Sundays at Tiffany's

Warning: this is not for James Patterson fans addicted to Alex Cross. Think of his romantic novellas like Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and if you liked that, you'll be more inclined to like this one. However, even though I am perfectly willing to suspend reality and slip into fantasy mode when necessary, I do expect the fantasy to be logical and well thought out---in other words, a realistic fantasy, one that could be possible in a dream-come-true world. This one fails on that score.

The most endearing part of the novel is Jane as the poor little rich girl. Her divorced mother is too busy for her and constantly belittles Jane for her weight and just about everything else. Her absent father has little purpose other than showing up occasionally to disappoint her. No wonder young Jane slips into Fantasy Land and is only too happy to have Michael, her imaginary friend, become her best and only friend. This concept works well, especially for the hundreds of adults who might recall with fondness their own imaginary friend from childhood. It is only when the adult Jane reconnects with Michael that the novel becomes a bit creepy and all logic is lost. Apparently, the authors had a wonderful idea of telling the story of an imaginary friend, but didn't take the time to work out answers to the details of his life---details like why he doesn't age, how he explains his occupation to the real-world adults he associates with between assignments, his status as angel or not, etc. Michael's character, one that could have been truly wonderful, is just not that well thought out. Even Michael doesn't know the answers.

If one of my children had written this when they were eight or nine, I would have praised their creativity in coming up with such a plot. But a distinguished writer like James Patterson owes his adult audience a book with a more well-defined parameters. Even fantasies have to make sense on some level.

The cover blurb sounded promising, it's a James Patterson - or is it? Who is this Gabrielle Charbonett? - and so I was lured in. I admit, I stayed up til 2:00 a.m. "reading it" last night... although the truth is, I mostly skimmed the first sentence of every paragraph, all the while thinking "Really? This was published? It reads like a high school English writing class assignment." It's gimmicky, but the promise of the gimmick isn't fulfilled very well. Jane is likeable, and the two characters in the opening are charming, but the plot is ridiculous (and not the gimmicky part - the way it's written). The writing is downright cheesy at times. Thank god the chapters - the one thing that makes this believable as a work of James Patterson - are short. UGH. Don't read this unless you're looking for a primer on what a bad novel looks like. I'm going to have to be very careful with future JP novels... maybe I'll become a better library patron.

You can see by my rating I loved the book. What I don't get is the reception by readers at Amazon.com. This happened with the last book I read of his, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. I'm not a Patterson groupie. Here's why. I began watching movies that were from his books. I rarely mix books and movies. One reason is usually to do so would result in a huge disappointment. Besides, life is too short to waste doing that - at least for me.

It was when my kids became hooked on the Maximum Ride series that I picked up one of his book. The one I mentioned above. Loved it. Then went on to SAIL and again, loved that book. So naturally, I picked up this one.

It's a little out there, but the story remains believable. There wasn't a boring moment and the ending was a bit of a surprise. What more could I want from a book? I have more of his books on the to-read list and who knows? Given enough time, maybe I'll become a groupie. My kids love him and I loved the last three books, plus all the books of his made into movies. Looks like I am off to a good start.

It was when my kids became hooked on the Maximum Ride series that I picked up one of his book. The one I mentioned above. Loved it. Then went on to SAIL and again, loved that book. So naturally, I picked up this one.

It's a little out there, but the story remains believable. There wasn't a boring moment and the ending was a bit of a surprise. What more could I want from a book? I have more of his books on the to-read list and who knows? Given enough time, maybe I'll become a groupie. My kids love him and I loved the last three books, plus all the books of his made into movies. Looks like I am off to a good start.

After reading many of the other reviews, I wanted to include my '2 cents'. Yes it is different, but if you have read many of Patterson's books, you realize that happens. I enjoyed this one because it is simple and romantic. I love the Woman's Club mysteries, as well as the ones with Max. I have read some of the Alex Cross ones and Patterson just uses different styles depending on what type of story that it is. The ones that this closely can be compared to are: Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and Sam's Letters to Jennifer. Yes, the are different but that doesn't make them bad.

I read this book because it has James Patterson's name on it. However, it was really awful. The story was so juvenile that I kept thinking this book must belong in the young readers department. I see some reviewers thought it was a touching story. I thought it was trite and poorly written.