First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

The Lake House by James Patterson. Little, Brown and Company, 2003. Genre: Murder Mystery


The Lake House takes place in the present across the US including the cities of Denver, Colorado and Washington D.C. Max, a girl who was genetically altered with wings knows a secret about her past that she is afraid to tell to the ones closest to her. She experienced horrible things as a child in an underground hospital called the school. She escaped from the school with five other kids like her. They lived with a veterinarian and her boyfriend who is an FBI agent for one year at the lake house before being exposed and brought home to their biological parents. Knowing that the school does not want them alive max takes her once family and flees to the vet, Frannie O’Neal’s house. They then go to the agent, Thomas ‘Kit’ Brennan’s house after trying to be killed. All the while, on the way and for some time later, trying to be murdered by a certain Dr. Ethan Kane, director of the once school.

“James Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried…. There’s no stopping his imagination.” New York Times

James Patterson writes a book I can compare to the Harry Potter series where a person who has an ill brain that is not in touch with society tries to kill the main character. In this case it is Dr. Kane trying to kill Max and in the Harry Potter series it is Lord Voldemort trying to kill Harry Potter.

Since half the book follows Frannie O’Neal and the other half follows Dr. Kane there are different writing styles. When talking about Frannie the book is in first person. When talking about Dr. Kane the book is written in third person. James Patterson uses foreshadowing in his book constantly because the chapters switch from one point of view to another he hints at what the opposite person will be doing in the next chapter or what will happen upon returning to the current person. He also uses imagery while describing the scenery and does so with great detail. He gives you a wonderful picture of what is going on.

“A young and quite homely scrub nurse rounded the corner of the passageway and nodded her head deferentially as she approached him. She had a crush on Dr. Kane, and she wasn’t the only one.

“Doctor,” she said, “your still working.”

“Esther, you go home, now, please,” Ethan Kane said, pretending to be solicitous and caring, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. He considered the nurse inferior in every way, including the fact that she was female.”

James Patterson has a very captivating style of writing that drew me right in. This is the only book of his I have read but I will surely read more. The way he tells his story with very good and very bad experiences is amazing. He reminds us that everyone isn’t exactly nice in this world and that most people are at the same time. Something that is good for anyone every now and again.