Review: Princess: A Private Novel

Princess: A Private Novel by James Patterson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars. Six years after the London games, Jack Morgan is back in England, having been summoned by Princess Caroline to help find her missing friend, Sophie Edwards. Meanwhile, another client of Private's refuses to believe her father committed suicide and asks Private to investigate his death.

This part of the book was good as secrets about all those involved in the two investigations were revealed - and ultimately, intertwined, even if it was a bit predictable and wrapped up about halfway through the book. And then the story shifted gears.

**Spoiler alert** Following the death of employee/former lover Jane Cook at the hands of someone who was introduced in "Royals" (Book Shot, book 12.5 in the series) who I don't remember, Jack's sole focus in life becomes a rage filled quest to "seek justice" for her death, causing Jack to act completely out of character (which was at least acknowledged at one point).

Perhaps if Jack didn't fall in love so dang easily, his life would be a lot less painful. And the female characters in this series would have much longer life expectancies. I find it hard to believe Jane was the love of his life, however, given how easily he believed that in the time since he'd last seen her, she'd started dating someone else. But once she died, it was BAM! Love of his life who he must avenge at all costs. Um, okay.

So that made up the last half of the book: Jack and London PI agency owner Michael "Flex" Gibbon going head to head, leaving a bunch of dead bodies in their wake as they tried to seek out and kill each other: Jack wanting to kill Flex for Jane; Flex wanting to kill Jack for ruining his reputation and therefore his business. It was fast paced and at times exciting, I will give the authors that, but it really seemed out of place unless Patterson has plans to turn Jack into a much grittier character in future books.

View all my reviews