Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 unabridged audio
Review: See book summary above.I actually listened to the whole book on audio and it wasn't easy. I kept expecting something more.
It honestly sounded like a romance novel with just a little action. I read the first book of this series many, many books ago and didn't remember much of it...and this book certainly didn't refresh my memory much. If you like romance novels you'll somewhat enjoy this one (even though it's a ridiculous premise--Bird kids?. Yes I know it was all explained in the first novel, but still.) Hopefully Patterson will team up with a better author, such as he did with the novel "Jester", and I can start enjoying a Patterson book again.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Gem of a Sequel
Review: James Patterson won my undying loyalty and admiration about ten years ago. The book that did it was KISS THE GIRLS, and the reason was in a way personal, and in another way not --- personal because having that book to read got me through one of the most difficult weekends of my life; not so personal because I suspect the very qualities of Patterson's prose that engaged and, in a sense, protected me on that weekend, are the same qualities that have brought about his huge success. He writes short chapters, which means that it is never particularly hard to find a place to put the book down, if you must. Conversely, he writes with a driving narrative force so that you are eager to return to the book as often as you can; you avidly desire to stay with it, to keep turning the pages quickly. Still, most of his books are lengthy enough so that you can take a nice long while to read them; thus, when you're done, you feel as if you have had a substantive, rewarding experience. You don't go away from a Patterson novel feeling cheated or hungry --- unless it's hungry for the next one. Serious James Patterson fans will likely find it as fascinating as I did (immediately after my experience with KISS THE GIRLS) to read his earliest books, which are readily available in paperback. These books, written before Patterson created his thriller series character Alex Cross, show his style developing along with his ability to portray characters and unfold plot. ALONG CAME A SPIDER, if you read in sequence with those earlier titles (which may be easily found through Bookreporter's link to James Patterson's Bibliography), shows an almost exponential leap forward ... and Patterson's success has been non-stop ever since. THE LAKE HOUSE is a sequel to WHEN THE WIND BLOWS; if you haven't read the first one it would be a good idea to purchase it and read them together, since WHEN THE WIND BLOWS is available in paperback at little expense. Both books are markedly different in substance, but not in style, from Patterson's earlier works; these are thrillers, yes, but they are of a different flavor and scope. I would call these stories cautionary futuristic fables. It might be good to remember that fables have a point to make more than an elaborate tale to tell. In other words, in a fable, the plot is simple by design. THE LAKE HOUSE picks up shortly after WHEN THE WIND BLOWS ended. The main character, Max (her full "name" is Maximum), is a hybrid, a bird-girl. She is the oldest of six, all genetically engineered bird-human hybrids who, in the first book, escaped from The School where they had been kept in extremely cruel conditions. Next to Max in age are Ozymandias and Icarus, called respectively Oz and Ick (Ick is blind) --- these three are teenagers, precocious in their adolescence. Matthew is Max's younger brother. Peter and Wendy, the youngest, are twins aged four. Of course they all have wings and can fly, but they are so stunningly beautiful that only the most heartless or ignorant person would call them freaks. Unfortunately, American culture has never been lacking for heartlessness and ignorance, and of such tensions books are made. The tale begins with the suspense of a custody trial. Though genetically engineered by the scientists of The School, the children nevertheless have biological mothers, with whom they were sent to live shortly after WHEN THE WIND BLOWS drew to a close. But remember, these kids are half-bird, so together they are a flock; further, like little birds, they have imprinted not on their biological parents but on Frannie and Kit, who were the first humans to love and befriend them. Frannie is a veterinarian and Kit is an FBI agent. We learn in the early pages of THE LAKE HOUSE that the only place the kids have ever felt safe was during their time with Frannie and Kit at a cabin by a lake --- yes, the house of the book title --- before the unimaginative, short-sighted courts dispersed them to their various biological parents. Led by Max, the kids want to reunite with Frannie and Kit, who have petitioned the courts for custody of all six. Frannie, a compassionate doctor of animal medicine, understands the bird children as no one else does. The fact that she and Kit are not married seems, to her, only a minor obstacle in this day and age --- but fictionally speaking, there are interesting romantic possibilities here. The judge who hears the custody case doesn't understand the stresses that the kids are under in a "normal" family, their deep-seated need to be together, or the danger they are all in. Only Max really understands the danger ... and she's not telling. But she is planning, and when the bad guy goes on the move, Max gathers the others and they fly away together. The chase is on. The bad guy is Dr. Ethan Kane, who survived the supposed destruction of The School at the end of WHEN THE WIND BLOWS. Now he has a project underway at The Hospital, a place so diabolical it makes The School look tame. Kane is a classic bad guy in Pattersonian mode, a truly chilling, teeth-grinding tension-producer. His project, Resurrection, is both evil and ingenious. The reason Max doesn't tell, until it's almost too late, is that she knows the likelihood of Resurrection is that none of the bird-children will make it out alive. "Resurrection" is thus the cruelest of ironies. The plot is mostly all chase --- please recall what was said earlier about fables being simple by design. During the chase there are pauses, and bits of beauty and tenderness, that frequent thriller readers will recognize as somewhat rare in the genre. In spite of potential grimness, the story is not a downer. The children's wings seem to be a symbol of hope so that I found myself wondering if Mr. Patterson knows the Emily Dickinson poem: "Hope is a thing with feathers/that sits inside the soul...." THE LAKE HOUSE is a little gem. Taken together with WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, which is already Patterson's bestselling book outside the United States, this is a tale for the child in all adults --- the child who delights in being scared by a story, all the more so when that same story also makes the child feel loved. --- Reviewed by Ava Dianne Day
Rating: 
Summary: A little disappointed.
Review: As an avid reader of James Patterson, I was a little disappointed with The Lake House. It started out fine but ended leaving the reader with questions. For example, why did he go into so much depth about the woman working the scoop? She never came into play again, so did we really need her? And the other clones? Did they die also? And how did Kit escape? Also it tended to be a little hokey at times with all "The Flock! The Family" together again stuff. Please don't get me wrong I will still wait for his next book to come out because he's still a very entertaining author, but I need to feel a book has been completed, and that the author really enjoyed writing his own story. Just don't rush it next time.
Rating:
Summary: Boring sequel
Review: Although this book is a very fast read, there is nothing new in this sequel to When the Wind Blows. Once again the kids are being stalked, and Frannie and Kit are trying to save them from the evil Dr. Kane. The ending is just plain silly. If you must read this, save your money and get this from the library or wait for the paperback. Bring back the Alex Cross books as these are Patterson at his best.
Rating: 
Summary: Lake House should be drowned
Review: Patterson's latest attempt at sci-fi mystery is again an example of how bad a book could be written. This book has no real plot and is typical of the downward spiral of this author's work...
Rating:
Summary: Not quite that bad but it is pretty weak.
Review: As others have mentioned, Patterson is more known for his Alex Cross novels and Woman's Murder Club. "When the Wind Blows" wasn't exactly a bad book. It was actually entertaining to say the least, and believe it or not, its one of Patterson's most successful novels around the world and THAT'S why he made a sequel. I guess the first thing I'd have to ask is that if you HATED "When the Wind Blows" I'd like to know why you wasted a few hours of your life reading this? No, I'm one of the few who liked "When the Wind Blows". But you if you abhored it I gaurantee you won't like this one so don't even pick it up and I'll explain why. Of course, the first problem with this book. As a sequel it has potential to be better than the first book, but its not. This book is too similar to "When the Wind Blows." The plot in this is the kids with wings now live with foster parents but want to live with Frannie O' Neil, their guardian in "When the Wind Blows." Well, a trial ensues and later the kids find a way to escape the foster parents and get back to the lake house to see their original guardian, while escaping an "evil" scientists. It should sound a little familiar. The problem with it being like "When the Wind Blows" is of course the fact that its so similar to the previous novel that this one is very predictable. This makes the read extremely boring. Mix that together with some unlikeable characters and you've got one of the less exciting reads in a while. So the Lake House had the potential to be better than "When the Wind Blows"... though I still didn't think that people who disliked the previous book would actually read this one. Should there be a third in this series it's best just to avoid it all together. If you're really into what James Patterson writes, check out "Along Came a Spider" or any other Alex Cross novel. Also check out "1st to Die" and the Woman's Murder Club books. They're pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: BEST PATTERSON IN YEARS
Review: This is Patterson's best book in years. Maybe because he deviates from his formulaic Alex Cross mystery novels. LAKE HOUSE is a sequel to an earlier sci-fi novel, WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, picking up where he left off with a group of genetically engineered children with wings. This book, primarily focuses on two characters, Max the oldest bird girl, and Frannie, the veterinarian who wants to care for her and the other bird children. It begins with the bird children being awarded to the custody of their biological parents. Soon, the evil doctor who created them, Dr. Ethan Kane, returns to collect his progeny. His plot to dominate the world with this scientific findings unfolds. There is nothing offensive in this book. A junior high schooler on up will enjoy this. Just be forewarned, this is not a typical Patterson novel, due to the sci-fi elements of the plot. A good, fast read.
Rating:
Summary: Revenge of the Clones
Review: I really did enjoy reading this book's predecessor. At first, this book did not seem so bad... and then I read page 2. Seriously though, most of the book was tolerable (a FAR cry from what Patterson is capable of)... But I have never been so disappointed in an ending. Can you tell that Patterson had a minimum amount of writing he needed to do? I really felt that about 9/10 of the way through the book Patterson realized that he had almost met his quota for the month, and decided to chop the ending and make it as pathetically brief as possible. I was so disappointed by the way this book ends, and the lack of depth Patterson showed in writing this. He spreads the book in so many directions, and all of them are lucky to get a paragraph in the end to give them any summation.
Rating:
Summary: Too many loose ends
Review: This book attempts to be a medical thriller but fails miserably. For me, most of the fun of a medical thriller is to have the medical science not only explained clearly in layman's terms, but plausible within the foreseeable future. A good part of the scare is in knowing it could actually happen and exactly how. Patterson indicates to us that transplantation of entire organ systems is only one part of Resurrection, but never gets around to explaining what else is involved. What medical procedure could conceivably make a 94-year-old man appear to be in his 40s? Exactly what does Kane want the children for? I reached the final page hoping to find out, but never did. From now on I'll stick with Patterson's Alex Cross novels and medical thrillers written by MDs.
Rating:
Summary: One star because he wrote it, one because I read it
Review: Very disappointing story. I kept waiting for it to get good, but that never happened. The ending thudded like the author remembered he had to be somewhere and so he decided to slap something together. The story--which was totally different from what I expected from Patterson--had so much going for it, with its delightful, science fiction premise. You'll definitely be seeing this one available as a used book for not much more than the cost of postage. :-)
| 
