Private Screening

By Richard North Patterson

Book Overview

"Thrilling.... PRIVATE SCREENING succeeds on all counts. It's a footrace of a read, daring you to put it down." ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION The nation is stunned silent when presidential hopeful James Kilcannon is shot dead in front of his rock-star girlfriend Stacy Tarrant. Fiercely independent attorney Tony Lord dares to defend the shooter, but the already bizarre plot takes another twist. As America watches, a mysterious and ruthless figure, known only as Phoenix, takes to the airwaves-- and takes the wife of a wealthy newspaper mogul and Stacy's manager as his hostages. Phoenix mounts a televised trial of his own--in which Stacy Tarrant and Tony Lord are helpless defendents, millions of viewers are jurors, and--unless his chilling demands are met--Pheonix is the unstoppable executioner.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345311396
• Release Date: July 1986
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 441 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.2" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Good read!

This author never fails to get the story done in an interesting way! GREAT READ.

stick with it

When I first starting reading this book I honestly couldn't tell what was what. But I kept at it and it really paid off! I have never read Patterson before but I can tell you I plan to read a lot more of his work! Even though I figured out the ending pretty much as soon as the hostage was taken it was still fun for me to read.

TV OR NOT TV

This early novel by Patterson is far inferior to his later works, but I think it stands on its own in kind of a predatory or sadistic way. The whole concept of hostages being negotiated and aired as a t.v. special is all too frighteningly real, considering the nation's obsession with so-called reality television. But the premise is intriguing, and the story has some tense and riveting scenes. My main complaint is that within...

One of Patterson's first books, it's impossible to put down!

This was the third book I've read by Patterson, and each one twists and turns until the last page. Although he layers flashbacks throughout, there are times the reader may feel lost. In his subsequent books, Patterson more clearly weaves the multiple layers of his exquisite plots. He is definitely the thinking-reader's hero! The stories read fast and furious to their unexpected conclusions!

Captivating

I read Private Screening before Silent Witness. After reading the first couple of pages I was hooked. Interesting characters that you could associate and feel with. Always wanting to turn the page to see what would happen next and how all these different characters were to come together in the ending. I thought at first with the terrorism thing that we were going somewhere totally different than into a rock stars life, senator's...