Kelly's Review: WHEN THE WIND BLOWS

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS
(Book 1 in the When the Wind Blows Series and Book .5 in the Angel Experiment Series)
By James Patterson

Published by: Grand Central Publishing
First Printing: April 1, 2000
ISBN-10: 0446676438
ISBN-13: 978-0446676434

Amazon; Barnes and Noble; Goodreads

Concept: “…Set against a sinister backdrop of genetic engineering and illegal scientific experimentation, When the Wind Blows dares readers to test their notions of human evolution and medical science. Frannie O'Neill is a caring young veterinarian living in the Colorado Rockies, trying to erase the memory of her beloved husband's mysterious murder. It is not long before another neighbor suddenly dies, and FBI agent Kit Harrison arrives at Frannie's doorstep. Kit is hell-bent on solving the heinous case despite resounding protests from the FBI and the thrashing of his own internal demons.

Kit secretly pursues the investigation, yet witnesses keep turning up dead. Then Frannie stumbles upon an astonishing discovery in the nearby woods, and their lives are altered in ways they could never have imagined. Simply knowing the secret of Max — the terrified 11-year-old girl with an amazing gift — could mean death.

As more and more diabolical details are unearthed, the murderer's bloody trail ultimately leads the trio to an underground lab network, known as "the School." Here scientists conduct shockingly incomprehensible experiments involving children and genetic alteration.

But perhaps not so unfathomable: Doctors and medical researchers who have read Where the Wind Blows say the events described in this book could actually be a reality in the next 20 to 30 years. If not before.” [From Goodreads.]

Review: As I always do when I read any book, I go through and read some reviews so I know what I’m up against. In this book’s case, the very first review I read on this book said that it was “amateurish” writing and that the characters were one dimensional. In fact, there were quite a few negative reviews on this book. I came upon this book and ended up picking it up on the recommendation of my sister in law. This book is the .5 book in the “Angel Experiment” series so I got it, along with the first book in the series from my library, so I could read both. I wasn’t sure how well I would like the books after what I read from reviews but I thought I’d give ‘er a go. I am SO glad I did.

I found this book to be a true page turner from the get go. Something about Patterson’s writing style always draws me in even though I’m not a real fan of his books. Its weird because I like everything I’ve read that he’s written, but his usual murder mystery genre doesn’t work for me. THIS story though really struck me as fascinating and the fact that it *could* be true, really fascinates me more. One dimensional characters? I really found the opposite to be true. I found the dimension that was given was just perfect and worked well with the story. It was exciting and a little romance was thrown in (which for me is always a plus) and I am really anxious to start the next book in the series. Quite a few readers must feel as I do because the series is a popular one. The next book in the series seems to be a follow up to this book but then the Angel Experiment series branches out? I’m confused and I’ll have to figure that out. All in all though, I say poo to the other reviewers, This was a darned good book! As much as it pains me to say this, my sister in law was right!

What I disliked: Each chapter in the book represented the view of a particular character. One of the characters switched to first person and that switch between third person and first person back and forth annoyed me. I don’t mind either view, I just don’t like it switching back and forth.

What I liked: This is going to sound sort of goofy, but as I am writing this I’m thinking back on the ugliness of scientific research that is set in the contrasting beauty of the Colorado mountains. I don’t know if that was meant for the location of this story, but it hit me. When it did, I realized that the book affected me and I liked that. I am very anxious to start the next book in the series, whatever book that is.

My rating: 4.5 feathers


Kelly
for Book Lover's Hideaway





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