First line: Hannah Shapiro was having a wonderful day.
From the back cover: For Hannah Shapiro, a beautiful young American student, this particular nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when Jack Morgan, owner of Private – the world’s most exclusive detective agency – saved her from a horrific death. She has fled her country, but can’t flee her past. The terror has followed her to London, and now it is down to former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London, to save her all over again.
Dan Carter draws on the whole resources of Private International in a desperate race against the odds. But the clock is ticking… Private may be the largest and most technologically advanced detection agency in the world, but the only thing they don’t have is the one thing they need – time.
My thoughts: As many of you know, I love most of James Patterson’s books. I read many of his series – Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, and most recently the Private series. I read the first one in this series, called Private, and loved it. When that book came out there was talk that JP was going to be partnering with international authors to write parts of this series. Private London is the result of one of those partnerships. The only problem is that the book was only released in the UK. Fortunately for me, I have family (my brother and his family) living there and last month, my mom was over in London visiting my brother and picked a copy of Private London up for me. Needless to say, I was thrilled!!!
Private London follows the pattern that most of James Patterson’s books follow. There are the short chapters that just beg you to read one more until you realize you’re at the last page. There are also the multiple plots going on in the one book – which naturally leads to a lot of mini-cliffhangers as the book flows back and forth between the different plots. The primary story in Private London is about Hannah Shapiro, who early in life is forced to watch unspeakable acts committed on to her mother during a kidnapping. Later in life, she travels to London to attend school and her past seems follows her as she finds herself once again the victim of a kidnapping. It’s up to Dan Carter, head of Private’s London office, to save her. At the same time, there is also the case of women being abducted and when their bodies are finally found, they appear to have been mutilated. Dan Carter’s ex-wife, a detective, is involved in that case.
There are the usual twists and turns and everytime you think you have it figured out, another wrench is thrown in. I was captivated with the story and read it in one sitting. I still don’t know where this book fits in with the rest of the Private series, but I do know that it comes before Private Games (which also happens to be set in London). Whatever the case is, I am glad I was able to get a copy of this book and I look forward to reading more of the Private books.
(This book was given to me as a gift.)
Books in this series:
- Private
- Private London
- Private: #1 Suspect
- Private Games – due out 2/13/12
