Rating: 
Summary: a waste of money!
Review: I love James Patterson's books but this was such a disappointment. There were huge holes in the narrative and I kept checking to make sure I hadn't skipped pages.
Rating:
Summary: So-So Sequel
Review: I enjoy Patterson and read all his books. WHEN THE WIND BLOWS was one of my favorite books but LAKE HOUSE can not compare.It is very similar to the first one but does not have the punch. It is predictable and non-believable in several places. Patterson took a great subject and did not appear to work at creating a great book. It seemed like he rushed it and did not take the time to put his true genius to work. Based on the ending, it appears obvious Patterson is planning another sequel to this. I hope he takes the time and effort to make it a great book and does not rush it to make money faster.
Rating: 
Summary: Boosts my faith in Amazon reviewers
Review: After finishing this book, which is probably the most poorly written novel I have ever read, I was incredulous. Could I get a witness!? Yes! Faithful Amazon reviewers feel exactly how I do! I feel vindicated. Mr. Patterson: what is up with this book? Did you let your 13-year-old niece ghost-write it for you? I can't express how junky this book is. Please folks, read something by Jeffery Deaver or Dennis LeHane instead!
Rating:
Summary: Too fast, too bad
Review: I have read the majority of James Patterson's books. I had been a huge fan. It appears with The Lake House that he is simply trying to churn books out too fast which has severely hurt his writing. This book had a transparent plot, if you want to call it a plot. I almost didn't finish the book, but I kept thinking it would get better. It's too bad. I really enjoyed the past Patterson's books and hope this is not a sign of future writings.
Rating:
Summary: James Patterson's The Lake House is for the birds?
Review: About three years ago, I wrote a review of James Patterson's When the Wind Blows. Honestly, I thought the book was horrible. The story was not captivating like his Alex Cross works and I considered his venture into fantasy unredeemable. Regardless, I bought The Lake House knowing it was the sequel to this dismal affair. Upon opening the cover, I read Patterson's preface which indicated that When the Wind Blows is his most popular book. He notes that those who did not like it probably just didn't understand fantasy blah blah blah. I assume he read my review and concoted this foreward of sorts in response. But I digress. . . . The Lake House is markedly better than When the Wind Blows but still not Patterson's best work by far. The story picks up with the custody trial of the six bird-kids - Icarus, Oz, Max, Peter, Wendy and Matthew. Frannie(the veterninarian and narrator) and Kit (the FBI agent/former beau) are asserting their rights to custody against the natural parents. Before we are twenty pages into the book, the trial goes south and so do the birds - with their natural parents. Meanwhile we also learn of a strange institution obliquely called "The Hospital" where Dr. Ethan Kane is running some mysterious experiments on humans. We also learn that he is after the bird kids. Part Two (Flying Lessons)describes the birdies efforts to fit in with normal kids. We learn that either Max is clearly much older than her 12 human years in bird years. It is not clear how old she is but she has obviously "matured." Strangely, she somehow has knowledge of The Hospital which only becomes clear later. Eventually, in Part Three (House Calls), Dr. Kane's men make their efforts to get the bird kids. I won't reveal what happens but let's just say it is not exactly clear what happens. We continue to learn more vague details about the experiments but it is never clear exactly how the experiments (called The Resurrection) work. Even in the end of the book, you are not sure whether the experiment involves cloning, organ replacement or what. It should be more clear - I mean the President of the U.S. is a participant! It is very disappointing. Patterson's efforts to create a potential for yet another sequel (and obviously more money if this is his most popular storyline) are so transparent and take away from what could have been an excellent story. When the dust settles, not suprisingly, one bird is down and so is a clone or two. There is not enough detail to really make the reader care. In summary, I feel like Patterson is just churning em out as quick as he can to ensure that he has two or three books a year. This was better than When the Wind Blows and for that reason and that reason alone, I give it two stars. In my opinion, its time for Alex Cross to die, the Murder Club to disband and the bird kids to fly south. I really enjoyed The Jester and would like to see some new directions from the author who wrote the original and classic Along Came a Spider. I hope we see more quality works in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book! I'd give it NO STARS if I could.
Review: Are we sure that this book was written by James Patterson? It is one of the worst books I've ever read, and I read LOTS of books. The short, choppy sentences have no depth. Italics don't make it, James. You need to write the emotions into the story, not paste them on with exclamation points and italics. How did this book get by the editors? What were they thinking?
Rating:
Summary: Preposterous Premise
Review: This book was a total disappointment. It lacked any quality of believability, and was based on a concept that was totally obsurd. I stayed with it through the bitter end, hoping that it would contain a twist that would bring things back to some level of logic (like maybe it was all someone's dream), but it did not. I speed read the last half of the book just to be done with it. James Patterson must have been in a dream world to think that the concept would be of interest to his readers. I'm embarassed that I spent my money on this piece of garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Who wrote this book?
Review: The premise is exceptional. The characters are wonderful, notwithstanding their simplistic treatment. This could have been one of the best reads this summer. I wanted to love this book. What went wrong? Did James Patterson really write this book? I have my doubts
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: This was by far the worst book James Patterson has written. I usually love his books but was completely disappointed by "The Lake". Felt the storyplot and written language in book was very juvenile. I didn't like the "Jester" either.
Personally, I wish that Patterson would stick to his Alex Cross stories as they are by far the best.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I've been an avid Patterson reader for many years but have watched with sadness as the quality of his work has declined. The Lake House is the worst so far. One reason: the writing is plain awful. Exclamation points are supposed to convince readers that something is exciting or important. The pages are filled by making two word (or less) paragraphs. Take these excerpts: "Chapter 36
Max was up very late that night, getting absolutely nothing accomplished, futzing about in her room. Anxious.
Uncomfortable.
Angry without reason.
Couldn't sit still.
Could not.
Sit.
Still." "Chapter 41
They were elated to be together again - the flock!
The tribe!
The family!" In The Lake House, Patterson has substituted pop culture for authorship, leveraging the public's appreciation for movies, games, and other books to do the writing for him, rather than using his own words to describe scenes. He drops names like Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, the Panic Room movie, Mulder and Scully from The X-Files, medical thriller author Robin Cook, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Playstation2, Moby, Einstein Bagels, Tony Hawk, M&Ms, and more. He even works the Harry Potter phenomenon in by calling the readers Muggles. On the one hand, I marvel at Patterson's ability to publish what seems to be about 4 books per year. But after reading these works, I realize why: formula plot, no substance. I feel like the butt of an author's joke. Perhaps he's churning out his recent books as a form of ego experiment: seeing how fast he can write a book and still, on the basis of his name alone, make the bestseller list. I hope with the response to this book it will be clear that the experiment is backfiring.
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