Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Maximum Ride: Final Warning-James Patterson

Maximum Ride: Final Warning
James Patterson
Vision (Little, Brown), Sep 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780316002875

The Feds want to control the Flock, so they offer a devious deal. They will provide the six teens with wings shelter and an education if they cooperate with the authorities. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel consider the offer, but prefer not to be placed under a microscope by adults, who tend to try to harm them.

They flee before the Feds turn their offer into a prison like sentence. The Flock head to Antarctica figuring the isolated frozen continent should prove safe. Environmental scientists studying global warming’s impact upon the ice cap welcome the runaway teens. However the evil Director has replaced his failed Erasers with invincible mechanized soldiers. His plan is to sell the Flock for billions each to the highest bidder. Antarctica is no problem for him and his mechanical horde.

The fourth Maximum Ride is an exhilarating 200 proof action-packed middle school thriller. However the plot feels much thinner than the previous entries and somewhat disconnected. Still the Flock remains cool (and not just because of the climate) especially Max who quips his way from one fire to another even in Antarctica as he and his best buddies must save the world while eluding the Director and the Feds who have plans for THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT participants.

Harriet Klausner

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