Category: Action & Adventure

“Private” by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

[ 2 ] June 28, 2010

Reviewed by Caleb S.

Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro focuses on Jack Morgan, owner and operator of Private, a private investigation firm for the rich and powerful. Jack was a military chopper pilot whose father died in prison shortly after giving him the Private firm and a large chunk of change to make it happen the right way.

We are thrown into the story just as Jack finds out a friend of his was murdered. Then we find out that there has been a serial killer on the loose killing high school girls, and he has recently begun to increase his pace. At the same time, Jack’s uncle, who owns a piece of a football team, thinks someone is fixing games for illegal betting but he doesn’t know who, how or if it’s just a figment of his imagination. It’s rather amazing that Jack has time to sleep.

Private was an average James Patterson book, though with more than average quirky characters. Jack’s team seemed to be based on the TV crime dramas like NCIS or Criminal Minds. Like the TV shows, we jump in and only get the highlights for the characters and expect the rest to be filled in in later ‘episodes’. We are given just enough information for each character to keep us wanting more.

Overall, Private was a decent, fast paced book with a lot going on, and like most Patterson books, the action was partially to disguise the plot holes. If you like James Patterson you will be more than happy to add this one to your ‘To Be Read’ pile. A great read if you’re looking for something light and easy.

Caleb is a software engineer and amature woodworker living in southern Minnesota. He has more hobbies than he has time or money for, and enjoys his quiet time reading.

This book was provided free of any obligation by Little, Brown and Company. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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“Jesse’s Girl” by Gary Morgenstein

[ 0 ] August 20, 2009

Reviewed by Claudia R.

Being passionate about reading often results in multiple unfinished books in just about every room of the house, dogeared and spine creased, smudged with guacamole or stained with wine. Jesse’s Girl by Gary Morgenstein, however, earned ‘book of the week’ in my house, following me in to every room, doctor’s visits and traffic jams, while all the other books gathered dust.

Gary exquisitely pens a tale about the trials and tribulations of a father and son trying to find their roles in a life that is blurred gray with the loss of a loved one, substance addiction and the pursuit of identity. From the very first sentence to the last, Gary’s story evokes the overwhelming despair of a father torn between his loyalty to a dead wife, a drug addicted son, and the manifolds and limitations of the law.

Teddy Mentor is Jesse’s adoptive, and recently widowed father. When he receives a call from the Wilderness program in Montana where Jesse has been sent for rehabilitation, and finds out his son is missing, Teddy’s life, numb and jejune, suddenly spins in to a maelstrom and forces Teddy to crack open his wounded heart and feel again. A sense of failure drives Teddy to find his son, face the demons, his and Jesse’s, and together they embark on a life altering journey to Kentucky, where against all his good judgment, Teddy agrees to take Jesse to find his long lost sister, Theresa.

As Jesse and the ebullient Theresa embrangle Teddy in a tale of murder, Teddy is forced to choose between conventional ‘right and wrong’ as perceived by the law and parental duty based on instinct, and love alone. His devotion for Teddy, and the desire to rekindle his relationship with his estranged son, takes them him on a harrowing journey that threatens to destroy, rather than heal them.

Jesse’s Girl is pulse-pounding and heart-wrenching, forcing the reader to forage within their own soul as they are dragged, with every new sentence, through a story of father-son bonds gone bad, the darkness of addiction and it’s personality altering power, the pursuit of redemption and the omnipotent virtue of familial love, blood born or otherwise.

Claudia resides on Cape Cod and is a wife and mother of two. She attended Lasell College in Newton, MA after spending 18 years abroad as the daughter of a Diplomat, her latest post being Belgium. Her desire is to work in the publishing business as an Editor.