Crazy House

by James Patterson, Gabrielle Charbonnet

Overview

This blockbuster from bestselling author James Patterson has spent 16 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list—now available in paperback!

There were no charges. There was no trial. There will be no escape.

Seventeen-year-old Becca Greenfield was snatched from her small hometown. She was thrown into a maximum-security prison and put on Death Row with other kids her age. Until her execution, Becca's told to fit in and shut her mouth... but Becca's never been very good at either. Her sister Cassie was always the good twin.

Becca's only hope is that her twin sister will find her. That perfect little priss Cassie will stop following the rules and start breaking them, before it's too late. Because her jailers made a mistake that could get them both killed:

They took the wrong twin.

Crazy House is a non-stop, summer thrillride by James Patterson, the #1 bestselling author of Maximum Ride, Witch and Wizard, and Confessions of a Murder Suspect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478921998
Publisher:	Jimmy Patterson
Publication date:	05/28/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.50(h) x 5.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Hometown:

Palm Beach, Florida

Date of Birth:

March 22, 1947

Place of Birth:

Newburgh, New York

Education:

B.A., Manhattan College, 1969; M.A., Vanderbilt University, 1971

Website:

http://www.jamespatterson.com

Editorial Reviews

03/13/2017
In this boilerplate dystopian thriller, set in the not-too-distant future, twin sisters discover that their peaceful existence in a strictly regimented farming community is a lie and struggle to survive against overwhelming odds. When 17-year-old wild child Becca Greenfield is kidnapped and imprisoned in a terrifying, violent institution, her sister Cass is desperate to find out what happened. While Becca fights for her life, Cass enlists the aid of Nathaniel, the handsome son of her town’s provost, who’s part of an underground rebellion. As the sisters unravel the deadly secrets of the so-called crazy house, they’re shocked by the part it plays in a larger conflict between world-controlling elites and the general population. While the premise is sound, Patterson and Charbonnet (the Witch & Wizard series) offer up a derivative story with predictable twists, fairly shallow characters, and revelations that won’t surprise anyone familiar with the dystopian genre. The worst offense: when Becca casually reveals that she’s pregnant after being raped by a teacher, has a miscarriage, and overcomes the traumas in record time. Ages 14–up. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for James Patterson's Crazy House:


A New York Times bestseller!
An IndieBound national bestseller!
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2017!

"Action-packed fight scenes, flickers of romance, and Patterson's signature speedy chapters should satisfy teens who like their suspense served with a side of political revolt."—Booklist

"The compelling plight of the sisters...in the prison setting is gripping stuff."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A welcome reveal sets the story in a promising direction for future volumes. This title will be in high demand among fans of suspense and thrillers."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Seventeen-year-old orphaned twins Cassie and Becca Greenfield live in the United, a rigidly controlled society of Sections further divided into thousands of township-like cells which produce food or manufacture goods for everyone. All citizens must stay united, faithfully performing their assigned tasks to make their cell the best. Cassie has always been one of the model citizens, succeeding in school while struggling to maintain the family’s farm. Her twin, however, is Cassie’s opposite, skipping school, hanging out with undesirable Outsiders, and breaking all the rules of citizenship. Becca is always disappearing, but this time it is serious. Seized by the authorities along with other undesirable teens, Becca is on death row in the brutal and nightmarish prison known as the Crazy House. Cassie, aided by Nathaniel, the cell leader’s son, and the Outsiders, must rescue her twin. The collaboration responsible for the Witch and Wizard series writes again about teens rebelling against a dystopian political system. In this novel, the authors sacrifice style and character development in an effort to capture the teen market with a plot that relies heavily on violence and crude language. Stereotypical characters, lackluster worldbuilding, and a cliché-laden style would normally make this a marginal purchase, but libraries will be obligated to acquire this title because of Patterson’s name. The surprise ending, that will shock only the most unsophisticated readers, suggests a sequel in the works. Reviewer: Jamie Hansen; Ages 15 to 18.

VOYA, April 2017 (Vol. 40, No. 1) - Jamie Hansen

04/01/2017
Gr 8 Up–This first installment in a new dystopian thriller series centers on twin sisters living on their own in a highly regulated farming community. Trying to make it through high school so that they can start their vocations and keep off the radar of the watchful and authoritarian ruling body The United, Cassie and Becca have never been outside their little town, known as a cell. When rebellious Becca goes missing, the narrative splits into two—Becca's harrowing tale of the mysterious and violent prison she is being held in, and Cassie's determined attempts to rescue her. Neither of the sisters' voices rings true, and the farming metaphors both of them use feel clunky and heavy-handed. The book features Patterson's trademark short chapters, violence, teens breaking in and out of prison, and rapidly shifting alliances, but the lengthy stretches of awkward plotting dilute the suspense. The action does get going in the last few chapters, and a welcome reveal sets the story in a promising direction for future volumes. VERDICT This title will be in high demand among fans of suspense/thrillers, and things will hopefully pick up steam as the series progresses.—Beth McIntyre, Madison Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2017-02-20
A teen girl goes looking for her missing twin sister.In the absence of their parents, Cassie and Becca, both white, are doing their best to tend to the family farm. One morning, Cassie wakes up to discover Becca is missing. Meanwhile, Becca wakens in a horrific children's prison, in which the detained are forced to fight to the death. As Cassie searches for her sister, Becca does her best to survive the torture her captors put her through. The novel is set in a future in which populations are organized geographically into isolated cells. The government controls all the information going in and out. More lurks beneath the surface, and the book sets up further installments, but few readers will feel the need to keep reading. The world is poorly built, the characters are dreadfully thin, and the plotting is drastically uneven. When Cassie and Becca are finally reunited, readers will have little reason to celebrate: their relationship is so thinly sketched they barely feel like sisters. The torture sequences in the teen prison are gratuitous and dreary. A last-minute twist is easily predicted, making the slow, tedious burn toward the reveal and the barely distinguishable characters all the more intolerable. Yet another bland, half-baked dystopian exercise. (Dystopian adventure. 14-17)

Kirkus Reviews