Rating: 
Summary: A Good Summer Read
Review: In his latest book James Patterson teams up with Peter de Jonge to produce a swiftly paced and unforgettable novel.
We are brought into the playground of the rich and famous and amongst them the Neubauers; Barry and Campion. The Neubauers are renowned for their great flashy and expensive parties, which are thrown as often as possible during the year and this is where the young Peter Mullen has found a niche for himself as a valet; parking the visitors cars.
It then is with some surprise when his lawyer brother Jack arrives at the Hamptons to pay a visit to his favourite brother, that he is told by the authorities that Peter Mullen has recently committed suicide by drowning.
Jack is flabbergasted for his brother was a lover of life and they were extremely close.
Jack sees fit to start an investigation along with other family members living there. As the investigation starts stumbling blocks are put in the way making it oh so very obvious to Jack that there ais a cover-up going on, and he is being blocked from the truth of the matter. Obviously this spurs him on even more and by this time even the rich and famous have become part of facade influencing the less wealthy and the "never hads". Black mail, kidnapping, murder are all coming into play as Jack tries to fight against the privileged and powerful.
An excellent summer read, with a startling ending.
sugar-cane 02/08/04
Rating: 
Summary: Beach House Comic Book
Review: The best part of this story it its plot. That's being charitable since the fate of The Fixer is anticlimactic and nearly irrelevant to the story's conclusion. The last half of the story, while it has plenty of action, is right out of a Marvel comic book.
I must conclude that this book was written on contract and the last part was done in a hurry to make a deadline. Patterson is a better author than this.
All this said, the book isn't totally useless. It can serve as a bad literary example in nearly every aspect of modern storytelling.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping Story
Review: I had actually started reading this book but found that I couldn't seem to get into it. Then I mistakenly picked it up on CD at the library and I was hooked right away. At times, I'd catch myself driving around aimlessly just so I could hear more of the story. The story is fantastic! Peter Mullen is barely introduced before he's found dead outside the posh home of billionaire media tyrant Barry Neubauer during a celebrity-packed Memorial Day blowout. Peter's brother Jack doesn't believe that Peter killed himself, and he enlists the help of his friends to find out what really happened. Standing between Peter and the truth is a crooked police department, Jack's girlfriend (who also happens to be Neubauer's daughter) and a goon called The Fixer. If you can't get into the book... try the CD.
Rating: 
Summary: Unrealistically dramatic outcome
Review: A young man dies while working a party at a millionaires house in the Hamptons, and his brother knows it was murder, rather than the suicide the police rush to judge. But why? It takes a while for the reader to discover the motive behind the crime. Meanwhile, some Mafia hitman type thug is running around scarring the old gang of friends of the deceased. The last 100 pages of this books enters bizarre drama, which could never occur in real life. Nevertheless, it was entertaining to an extent.
Rating:
Summary: A good suspensful thriller!
Review: The Beach House, a summer thriller written by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge. This is an unstoppable story of love and vengeance among superrich and super ruthless. This is one of those books that are great to read at the beach. Jack Mullen, the main character in this thriller is the law student in New York City, and grandson of a County Clare emigrant. Jack's grandfather moved to the east coast of America to find a better life. The story begins with the drowning of Jack's younger brother, Peter in the ocean off of East Hampton. Not convinced that his brother died due to a drowning accident, because he pretty much grew up in the water. Jack sets out to prove his fears and face the fact that someone wanted his brother dead. This turns out to be the toughest job of his young life. With the police saying that this is a suicide not a murder. This throws Jack for even more of a twist. This story is wound very firmly with crime and corruption. The rich and the powerful in this novel will do anything to stop Jack from finding out the truth. In the process of discovering the murder, he discovers Peter's secret life and exposes some of the most powerful social groups in the Hamptons as the ruthless killers they are. This novel is filled with many short chapters to keep your curiosity stirring. For a great summer read and a book that you can't put down The Beach House is the book for you.
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