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: 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. :-)
Rating:
Summary: Too Much Cooing Bears Heavily on the Wings of this Tale
Review: Does Patterson's sequel to "When the Wind Blows" FLY, like his fantastically bio-engineered characters with wings?
Well. . . the innovative liftoff of the first installment of the bird childrens' story unfortunately can no longer soars as high in this tale which begins with veternarian Frannie O-Neill and FBI-agent Kit Brennan attempting to get custody in a media- saturated trial that rivals the likes of the current Michael Jackson fiasco. Burdened with a repetitive storyline and way too many atta-birds, "The Lake House" -- a reference to the idyllic dream dovehouse of the bird children -- fails to refeather the nest so wonderfully conceived by Patterson's first foray.
As with in first story, Patterson enjoys writing about his wunderkind; soaring descriptions of flight and formation of the "flock" literally fly off the pages. But some of his praise quickly gets stale; yes,thank you very much, the reader becomes aware right from the start that the kids' IQs are "all off the charts". Patterson's penchant for attempting to narrate from a child's perspective with a child's limited vocabulary also lays an egg; his transition into the more mature voice of vet-lady Frannie remains at the same immature level where the most over-used word of the book is some form of "creepy". Yet even this juvenile feel rings false when the children chirp songs from another era and relate to pop culture that is surely far older than even the eleven year old elder of the flock.
If you can get through these flaws --- and how I wish I didn't have to expend such energy and well, charity on this offering---- Patterson does tell a fast-paced albeit repeat story with some predictable side issues which urge the reader to turn to the next page, or in my case. listen to the next cassette simply because the reader wants to satisfactorily confirm what he believes will coming next.
At an attempt at a higher plane, Patterson takes some jabs at today's fixation on the media and his feelings about science running amok, but these ideas although well juxtaposed with his fantasy, are almost lost in the too false and cooing rah-rah enthusiasm of the kids and their almost overly indulgent make-shift parents.
The audio edition of this book is well-produced complete with thematic music. A female and male actor perform the larger roles of Frannie and Dr. Ethan Kane. Bottom line: if you enjoyed the first book of the series, than by all means, give this one a shot; its okay as a mind-engager while you exercise, but if you are like me, you may find yourself grimacing in pain at the somewhat silly dialogue and hoping that if a third book is in the works, Patterson at least checks to make sure his voices ring with some sense of consistency befitting an imaginery species.
Rating:
Summary: Remember -- this is a FANTASY!
Review: The Lake House which is the sequel to When the Wind Blows is a lovingly written book showing James Patterson's affection for his creations in the first book. If you are reading this book as you read James Patterson's Alex Cross series or the Murder Club books, you will be very disappointed. If, however, you enjoy some science fiction/fantasy dealt with in straightforward fashion and a story showing the characters, their growth and love as well as some suspense and excitement, you will enjoy this book. I do not usually cry over a book but was definitely weepy at this end of this book. Read it for what it is and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Same plot as original
Review: I am a big James Patterson fan. The scope of his writing style is amazing. I also loved the original book, The Wind Blows, in this 2 book series. It is an extremely well written, believable, heartwarming fantasy.
That said, The Lake House is nothing more than a poor rehash of the original story. The plot is the same, only the villian names are changed. Two points in the book really bothered me. Max and Oz, the oldest of the flying children are only 12, yet they make love and Max has 2 children (hatching them from eggs). I don't care if Max has bird genes which supposedly make her older than her 12 years -- she was still only 12 years old! It can't be justified by one sentence that states her bird genes make her the same age as Frannie. The second point is that a chapter must be missing from the book. The plot goes from Max and the children fighting the bad guys with overwhelming odds. No way can they win -- then suddenly Frannie is being wakened from an induced dream state to find that all the bad guys are gone and the children have triumphed. What happened? Where did the bad guys go? No explaination, just everything is suddenly OK.
The sequal to The Wind Blows could have been a great book but the Lake House just doesn't measure up. Enjoy the Wind Blows, don't bother with the sequal it will only disappoint you.
Rating:
Summary: AWFUL!!! What Happened Here?
Review: I started reading this book and had to put it down right away. When I found out that a child had wings and was flying through the air, I thought, What? Patterson wrote this?
It was completely far-fetched and not even within the realm of possibility. Where was James Patterson? Did he write this in his sleep?
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