“Private L.A.” by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan – Deceiving Appearances

Perfection is something seldom seen in this world, and when we do find it, we always believe it too good to be true. When it came to Thom and Jennifer Harlow, everyone had their doubts cast aside; two mega movie stars, the perfect couple, beloved parents with three perfect children… they had the ultimate recipe for happiness.

One day, however, the couple mysteriously disappears from their ranch, leaving behind little else but unanswered questions. As private investigator Jack Morgan sets out to crack the case, he becomes increasingly drawn into a world of deceit, learning little by little how far people can truly go to hide themselves behind a wall of lies, desperation and deception in front of the whole world.

As if all of that wasn’t already enough, Morgan also has to contend with his twin brother, Tommy, being charged with a murder. And so begins a new adventure in the Private series, titled Private L.A., written once again by the indomitable duo of James Patterson and Mark Sullivan.

The first thing you will probably notice about this novel is that it moves at a breakneck speed, with there being two stories to develop and relatively few pages to do so. Events unfold one after the next with little time for respite, leaving you to get mindlessly caught up in some solid entertainment.

Yes, this approach does limit the amount of character development and thoughtful philosophies, but let’s face it, I don’t think anybody expected that from this series anyways.

To be frank, I was somewhat disappointed by the ultimate conclusion to this whole affair, mostly because it felt tacked on, as if the author wanted to make something happen but ended up developing things in a direction which didn’t allow for that.

And so instead of changing the story they decided to modify the ending, which would be rather reasonable if this is indeed what happened. That doesn’t make the book bad by any stretch of the imagination, especially considering it has memorable characters, a solid story, and is written in a simple and enjoyable manner.

All in all, Private L.A. may not exactly be the pinnacle of the authors’ potentials, but it remains nevertheless an enthralling mystery, one that doesn’t even require any context to be enjoyed.

If you are looking for a good mystery to lose yourself in for a brief period of time, I definitely recommend you have a look at this book.

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James B. Patterson Personal site James Patterson is an American writer who has dedicated a large part of his literary career to writing murder-related thrillers, inventing in the process two memorable character-based series in Alex Cross and Michael Bennett. His most prominent works include Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider.

Mark T. Sullivan Personal site Mark T. Sullivan is an author of American nationality who is known for writing thrillers and mysteries, both on his own and while partnering up with the acclaimed James Patterson. He has a BA in English from Hamilton College, and he even volunteered for the Peace Crops, teaching English to children in the Sahara Desert. Some of his best-known works include The Fall Line, Labyrinth and Oultaw.