dogearedtatty's review against another edition
2.0
Other reviews sum it up. Improbable plots, suspend belief, short chapters so a fast read.
bookworm84's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good installment to the Private series. I really did enjoy the mystery and the killer was very creepy.
imzadirose's review against another edition
3.0
Finished ~ Private Down Under (AKA Private Oz) by James Patterson & Michael White
Completed 6/2/13
3 of 5 stars
368 page Kindle book
I had read this book last year, so when I saw it on NetGalley, I decided to request it to give it a review.
The Private series is a series about the Private Detective Agency, a group run by Jack Morgan with offices expanding all over the globe. In Private Down Under, Craig Gisto has just opened up the office in Australia, having Jack's 2nd in command, Justine Smith, come out to help them, and they are going to need the help.
At their celebration party, a dying boy crashes in, and thus starts a very busy week at Private. They are soon wrapped up in figuring out who the boy is, and why he was killed, a rock star who thinks that someone is out to get him, and the brutal murders of some rich wives, and a missing man. It's a book packed with action from start to finish, in Patterson signature way of short chapters.
This book was OK. It wasn't my favorite Patterson, and it wasn't my least favorite. I felt like the 4 different storylines was a bit too much!! It's like none of the stories got developed enough because he was telling too many, they were all just rushed. The parts that I liked best about it were the rock star, who thought his manager was trying to kill him, and the serial killer of the rick wives. The gang angle, with the dead boy at the beginning was slow moving and dull and the missing business man seemed more like an afterthought.
I really enjoy this series, but sometimes so much can be too much, and it was in this book. It easily would have been a 4-5 star book if there had been more detail on 2 of the cases, with less on the other two, or not even in the book at all, it could have been saved for a follow up book. I guess since the foreign offices are, so far, just one book, they wanted to cram as much as they could into one very action packed book. If you like crazy non-stop action with a bunch of people going a bunch of directions, than this book is for you. :)
Setting = A+
Plot = B
Conflict = B-
Characters = A
Theme = B
Completed 6/2/13
3 of 5 stars
368 page Kindle book
I had read this book last year, so when I saw it on NetGalley, I decided to request it to give it a review.
The Private series is a series about the Private Detective Agency, a group run by Jack Morgan with offices expanding all over the globe. In Private Down Under, Craig Gisto has just opened up the office in Australia, having Jack's 2nd in command, Justine Smith, come out to help them, and they are going to need the help.
At their celebration party, a dying boy crashes in, and thus starts a very busy week at Private. They are soon wrapped up in figuring out who the boy is, and why he was killed, a rock star who thinks that someone is out to get him, and the brutal murders of some rich wives, and a missing man. It's a book packed with action from start to finish, in Patterson signature way of short chapters.
This book was OK. It wasn't my favorite Patterson, and it wasn't my least favorite. I felt like the 4 different storylines was a bit too much!! It's like none of the stories got developed enough because he was telling too many, they were all just rushed. The parts that I liked best about it were the rock star, who thought his manager was trying to kill him, and the serial killer of the rick wives. The gang angle, with the dead boy at the beginning was slow moving and dull and the missing business man seemed more like an afterthought.
I really enjoy this series, but sometimes so much can be too much, and it was in this book. It easily would have been a 4-5 star book if there had been more detail on 2 of the cases, with less on the other two, or not even in the book at all, it could have been saved for a follow up book. I guess since the foreign offices are, so far, just one book, they wanted to cram as much as they could into one very action packed book. If you like crazy non-stop action with a bunch of people going a bunch of directions, than this book is for you. :)
Setting = A+
Plot = B
Conflict = B-
Characters = A
Theme = B
sean67's review against another edition
2.0
The Private series is set all around the globe, but every place feels exactly like the USA....
kmox14's review against another edition
2.0
I've never read a book with so many unnecessary vomit scenes in it!
doctormon's review against another edition
2.0
This offering is the least interesting in the series so far. The writing was good, and the villains were unique. But there was no flavor to the staff of this new Private office. I probably won't read another one with this team.
doinacondrea's review against another edition
5.0
It was typical James Patterson. No one writes a crime thriller like he does. Patterson writes in short, succinct chapters. He paints these suspenseful nail-bitting pictures with his words and I find it amazing. He gets to the point. This particular book I would absolutely recommend if you are a fan of mystery/thrillers. However, it is part of a series and some of the stories of the characters might be lost on you if you haven't read any of the other books in the series. That's not necessarily a big part of the book so if you just care about the murders and psychopaths and mysteries then go ahead and read it as a stand alone. I, personally, fell completely in love with Jack and Justine while reading the other books in the series so I care about catching up with them as much as I did about the murders. That's why I'm reading the entire series. But that's just me. Bottom line, if you're interested in a crime drama mystery thriller type book, this and many other James Patterson books should be on your list.