When the Wind Blows

by James Patterson

The book centers on Frannie Devin O'Neill, a veterinarian, whose husband was killed three years before the story takes place. The action takes place in Bear Bluff, Colorado. She meets Kit Harrison, an FBI agent, when he rents a cabin in the woods behind her house. One night, after a friend's mysterious death, Frannie sees a small girl with wings, running in the forest. Her name is Max, and they learn about Max's missing brother, Matthew, and the sinister place where they grew up. Kit, Frannie, and Max find and break into the School. They find the rest of Max's "flock", two Chinese/Asian siblings named Wendy and Peter, a blind boy named Icarus, and Oz, all of whom have wings. The group leaves the school and Kit calls the FBI for help. They try to go back to Frannie's vet clinic, the Inn Patient, but they find it burnt down. They are caught by the "whitecoats" (who work at the School) and the flock's previous Keeper, a cruel man named Harding Thomas (also known as "Uncle Tom").