When the Wind Blows [Hardcover]

James Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1999

Frannie O'Neill is a young and talented veterinarian living in Colorado. Plagued by the mysterious murder of her husband, David, a local doctor, Frannie throws herself into her work. It is not long before another bizarre murder occurs and Kit Harrison, a troubled and unconventional FBI agent, arrives on her doorstep. Late one night, near the woods of her animal hospital, Frannie stumbles upon a strange, astonishing phenomenon that will change the course of her life forever....

Her name is Max.
With breathtaking energy, eleven-year-old Max leads Frannie and Kit to uncover one of the most diabolical and inhuman plots of modern science. When the Wind Blows is as unique a story as has ever been told, filled with suspense and passion.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Patterson (Cat and Mouse, Audio Reviews, LJ 10/1/98) brings together three interesting characters in this story of genetic testing, abuse of power, and murder. Frannie O'Neill is a veterinarian trying to escape the pain of the murder of her husband, a young doctor in a local Denver hospital. Kit Harrison is an FBI agent trying to escape family problems and a nonsupportive boss who is unwilling to let him continue to work on a series of cases, including the murder of Frannie's husband. Max, a young girl raised in a lab, has brains, pluck, and the ability to fly. These three people are brought together and eventually find friendship, love, and a way to stop the genetic experiments to create a new breed of children like Max. Diehard Patterson fans will enjoy this book; others may find the violence especially uncomfortable and may not like how the children are treated. However, the relationships among the characters are interesting, and readers will cheer Max and how she escapes and beats her captors. Blair Brown does an acceptable job with her performance. For public libraries with large mystery collections.ADanna Bell-Russel, Natl. Digital Lib., Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 423 pages
• Publisher: G K Hall & Co (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0783804237
• ISBN-13: 978-0783804231
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (676 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,912,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

From my publisher:

James Patterson...


* James Patterson holds the New York Times bestsellers list record with 63 New York Times bestselling titles.

* JP has sold more than 220 million books worldwide. And considering pass-along and libraries, it's safe to say many more people than that have read a Patterson!

* In 2010, JP was named by kids everywhere the Children's Book Councils' Children's Choice Book Awards "Author of the Year" in 2010. More than 15,000 kid and teen readers voted for JP in a category he shared with Suzanne Collins, Carl Hiaasen, Jeff Kinney, and Rick Riordan. His Witch and Wizard series saw the biggest launch of a series for young readers ever, surpassing sales of first installments of Twilight, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

* JP has grossed over 3 billion dollars in worldwide sales. This is larger than the worldwide theatrical gross of Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time.

* JP has had 43 New York Times hardcover #1 bestselling novels, also a publishing industry record.

* Last year, JP has sold more books than John Grisham, Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King combined (source: Nielsen BookScan).

* JP properties are gaining wide interest amongst film and TV producers. JP's award-winning series for young readers, Maximum Ride, is currently with Avi Arad (Spiderman, Iron Man) and Universal Pictures. Lloyd Levin (Green Zone, Watchmen) is attached to produce a feature film adaptation of JP's newest young readers series, Witch and Wizard, and James Patterson Entertainment is set to produce the next Alex Cross film, I, Alex Cross which will feature Idris Elba (The Wire, The Losers) as Alex Cross. And, a television adaptation of JP's 2007 love story Sundays At Tiffanys aired in December 2010 starring Alyssa Milano and Eric Winter.

* JP's books are licensed in 43 countries worldwide, and are in print and actively sold in 100 countries.

* According to a 2010 Bowker Sisters in Crime Survey, JP is the favorite mystery writer amongst readers under 50...AND over 50! Survey respondents comprised American men, women and teens who bought at least one mystery fiction title in 2009 and/or 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When The Wind Blows will sweep you off your feet..., January 10, 2007

By 

Kimberly A. Booser (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When the Wind Blows (Hardcover)

When The Wind Blows by James Patterson is a touching story about a group of children who are mistreated and misused for the benefit of another group of people. This group is using the children as test subjects by mutating cells of different animals and using host women to give birth to the children. These children are born mutated; some have wings, some have no faces, and some do not even survive. The ones that die, or are later "put to sleep" are stuffed away. One of the children in particular, Max, is a 12 year old girl with wings. She and her brother Matthew have taken the abuse from the horrible school for so many years, and are so fed up with it, that they decide to flee the school. This doesn't work to plan. On the other face of the story, a man named Tom Brennan, undercover for the FBI as Kit Harrison, is boarding an airplane to Colorado to investigate the recent news of several murders in and around the Bear Bluff, Colorado area that may possibly be linked. Behind the backs of his co-workers, Kit has been studying the talks of a corporation secretly trying to evolve humans by testing children, which is extremely illegal and distasteful in every way. Kit is told by his boss to go on vacation to Nantucket due to his diligent work ways, but he's actually off to investigate this case. Also there is Frannie O' Neal, a widow of Bear Bluff working as a veterinarian. Her husband, David, was killed a few years ago in a parking lot. The police never found a suspect or lead. She still wakes up sweating after having a dream of her trying to save her loved husband once again. These 3 characters will all meet in one way or another, which leads up to an epic ending full of laughter, surprise, suspense, and loads of entertainment. This book left me wanting more...in which I grabbed a copy of the sequel, The Lake House, to start reading. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed a James Patterson book, or to anyone who enjoys suspenseful, murder mystery, and adventure type books.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not deserving of all the hype, September 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Wind Blows (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed Mr. Patterson's series featuring Alex Cross, so I was quite excited when I found this book at the library. I've been hearing about it since December (including the television and radio ads). According to the hype, this book was something truly scary, an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Then I read the book. Instead of being scared, I alternated between amusement and disbelief. Patterson starts off with a good premise: what would happen if a bunch of rogue scientists starting experimenting with cross-species genetics, grafting animal parts onto human tissue. He creates interesting characters in Frannie, Kit and Max--then ruins everything with an unbelievable and unlikely plot. A genetic construct like Max is indeed possible, but then Patterson lets the ball drop, favoring action over substance. According to the author's note, over thirty scientists and medical professionals read and aided in the manuscript. What did these professionals do? Patterson's science is pretty accurate as far as it goes (he throws in buzz-words like "cross-species genetics" and includes such set decoration items as glass pipets and laser spectrographs) but there's very little science in this story. Patterson could have gotten the necessary information from a good biotechnology textbook without wasting the time of those 30 biomedical professionals. If you want a really good (and scary) story of what genetics could make possible, try Nancy Kress' "Beggars" series (especially "Beggars in Spain") or her excellent short story collection, "Beaker's Dozen". Mr. Patterson should stick to mystery and leave the science to real science fiction writers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, July 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Wind Blows (Mass Market Paperback)

James Patterson was an author recommended to me but I unfortunately bought his When the Wind Blows first. I liked the short chapters. The plot was completely predictable though, and the book probably should have ended halfway through. I was constantly trying to figure out who the "I" was that was speaking because it read like a man's point of view and not the heroine, Frannie. If it were not for the very slight touch of romance and the swear words, I would recommend this book to my 11 year old. Having read some of the other reviews, I will choose a different one of Patterson's books (certainly not The Lake House since it is a continuation of When the Wind Blows)and try to figure out how his books have become #1 bestsellers.