I really enjoyed this book! I never knew what was going to happen next, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat. I love the short chapters, and I felt like I flew through this book. This was the first book I've read in the Private series, but I don't feel like I missed anything major by not having read the other books. There were snippets of things mentioned that happened in the past, but I still think it can be read as a standalone. But, those glimpses into the past made me want to pick up the rest of the series very soon!

Whenever I have an in between moment where I am not sure what book to pick up that will grab me instantly, I have a few go-to authors and series that always seem to deliver exactly what I need to escape into a book.

The Private Novels always deliver! In Missing Persons by James Patterson and Adam Hamdy, Jack Morgan is back again, taking on a terrifying new challenge.

About the Book | Missing Persons

In Afghanistan, US Special Forces pilot Joshua Floyd is the only survivor in a brutal and unexpected attack. He flees on foot, trying to find safety and unsure who the enemy was who killed his whole team.

Across the globe in New York, Beth Singer is signaled to pull over by police in what appears to be a routine traffic screening. But soon it becomes clear that these are not policemen and nothing about this is routine. Fleeing with her two children, Danny and Maria, Beth goes to the secret cabin she purchased years ago for a scenario like this…

When Jack Morgan is approached by a wealthy businessman named Donald Singer to assist with locating his missing daughter and grandchildren, he initially declines to personally take the case. Private is a global organization led by Jack, and he has a talented team located in NYC who can surely take on the case.

But soon after speaking to Singer, Jack can’t help but feel pulled to tackle the case himself. After doing his background research and checking with his girlfriend Justine, Jack agrees to take the case. Jack flies to NYC to begin the hunt for the missing family, but when he finds them he is caught by a twist he didn’t anticipate—there is something much bigger going on with the missing mother and children.

Jack soon finds himself embroiled in a survival mission that takes him across the globe as he seeks to protect the Singer family, escape high-level foreign operatives trying to capture them, and find out what is really going on.

Review | Missing Persons

This is a high octane thriller that kept me gripped from start to finish. James Patterson is the master of the short, tight chapters that keep the reader hooked, racing through the book without realizing it.

The structure moves around in terms of which story the reader is following in any given chapter. It opens with the US Special Forces pilot Joshua Floyd and the unexpected massacre that leaves him the sole survivor. With US intelligence being told her is dead, Joshua is on his own to try to survive. But it soon becomes clear there are still foreign operatives trailing him. What could they want with a green beret pilot? Joshua has a high level of clearance given the nature of the work he does, but he isn’t necessarily a valuable asset that would inspire this much effort to capture him. Fleeing across a frozen countryside, Joshua efforts to find safety won’t come easily.

The story also follows Beth Singer, who we quickly learn isn’t the typical suburban mother she appears to be. Beth not only detects the fake police officers and flees with her children, but she soon discovers they have tracked her to their secret cabin and shoots down a drone, taking her children on the run again before more follow. As Beth and her two kids race to find safety, she knows that this must have something to do with the kids’ father and her secret husband. The only questions is, what?

The third storyline follows the people from Private as they take on the case to locate Beth and the children. While most of this is narrated from Jack’s perspective, we also see chapters from Justine (who does not want Jack to take this case), Jesse, and a few others who work for Private as they try to understand the bigger picture of this case.

Because what becomes apparent quicky is that this is no ordinary missing persons case… Not only are Beth and the children being tracked, the people tracking them are highly sophisticated and clearly working for a foreign government. The mission soon changes and is no longer just about locating them (Jack is able to track them down fairly quickly), it turns to protecting them at all costs.

If you’ve read any of the Private novels before, you’ll know that Jack Morgan is not someone who takes kindly to being lied to, manipulated, or misled. Jack soon becomes invested in the case, personally and professionally. It’s no longer about the money, Jack is focused on uncovering who is behind the mission to take Beth and her children. And even more importantly, why?

Heart-pounding, gripping, and tense—this thriller will have you on the edge of your seat until the final page!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Well now I have to go back and read all 15 of these books—loved it and loved the PI main character. This was very fast paced and would make a fabulous TV series!

When Jack Morgan, the head of Private - an elite detective agency - is contacted by a father desperate to find his daughter and grandchildren, he promises the man that he will do anything to find them. But it's not an easy task--she's being hunted by highly trained assassins. And when the trail also leads to her husband, a special forces pilot shot down in Afghanistan, Jack discovers that this job isn't about a simple woman and her kids--the conspiracy goes straight to the Pentagon.

Like a lot of James Patterson's books, Missing Persons reads like a high stakes Hollywood blockbuster: plenty of explosions and bad guys who wouldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a rocket while the heroes pick them off with perfect shots. The action is barely believable, but it's a heck of a fun ride.

And like his books, this is a fast read that you can get through in a couple days. I've read the Private series haphazardly and incompletely, so there is some backstory about Morgan's life and business that I wasn't aware of, but that didn't stop my understanding of this story. It's a solid read that I'd recommend.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for a review through NetGalley.