Private

There is nothing like a good PI novel….all the elements of a police procedural, but few of the rules.   

I tend to like heroes that highly bend, if not outright break, the rules.

However, in this regard, Patterson and another one of his interchangeable co-authors fail to deliver.  They combine three major plot lines and a few inter-personal foibles, any one of which would be able to, if properly fleshed out, carry an entire book, but instead they throw them together so haphazardly, that little service is done to any of them.   It leaves the reader wanting.

That being said, the idea of a high end private investigative firm (aka Private) working around Beverly Hills, the film industry and a few old fashioned Mob connections, the owner of which has revitalized the firm as one of his disgraced (and convicted) father’s last wishes and with an identical twin brother that is, to be blunt, a world class jerk, is a compelling foundation. 

Even as flawed as it is, it is a some what engaging, easy to read exercise.  The employees of Private are smart, unique and could be grown into characters the reader will care about….think of it as the BAU of the TV show Criminal Minds meets Philip Marlowe in the private sector.  

My only hope is that any further books of this series actually plays on the strengths of the foundation that was laid out and not so much on multiple hack-eyed plot lines and Patterson’s name alone.

+++Murder, sibling rivalry, mild sexual situations+++