The Lake House

By: James Patterson

Narrated by: Hope Davis, Stephen Lang

Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Six extraordinary children are trying to lead normal lives in the Rocky Mountain countryside. They live in different homes, with different families, but there is something powerful that connects them. Something that puts them in terrible danger.

The only time they've ever felt safe was when they were together in the waterfront cabin they call the Lake House. And the only people they've ever trusted are Frannie and Kit, the couple who rescued them from unimaginable evil once before.

When that evil resurfaces, the kids reconnect with Frannie and Kit and set off on an astonishing adventure. They flee to the Lake House, but even that haven may no longer be safe.

Dr. Ethan Kane is chief of surgery at Liberty Hospital, one of the most esteemed hospitals in the nation. It is here that terrible secrets lie, secrets that will change the world for all of us.

©2003 James Patterson (P)2003 Time Warner AudioBooks. A division of the AOL Time Warner Book Group.

Critic reviews

"Patterson gets his readers in his grip from page one and doesn't let go until the last page is turned." (Booklist)

Awful, awful, awful

I wish I had read the reviews before using one of my credits for this absolutely awful book. But, I had liked James Patterson's books before and trusted this would be as good. What a shock. It was stupid, inane and boring. The woman doing the reading was equally bad with a sugary voice that gagged me and emphasis in the characters' speech silly and implausible. Wish I could have given the book a negative 10. I couldn't finish it. It hurt to listen to it.

The Lake House is trash

A ten year old could have done better. I agree with the reader who said it was embarassing. Where was the editor when this book was published. The dialogue was childish, repetitious and vapid. The plot was nonsense. I shudder to think of the trees that we lost on this junk. Patterson should refund my money.

Worst James Patterson

As a fan of James Patterson, I was very disappointed from this book which was downright unbelievable and the characters were unconvincing. With a bit of effort he could have turned this into a children's book.

Surprisingly Bad (some spoilers)

I was unfamiliar with James Patterson, but as a sci-fi reader I had been recommended by a friend to read When the Wind Blows and this title. My little bit of research showed Patterson to be a very successful writer, so I gave this short series a shot. I won't say exactly that I regret reading the series (this review basically covers both books), but I do have to say I'm surprised how badly written it is. Much of the prose, especially in When the Wind Blows, reads like a rather sophomoric romance novel. Adding to that are maddeningly predictable plot turns (e.g., Oz has to die after making love to Max because, I don't know, horror movie tropes? ...the same tropes that make Kit and Frannie walk into the Hospital unassisted), as well as story lines that make zero sense, like the fact that the world is fascinated by the bird children but apathetic about the machinations that produced them and then try to kill them. And then there are inexplicable dead ends, like the robots and clones in The Lake House. Some reviewers have intimated that James Patterson is a better writer than these novels suggest, but I'd have to think long and hard before reading another of his works. And then there's the matter of my friend whose taste in sci-fi I now seriously question...