contemporary

"What are we but our stories?" asks Jennifer, a widow and newspaper columnist who is summoned to a Lake Geneva Wisconsin hospital where her beloved grandmother Sam lies in a coma. Jennifer spends the rest of the summer at Sam's home on the lake, reliving her memories of time she spent at the lake as a child and waiting for Sam to awaken from her coma. She discovers a bundle of letters that her grandmother wrote to her which uncover secrets about Sam's unhappy marriage and a mysterious lover simply called "Doc." She renews the acquaintance of an old friend, Brendan, and falls in love with him.

Similar in tone to Patterson's "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas," this short novel tells two entwined stories: that of Sam through her letters to Jennifer and that of Jennifer herself as she deals with her grandmother's illness and lets love back into her life. This is a tale of love, loss, and making the most of the precious time we have on earth. Both sentimental and suspenseful, this is a quick and enjoyable read.

Eileen Rieback

Sam's Letters to Jennifer is truly vintage James Patterson. This novel is an extremely fast (2 hour) read and grossly satisfying. I strongly recommend just creating a short block of time for this book and read it through as a short story. In typical Patterson form, the chapters are short, yet telling with plenty of surprises to keep you turning the pages.

The premise of the story surrounds heart-broken Jennifer and her grandmother Sam who starts the story in a coma. Jennifer rushes to see Sam (really her onlly family left) and stays in Lake Geneva at Sam's home visiting her every day at the hospital. Sam and Jennifer have always been very close and turns out Sam had left Jennifer a series of letters detailing her life and making relevent comparisons to much of the feelings Jennifer had recently experienced. This novel is about second chances, learning who you are, and who your loved ones have been. Expect another hit for Patterson.

James Patterson lost his touch in this book. The romance seemed too forced and the plot didn't flow as smoothly as you would expect it would from a Patterson novel. The fact the the reverend is shacking up with a married women is never discussed. Jennifer becomes romantically involved with a man she knew when she was too young to remember him and the apprehensions about becoming involved so recently after her first husband's death are only lightly discussed. The story seems too forced and Patterson should stick to mystery thrillers.