From the Publisher

Laced with mystery, Sam's Letters To Jennifer combines two unforgettable love stories in a novel that's absolutely impossible to put down.

Jennifer returns to the resort village where she grew up to help a beloved relative--and ends up experiencing not one but two of the most amazing love stories she's ever known.

The first is completely unexpected. In a series of letters that Jennifer finds, her relative reveals that she has concealed a huge secret for decades: Her great love is not the man she was married to for all those years. As Jennifer reads about this passionate partnership, she learns more about love's imperatives and secrets than she ever dreamed possible.

And then comes the biggest surprise of all. At a time when she thought she could never love again, Jennifer lets her guard down for a moment--and is suddenly caught up in the greatest flight of exhilaration she's ever known. But, just as suddenly, she learns that this new love comes with an unbearable cost. Jennifer doesn't think she can survive the pain--but the letters she's been reading make her think that love may help her find a way.

Publishers Weekly

Unlike Patterson's Alex Cross thrillers, this sentimental tale does not translate well to audio. The plot twists seem all the more absurd when read aloud, and the audiobook's maudlin music, inserted during the story's poignant moments, is as distracting and disturbing as a TV laugh track. Jennifer, a newspaper columnist who's grieving the death of her husband, has more reason to mourn when her beloved grandmother, Sam, falls into a coma. Jennifer rushes to Sam's home in Lake Geneva, Wis., where she finds a packet of letters addressed to her. The letters detail her grandmother's life story, including an affair she had with a mysterious man. Jennifer takes comfort in the letters, and at the same time, embarks on her own romance with Brendan, an old friend. Heche's thin, mousy voice is perfect for the perpetually worried Jennifer, but she rarely varies her intonation, not even for Brendan's dialogue. Alexander does a better job as Sam, conveying the elderly woman's concern for Jennifer, but her performance isn't sufficient to elevate this flawed audiobook. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, June 7). (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Jennifer, a workaholic journalist from Chicago, receives a call from Lake Geneva, WI, with news that her beloved grandmother Samantha is in a coma. Jennifer rushes to be with her, but finds that waiting is all she can do. In her room at her grandmother's house, Jennifer finds a stack of letters addressed to her that reveal the story of Sam's life, with some surprises. Down at the lakeshore, Jennifer falls in love with a childhood friend, now a doctor, who has secrets of his own. The inevitable crisis strikes, but with the help of her loved ones, Jennifer struggles through. Patterson's use of a series of letters to convey his story is not new, and his rationale is fairly flimsy. However, it helps to facilitate the development of the parallel love stories. Well read by Anne Heche and Jane Alexander; recommended for large listening collections.-Joanna M. Burkhardt, Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Patterson, a former ad man turned megaselling author (The Lake House, 2003, etc.), makes a calculated and obvious appeal to the widest possible reader demographic. Hugs and kisses, love everlasting, happy tears, and advice from the hereafter-well, at least it's not another trite book about a dead spouse who likes to talk. It's a grandmother whose swift and tidy demise begins this epistolary mushfest. But Sam's granddaughter Jennifer is a young widow who uses words like "awesome," "totally," and "very cool" a lot. Anyway, Jennifer is numb with shock when Sam breathes her last. What will she do? Where will she go? Why, to Sam's lakefront cottage, where she finds a cache of letters, conveniently bundled and sorted. Jennifer begins to read them. But she misses Sam so, so much, Jennifer just wants to cry and cry-and she does. Why, it was Sam who gently coaxed her out of her shell and removed her veil of sadness. But there was so much she didn't know about her beloved grandmother. Can it be true that Sam didn't love Grandpa Charles after 26 tedious years of marriage, child-rearing, and household drudgery? Sniff, sniff. Life is so sad. Funny and sad. There are so many letters. This one is about Doc, the man who taught Sam to laugh again and gave her a second chance at love when she was in her 40s and her spirit was drying up like a bug in a web in a corner of a dusty room. How sad and funny is that? Jennifer thinks it would be awesome if she could learn to love again too. Then she meets Brendan, who is so, so cute and nice. Brendan does a very cool thing: he performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Euphoria, her stricken cat. Wow! Will Euphoria live? Will Jennifer still want to kiss Brendan ifhe tastes like a hairball?Love, like, totally conquers all. Author tour. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh/William Morris

Product Details

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Sam's Letters to Jennifer

Little, Brown

Chapter One

"This is the spot where I met Danny, Sam. In May, six years ago," I say.

Sam is a good listener who holds eye contact beautifully and is almost always interested in what I have to say, even when I'm being a bore, like now. We've been best friends since I was two, maybe even before that. Just about everybody calls us "the cutest couple," which is a little too saccharine for both of our tastes. But it happens to be true.

"Sam, it was freezing that night Danny and I met, and I had a terrible cold. To make it worse, I had been locked out of our apartment by my old boyfriend Chris, that awful beast."

"That despicable brute, that creep," Sam contributes. "I never liked Chris. Can you tell?"

"So this nice guy, Danny, comes jogging by and he asks if I'm all right. I'm coughing and crying and a total mess. And I say, 'Do I look like I'm all right? Mind your own blanking business. You're not going to pick me up, if that's what you're thinking. Scram!'" I snorted a laugh Sam's way.

"That's where I got my nickname, 'Scram.' Anyway, Danny came back on the second half of his run. He said he could hear me coughing for two miles down the beach. He brought me coffee, Sam. He ran up the beach with a hot cup of coffee for a complete stranger."

"Yes, but a beautiful stranger, you have to admit."

I stopped talking, and Sam hugged me and said, "You've been through so much. It's awful and it's unfair. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all better for you."

I pulled out a folded, wrinkled envelope from the pocket of my jeans. "Danny left this for me. In Hawaii. One year ago today."

"Go ahead, Jennifer. Let it out. I want to hear everything tonight."

I opened the letter and began to read. I was already starting to choke up.

Dear, wonderful, gorgeous Jennifer ...

You're the writer, not me, but I had to try to put down some of my feelings about your incredible news. I always thought that you couldn't possibly make me any happier, but I was wrong.

Jen, I'm flying so high right now I can't believe what I'm feeling. I am, without a doubt, the luckiest man in the world. I married the best woman, and now I'm going to have the best baby with her. How could I not be a pretty good dad, with all that going for me? I will be. I promise.

I love you even more today than I did yesterday, and you wouldn't believe how much I loved you yesterday.

I love you, and our little "peanut." ... Danny.

Tears started to roll down my cheeks. "I'm such a big baby," I said. "I'm pathetic."

"No, you're one of the strongest women I know. You've lost so much, and you're still fighting."

"Yeah, but I'm losing the battle. I'm losing. I'm losing real bad, Sam."

Then Sam pulled me close and hugged me, and for the moment at least, it was all better-just like always.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson Copyright © 2004 by James Patterson. Excerpted by permission.
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