, and collaborated most recently with Michael Crichton on the blockbuster Eruption. He has told the story of his own life in James Patterson by James Patterson and received an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; Large type / Large print edition (June 28, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316096237
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316096232
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.5 x 9.36 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12,480 ratings

About the authors

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Previous page
  1. James Patterson

    James Patterson

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Tiger Woods, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. Patterson has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, and collaborated most recently with Michael Crichton on the blockbuster “Eruption.” He has told the story of his own life in “James Patterson by James Patterson” and received an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Maxine Paetro

    Maxine Paetro

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Maxine Paetro is an American author who has been published since 1979. Paetro has collaborated with best-selling author James Patterson on the Women’s Murder Club novel series and standalone novels.

    From 1975 until 1987, Paetro was a recruiter and EVP creative department manager at several large New York City advertising agencies. In 1979, Paetro published her first book, How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising, which received its fourth revision in August 2010. This non-fiction work has been described as “the advertising industry bible and ultimate insider's guide to getting in and getting noticed"".

    Between 1986 and 1992, she published three novels: Manshare, Baby Dreams, and Windfall. In 1993, she collaborated with Dodd Darin to write the biography Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee.

    In 2004, she began the first of more than two dozen collaborations with best-selling author James Patterson, co-writing 4th of July for the Women’s Murder Club series. Paetro explains in an interview that she and Patterson (who had also worked in advertising before becoming a full-time writer) had known each other since the 1970s. According to British newspaper The Sunday Times, of authors with the most titles to be at number one on The Sunday Times bestseller list over the past forty years, she ranks #16 with eleven separate titles in the #1 position.

    Her garden, Broccoli Hall, has been featured in national magazines including House & Garden, Victoria, Country Garden and Country Homes. Broccoli Hall is on the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program. See Broccoli Hall www.broccolihall.com. Paetro is breeding a rare type of koi, the "elusive ki shusui." www.kishusui.com.

    Paetro is married to former surety bond executive, John A. Duffy, the now founder and CEO of consulting company, Manhattan Bridge, LLC.

    Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
12,480 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BaumanBookReviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A very enjoyable read despite other reviews
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
I was wary about starting this series because of all of the mixed reviews that it received. I bought the first one used at a great price, so I could not turn it down.
I am glad that I gave it a chance.
From reading this first installment, Private seems like it can be a good series.

Private was fast-paced and full of action. It was driven by a few very strong characters that I want to learn more about also.

Jack Morgan suffers from PTSD but runs one of the best private investigation agencies in the world.

Justine works for private and is a great female protagonist. I tend to think that comes from Patterson’s co-writer being Maxine Paetro on this one. She is also involved in the Women’s Murder Club series and I can see a lot of that in Justine’s character.

Del Rio is a great supporting character for Jack.

They are all very strong and lead certain parts of the story. I hope they stick around for more installments.

The story itself was jam packed with different cases and lots of action. The main case was about missing school girls that turned up murdered. The other cases took a back seat role to this one.
It is better to have one main storyline than to try to pay attention to all of them in an equal manner. The book would either be way too long or too confusing. I feel that it was done right with this one.

I read most of the book in one sitting. I did not want to put it down.

I am looking forward to reading the next installment in the Private series.

5/5 Stars
13 people found this helpful
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Greggorio!
4.0 out of 5 stars AN INTERESTING START TO THE SERIES!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Book one of the by-now very well established PRIVATE series of crime novels from The Incredible James Patterson Book Machine is the perfect example of not only how he writes his books, but also why they sell so incredibly well. Jack Morgan runs a firm of international private detectives, complete with a huge budget and the most talented and skilled of staff (in the world, no less) to keep it successful.

In this opening salvo, the reader doesn’t just have a single plot line to follow, or a single murder to solve. We have several of both running at once. Mixed up with the violence contained within the book’s covers are real life characters, with their own personal problems to solve, growing pains to get used to, heart aches to get over, and of course thugs (and killers) to beat up, or to put in jail, or simply to kill (in self defence, of course).

Book one is principally about catching the long term serial killer of school girls. The count is up to eighteen (yes, i said eighteen!) by the time the story gets started and we learn some disgusting facts about life in the far-too-accessible internet age when we are introduced to the sicko’s that are on the murdering spree. Then a major betting scandal hits the NFL, and Jack agrees to investigate. And to top it all off, the wife of Jack’s best friend is found murdered in her bedroom, leaving the husband (Jack's best friend) as the main suspect. With the open-case count at three, the firm closes it’s doors to any more, but that means making an enemy of a local mafia boss. Yikes! And they come to get their revenge at the book’s forty percent mark, but even then, the baddies get more than they bargained for.

Being book one of the series, we learn how the business got started, and we are gifted with a tiny dose of emotion with a cameo appearance from Jack Morgan’s father before he dies in prison. I think the book could have benefited with a larger (background) role for him to play, as well as more (realistic) grieving from the son when we learn what happened to his Dad.

But Mr Patterson’s books have never been big on emotional depth; they are plot driven, action based classics. And as the famous old saying goes, ’if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’

This is clearly a solid beginning to this series. The release is not a new one; I think the book count in PRIVATE is approaching ten by now (May 2015). This one is not rushed by any means, but having just read PRIVATE VEGAS a few short weeks ago the newer books feel smoother and more sophisticated .

But this book is a great read in the James Patterson Genre, so I am happy to give it four solid stars.

BFN Greggorio!
11 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Private
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
This Private novel has many crimes to solve and they do a bang up job solving them. There's always the good, bad and the ugly in Patterson's novels. This one held my interest to the very end.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Slow Start
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2024
Verified Purchase
You get a slow start, but it picks up. It's a roller coaster rude, gets a bit confusing but eventually comes together well.
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T Hanson
3.0 out of 5 stars Private
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
Excellent story as I've always come to expect. The positives are the main characters. They are flawed with interesting histories that make you want to know more about them. The plot was well thought. The story well written. The negatives... too many characters to try to remember. They didn't ask have to be introduced in the first book of the series. Too many cases made our hard to follow. I'll read the next one to see if it's better...
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SallyA.
4.0 out of 5 stars always enjoy a James Patterson
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2023
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It’s a fun easy read. Lots of moving pieces and parts but they all come together nicely. I plan to read more in this series.
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Meleani Huffman
5.0 out of 5 stars New series - give it a chance
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
When. this book first came out I didn’t want to read a series that had offices in the US and Britian But I was looking at books in kindle I decided to read the sample. Well I did and I was hooked. Now I have a new series to read. I have found reading samples really help
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Edna Mode
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2010
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I love James Patterson's books. They are fun to read and quick, because they are such page turners. Private was one of the best ones that I read. I really loved the story and the whole set-up. Having several different cases going on at the same time kept things moving along and gave the Private organization more credibility as it seemed real to life. I think they could write a series of books with the Private staff, because there is so much interesting stuff and characters. This book seemed cutting-edge and I could imagine it being made into a television series. I loved this book and I think it is my favorite James Patterson book.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read
Reviewed in Canada on August 18, 2023
Verified Purchase
I got into James Patterson's Private series after reading Private LA. Now I've almost got them all read. Nice escapism.
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PeterL
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2024
Verified Purchase
As always Patterson and his co writers always write a great story This is no exception
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Prudent
Reviewed in India on June 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
As usual impressive and full of adventure.admire your writing. Do keep writing such terrific books & I’ll keep reading them
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Bally 1001
4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and fairly enjoyable read.
Reviewed in Spain on August 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
I could have enjoyed this book much more though without the gum chewing street cop jargon of Los Angeles….I found it irritating because I had to think about what it meant. It didn’t make any positive contribution to the plot in my view. Other than that it was an OK kind of book, but unfortunately not an unputdownable one.
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Michelle Favero
5.0 out of 5 stars another rocking ride
Reviewed in Australia on January 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
Read this following my first foray into Patterson with Woman of God. I certainly wasn't disappointed. a fast moving thrilling tale with likeable and not so likeable characters. I can see a long friendship brewing.
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