Review of the Private Series by James Patterson

Many people have heard of James Patterson- he's written and co-written hundreds of books. As of recently, I have gotten more into the adult mystery genre and Jack Morgan is one of my favorite returning crime-fighters. The Private series, which has seventeen books, features Jack Morgan, the owner of Private, an international private investigation firm. Overall, I would rate the series an 7.5/10. I reduced the stars because the books lose quality as the series goes on. By book fifteen, it was not worth my time.

First of all, Patterson does a good job of fleshing out Morgan's character. As with many crime fighters, Jack Morgan has a strong moral compass and gets the job done. If he didn't, there wouldn't be a Private series. However, what made him unique -or, in this case, like every single other literary crime hero- was his willingness to bend some laws if he could arrest the suspect. This ability is made possible by his status as a private investigator- he doesn't have to follow every law to the letter. Although this element is slightly predictable, Morgan does have a developed, interesting personality. He's driven, hardworking, and slightly clueless when it comes to women. On the other hand, there's at least three women thirsting over him in each book. I kind of roll my eyes at any of these parts, but at least there isn't an overwhelming amount of sex scenes; barely any, in fact. Jack Morgan also invests a lot of energy into his work. Although he eventually settle down with a woman (I won't tell you who!), he seems married to his job. It's easy to respect his character.

My favorite things about the series as a whole are the character relationships. Patterson creates characters with unique personalities and there are multitudes of them. This is allowed because of the enormous amount of travel Jack Morgan does. I enjoy the diversity of the characters, both in background, race/ethnicity, and personality. One of my favorites is Val. She's mostly featured in Private Vegas, the ninth book. She does surface in at least a couple others, but she's tough, hardworking, and very dedicated. She also exceedingly brave. She starts off as a receptionist but eventually becomes an agent for Private Los Angeles- where Jack Morgan lives for most of the series. Her first op takes place in Private Vegas, posing as an elegant young woman looking for an elderly but disgustingly rich husband. She handles everything with elegance and aplomb.

Throughout the series, Patterson also does a good job changing the settings, even adding different first-person perspectives. In doing this, he changes cadence, vocabulary usage, and description. This reminds the reader it's not always Morgan's perspective!

Sadly, onto the bad things. Although the beginning of the series is great, the quality really drops off towards the end. After the twelfth book, it seems like there's nothing that we haven't seen before. It's definitely possible to add new material- it just doesn't happen. Patterson's imagination really deserted him, or he went through a traumatic event, or something- the writing isn't even as good either. Either he handed off the writing to someone else, or the co-writers really wrote most of it; it's not the best. If you really like the characters, you should read the last few books, but unless you're really emotionally invested, it's a waste of time.

Overall, I would rate the Private series a 7.5/10. It contains interesting characters, changes in perspective and setting, and some great plot elements. I would recommend this if you really enjoy the adult mystery genre.