When the Wind Blows

When the Wind Blows
by James Patterson

When the Wind Blows
List Price: $31.98
Our Price: $8.94
You Save: $23.04 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: James Patterson
Reader: Blair Brown
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Published: 2003-06-01
ISBN: 1586215213
Number of pages: 6
Publisher: Hachette Audio

Book Reviews of When the Wind Blows

Book Review: depending on..
Summary: 4 Stars

Your motivations for buying this book, will dictate the content of your review when you'll be at it. If you are searching for a deeply emotional or spiritual satisfaction / i.e. literature experience, this book may not be top-of-the line choice.

However - if your wish be to just 'pass out' on a week-end and substitute your 'never-ending TV story' with a nice alternative - this book may be just do the job.

Summary of When the Wind Blows

Taking a break from his phenomenally successful Alex Cross series, James Patterson's When the Wind Blows is as much child's fantasy as it is an adult nightmare. The novel moves away from the gritty Washington, D.C., setting of the Cross books and follows the daily life of Frannie O'Neill, a Colorado veterinarian. After the mysterious death of her husband several years before, Frannie retreated to an isolated life in her Colorado practice. But a series of bizarre events suddenly disrupts her lonely routine. On a personal level, she is shaken by her new tenant--Kit Harrison. Kit's too handsome and too friendly and he's a hunter (or so Frannie thinks). He's also recovering from a devastating personal tragedy, and, as Frannie eventually learns, he's really an FBI agent using his vacation to follow a crucial lead. But Kit isn't the one that's got Frannie concerned. As she says after stopping her Suburban one night to check out something on the side of the road: "What I saw was way beyond my abilities to imagine, beyond my comprehension, my system of belief, and maybe beyond my ability to communicate right now. The little girl's arms were folded back in a peculiar way, but when she lifted them--feathers fanned out." The girl is Max, and the mystery of her wings leads Frannie and Kit into a massive conspiracy involving secret genetic research and the scientific manipulation of the human species.Patterson, a former advertising executive who coined such catchy phrases as "Nupe it!," knows how to entertain. His chapters are always short (some only two pages), and his writing is clear and unobtrusive; the reading experience is brisk--akin to watching a summer blockbuster. The book is not as dark or as weighty as the tales of detective-psychologist Alex Cross, but while some fans may be disappointed by Patterson's migration from pure suspense fiction, his first-person narrator Frannie, has a quirky realism that keeps this flight of fancy mostly on stable ground. --Patrick O'Kelley
Taking a break from his phenomenally successful Alex Cross series, James Patterson's When the Wind Blows is as much child's fantasy as it is an adult nightmare. The novel moves away from the gritty Washington, D.C., setting of the Cross books and follows the daily life of Frannie O'Neill, a Colorado veterinarian. After the mysterious death of her husband several years before, Frannie retreated to an isolated life in her Colorado practice. But a series of bizarre events suddenly disrupts her lonely routine. On a personal level, she is shaken by her new tenant--Kit Harrison. Kit's too handsome and too friendly and he's a hunter (or so Frannie thinks). He's also recovering from a devastating personal tragedy, and, as Frannie eventually learns, he's really an FBI agent using his vacation to follow a crucial lead. But Kit isn't the one that's got Frannie concerned. As she says after stopping her Suburban one night to check out something on the side of the road: "What I saw was way beyond my abilities to imagine, beyond my comprehension, my system of belief, and maybe beyond my ability to communicate right now. The little girl's arms were folded back in a peculiar way, but when she lifted them--feathers fanned out." The girl is Max, and the mystery of her wings leads Frannie and Kit into a massive conspiracy involving secret genetic research and the scientific manipulation of the human species.

Patterson, a former advertising executive who coined such catchy phrases as "Nupe it!," knows how to entertain. His chapters are always short (some only two pages), and his writing is clear and unobtrusive; the reading experience is brisk--akin to watching a summer blockbuster. The book is not as dark or as weighty as the tales of detective-psychologist Alex Cross, but while some fans may be disappointed by Patterson's migration from pure suspense fiction, his first-person narrator Frannie, has a quirky realism that keeps this flight of fancy mostly on stable ground. --Patrick O'Kelley


When the Wind Blows has one of those outrageous premises that you either buy into (a girl with wings?), or you don't. Fortunately, Blair Brown's narration helps you suspend disbelief. Brown, the multi-Emmy-nominated star of the classic TV series The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, reads the story with more authority than the plot seems to merit. But as urgent and forceful as she is with the central narration, she's even better when reading the first-person passages in the voice of Frannie O'Neill, the widowed veterinarian at the center of this James Patterson thriller. That's when she gives the story real heart, a desperately needed humanity in the midst of all the cloning and genetic tinkering. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --Lou Schuler

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in General Books
Things Fall Apart: A Novel ImageThings Fall Apart: A Novel
by Chinua Achebe
Anchor; Published: 1994-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops: $10.95
To Kill a Mockingbird ImageTo Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1988-10-11; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $7.99
Fahrenheit 451 ImageFahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
Del Rey; Published: 1987-08-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.32
Price in other shops: $6.99
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) ImageA Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
by Kate L. Turabian
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2007-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.92
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity ImageThe Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity
by William Paul Young
Oasis Audio; Published: 2008-07-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $17.80
Price in other shops: $27.99
The Catcher in the Rye ImageThe Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
Back Bay Books; Published: 2001-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops: $13.99
Atlas Shrugged ImageAtlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand
Plume; Published: 1999-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.44
Price in other shops: $23.00
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays ImageConsider the Lobster: And Other Essays
by David Foster Wallace
Back Bay Books; Published: 2007-07-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.45
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Secret Life of Bees ImageThe Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops: $14.00
Watchmen ImageWatchmen
by Alan Moore
DC Comics; Published: 1995-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.29
Price in other shops: $19.99
Similar Books and other products
Violets Are Blue ImageViolets Are Blue
by James Patterson
Published: 2001-11-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $27.45
See How They Run ImageSee How They Run
by James Patterson
Vision; Published: 1997-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $7.99
The Midnight Club ImageThe Midnight Club
by James Patterson
Vision; Published: 1999-06-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.32
Price in other shops: $7.99
Pop Goes the Weasel ImagePop Goes the Weasel
by James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2000-10; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops: $7.99
Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3) ImageSaving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3)
by James Patterson
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2007-05-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.93
Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross) ImageCat & Mouse (Alex Cross)
by James Patterson
Vision; Published: 1998-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops: $7.99
Cradle and All ImageCradle and All
by James Patterson
Published: 2000-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.44
Price in other shops: $25.95
Maximum Ride : The Angel Experiment (Teen's Top 10 (Awards)) ImageMaximum Ride : The Angel Experiment (Teen's Top 10 (Awards))
by James Patterson
Published: 2005-04-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $16.99
School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2) ImageSchool's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2)
by James Patterson
Little, Brown Young Readers; Published: 2007-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.66
The Lake House ImageThe Lake House
by James Patterson
Published: 2003-06-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops: $27.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories