Private Games

By: James Patterson, Mark Sullivan

Narrated by: Paul Panting

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

On your mark...

Private, the world's most renowned investigation firm, has been commissioned to provide security for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Its agents are the smartest, fastest, and most technologically advanced in the world, and 400 of them have been transferred to London to protect more than 10,000 competitors, who represent more than 200 countries.

Get set...

The opening ceremony is hours away when Private investigator and single father of twins, Peter Knight, is called to the scene of a ruthless murder: a high-ranking member of the games' organizing committee has been killed. It's clear to Peter that this wasn't a crime of passion, but one of precise calculation and execution.

Die!

Newspaper reporter Karen Pope receives a letter from a person who calls himself Cronus, claiming responsibility. He promises to restore the Olympics to their ancient glory and to destroy all those who have corrupted the games with lies, corruption, and greed. Immediately, Karen hires Private to examine the letter, and she and Peter uncover a criminal genius who won't stop until he's completely destroyed the modern games.

"America's #1 storyteller" (Forbes) delivers an exhilarating, action-packed thriller that brings the splendor and emotion of the Olympics to a wildly powerful climax.

©2012 James Patterson (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Great Book

What made the experience of listening to Private Games the most enjoyable?

Great Story good characters and the writing continues .

What did you like best about this story?

Keeped me wanting more.

Have you listened to any of Paul Panting’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never but will continue to listen to more of what he has

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

There is more to the games than just playing in them.....

Any additional comments?

great book and can't wait to see a movie with Private....

I wasn't sure

I usually don't read James Patterson, but I finished this series in a week. I loved it.

Made me think til the end!

I have loved reading the series. I can usually figure out who the "bad" person is before the ending but this one I couldn't, that made is an awesome book!

Meh! Good but not great.

I enjoyed the first two books in this series more as I found this to be a bit more predictable.

Narration by Paul Panting was fantastic and brought the characters to life.

Not Mr. Patterson's best work but a decent read (listen) for a slow Saturday housecleaning!

Good Setting for a Good Story

I am getting to like this Private Series now that I am 3 books into it. Lots of adventure and plot twists, some not too surprising but fun anyway. Gruesome to some extent. When you love the author's work and know his stories are gonna to get on grip on you, well, you can expect to be carried on the waves through to the end.

Great Listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Private Games to be better than the print version?

Didn't read the book

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, I finished it the day the Olympics started . Loved it

Have you listened to any of Paul Panting’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not, the only problem is the American accents were not as good as I would have like but that was just a minor thing

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

When I watched the Olympics I was a littler nervous. LOL

Another amazing story from Patterson

Patterson never never fails to deliver a great story! With incredible in depth detail of characters, their back story, factual events, and bringing it all together in such an exciting way.

The narrator did such a great job bringing each of the characters to life, each so different yet compelling, and complete.

I can't wait to begin the next in the series.

International Flavor

Exciting background for this story is the 2012 Olympic games in London. I wish that the date had been further in the future though. Such dreadful foreboding of terror, murder, unprotected athletes, and technology used for evil purposes is frightening. The evil characters have all had abusive and tragic childhoods. To exact revenge for the leader who believes that his Olympic glory was stolen in Spain, the 2012 summer olympics and its athletes are targeted.

Please do listen to a sample before purchasing this audible book. I almost did not finish the story because it took awhile to adjust to the British English accent of the narrator. If you do not like the British English, then I recommend that you read the printed version. I had to stop and re-start so that I could get in to the story. Once you get used to the narrator's accent, it does add a touch of international flare to the story. However, I really could not stand how he interpreted the children's voices...especially Lukey.

Where was the owner of Private? I don't think that he had more than five sentences in this entire story.

It is difficult to feel an emotional attachment to any of the characters. Perhaps it is because there is not enough depth provided. There are also many characters, such as the cab driver and news reporter, who act as bridges or are used to move the story line along. The stories or backgrounds of the characters are not worthy of empathy or sympathy. The personal challenges presented are so formula-like. The lesbian aspect was gratuitious and added nothing to the story. It was as though the authors thought by "throwing" in an aspect (murder of wealthy people, lesbian relationships, kidnapping, terrorism, child-abuse and rape, child neglect, mythology references, torture, etc.) that it would really grab the reader/listener.

For example, family relationships are odd, strained and flawed somewhat in this story. The evil characters are referred to as sisters and brother. It takes awhile to determine the true relationship. The main character's family is truly flawed. He prefers working rather than being with his twin son and daughter, although he loves them due to being part of their deceased mother. All we learned about the "hero's" children, twins, is that their mother died in child birth. The twins have run off several nannys due to their badness, but we do not know exactly what is bad, just that the children are bad and not potty trained at 3 years of age. It is also impossible to believe that two children misbehave to the point that no nanny service in London could find someone to watch them. Thus,one of the "bad guys" in the story is hired as a nanny due to the father's desparation to dump the kids on someone so that he could focus on his job!! What happens to the children is predictable. A nut does not fall far from the tree it is said. The father does not have a loving relationship with his own mother. As a result his mother does not have a close relationship with her grandchildren. The aunt(sister of the deceased mother) of the children "resents" them and has not seen or met the twins yet.

Unfortunately, while I tried to really like this story, it is another mediocre collaboration with the Patterson name attached. It would be interesting to what percentage of the story is contributed by Mr. Patterson or if he is just a mentor to aspiring authors. Entertaining,yes, but not very good.

Better than #1 Private

The story was deeper and more interesting, and a reader may draw on his/her cultural knowledge.

Great book. Paul Panting hilarious American accent

What made the experience of listening to Private Games the most enjoyable?

Plot

What was one of the most memorable moments of Private Games?

Ending

Which scene was your favorite?

Olympic moments

Any additional comments?

Paul needs to work on his American accent. We don't all sound like a drowsy John Wayne.