Private Sydney by James PattersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Even for Private Investigations, the world’s top detective agency, it’s tough to find a man who doesn’t exist . . .
Craig Gisto has promised Eliza Moss that his elite team at Private Sydney will investigate the disappearance of her father. After all, as CEO of a high-profile research company, Eric Moss shouldn’t be difficult to find.
Except it’s not just the man who’s gone missing. Despite the most advanced technology at their disposal, they find every trace of him has vanished too.
And they aren’t the only ones on the hunt. Powerful figures want Moss to stay ‘lost’, while others just as ruthlessly want him found.
Meanwhile, a routine background check becomes a frantic race to find a stolen baby and catch a brutal killer – a killer Private may well have sent straight to the victim’s door . . .
Read as an audio book.
Alternate title is Private: Missing. The irony here is the audio CD was actually missing from my library, then it was unavailable through inter-library loan, and after about 5 months I was able to get my hands on a copy.
Premise of the book is Craig Gisto receives a call from Jack Morgan to find Eric Moss, CEO of a research company that has international ties. Eliza and Eric are good friends with Jack, so this is high priority for Craig.
At the same time, a wealthy couple approaches Craig asking for a full-blown background check on one Louise Simpson, purported to be a nanny. Upon deeper questioning, what the Finch's actually want is a surrogate mother, which is illegal in Australia. Craig reluctantly agrees, and the next day the surrogate is found brutally murdered and her 8 month old baby is missing. Craig realizes he's been set up, and his brother-in-law Mark, detective on the Sydney police force, is only too keen to take Craig and Private down on grounds of accessory to murder.
This is a short, fast paced, well narrated story (remember, I read as an audio book). I liked the two concurrent plots, they added just enough tension to keep the story moving along but didn't clash with each other. It allowed Craig's group to work as a team, and it wasn't Craig running all over Sydney.
As with most mysteries and thrillers, there is a love interest. This time it was understated without the usual tumble in the sheets, which I greatly appreciated.
A few grumbles - the whole cloak and daggers CIA ADF business was a bit over the top. Yes, ALL the Private books are over the top, but if trying to find someone, why not just go ask, then trail and monitor phone calls. All this attacking and threatening seemed unnecessary, other than to add dramatic suspense.
The Eric Moss character and plot line just didn't seem plausible to me. Yeah, yeah...it's Private. But it had me rolling my eyes more than once.
Ultimately the end of the audio book I was pleasantly entertained, which is what I want in a book. This was better than several other Private books and I hope to see Mr. Gisto and Australia in a future book. Recommended if you've read previous Private books.
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