Missing

"Think about it. The Middle East is a debacle, in many ways trapped in the Middle Ages, still obsessing about crusades and infidels."

Ahh, the real world hitting crime fiction. Poignant words from Kathryn Fox. Yeah, there's no James Patterson in this co write, but that's OK. One of the latest in the Private series which I've hopped in to and out of over the past few years. This was a pretty good one, because it wasn't about the soap opera that is Jack's life. I didn't much care for Eliza at first, but she grew on me especially as the surrogate case was solved.

A light, quick beach read. Perfect summer reading.

This it the 10th Private book and was not one of my favourites. It started strong but fizzled near the end. Once again Private is involved in a couple of situations simultaneously. Craig Gisto leads the way again while dealing with his cousin Mark who is with the police. The main case involves the disappearance of Eric Moss. His daughter Eliza is convinced something has happened to him and Private is hired to find him. At the same time, Private does an extensive background check on a surrogate who turns up dead just after the information is passed on. The baby she is watching disappears from her home and Private is right in the middle of the investigation with the assumption that the people they gave the information to are the show more kidnappers. Suddenly there appears to be a cover up in the disappearance of Eric Moss as well as a fraud investigation into his company. It is revealed that the company was involved in top secret government work and questions fly about who Eric Moss really is. Suspenseful, but the ending seems rather abrupt and not what I expect from James Paterson. show less

Craig Gisto, of Private Sydney, has promised to locate Eric Moss, head of a high-profile research company. But the man, and every trace of him, has disappeared. And others are hunting for Moss; some want him found while others want him to stay “lost.” Will Craig find a way to unravel the mystery surrounding Moss?

At the same time, there’s a frantic race to rescue a stolen baby and catch a killer. Did Private send the killer straight to the victim’s door?

Readers may appreciate the quickly-moving plot, with an unexpected twist or two, and short chapters meant to ramp up the suspense. But this “Private” novel falls a bit short in comparison with earlier books in the series. Nevertheless, fans of the series are likely to find show more this tale to their liking.

Not to confuse the issue, but “Missing: A Private Novel” is the first United States release of “Private: Sydney” albeit with a different title. It’s still the same story. show less

n the latest addition to the Private series, James Patterson teams with Aussie crime author Kathryn Fox, introducing the reader to Craig Gisto, and his staff, in the Private Sydney agency who have two cases to investigate in this crime thriller novel.

The first involves a surrogacy scam, a murdered woman and a missing baby. Gisto’s agency is accused of negligence when a couple hires Private to run a background check on a woman who has volunteered to be their surrogate. Within hours of turning over the report, the woman is murdered, an 8 week old baby in her care abducted, and the identities of the couple prove to be false. Gisto and his team have few leads and work hard to unravel the scam, determined to find the missing infant.

The show more second case involves the missing CEO of a billion dollar company. Stonewalled by the man’s business partner, Gisto begins to suspect large scale fraud is the issue. However it soon becomes clear that whatever Eric Moss has done, he has made some dangerous enemies. Despite attempts at intimidation, Gisto refuses to back off, especially when threats are made against the missing man’s daughter.

Short chapters, an economy of words, and a sense of immediacy keeps the pace moving quickly. The plot is well crafted and not entirely predictable, with some smaller subplots that fill out the pages. Studded with action, there is also a touch of romance. You don’t get much more than a general sense of the characters, but it is enough to satisfy.

The Australian setting, which moves from Sydney city to the Blue Mountains, should appeal to Patterson’s international and local fans.

Private Sydney was exactly what I expected, a quick, easy, entertaining read. show less

So I am not a huge James Patterson fan. However, it was from his collaboration from that I was introduced to Mr. Andrew Gross, who I am a fan of his books. Thus the reason I will check out other collaboration books from Mr. Patterson. This is the second book I have read in this series. Yet, just like the other book I could not find a connection with the story or the characters. Thus I was just skimming the book more than actually reading it. The only thing that semi kept me sticking with this book is the back drop location. Although, I will tell you that even if I had been into the characters, the main one, Eric Moss, was not really a likable guy; so I would have still had a bit of a lower interest anyways in this book. The ending was show more alright but kind of predictable. show less

OMG. This was horrible. Phrases like "a courier arrived with a logo called Gene IE part systems. They import scientific machines". WTF scientific machines. Nobody says that. "Hey doctor. Get any new scientific machines lately?" Had to stop reading it.

3.5 stars. Not the best from Patterson but its still a good read. I'm used to an action packed book and this has less than normal but still a good thriller. I do like the different branches of Private and have now read quite a few from the series. Its nice to get away from Jack Morgan and get to know different characters.
Still a good read, even though not my favourite.