"MAX" review

Well, it's March again, and you know what that means! Oh. You don't? Well, it means another Maximum Ride book by prolific thriller writer James Patterson. There have been four so far. The first three were fantastic, getting better with each book. The fourth book...was...er, written. That's about as much as I can say about it. Skeptical now? Yeah, you should be. But don't worry, The Final Warming-- er, I mean Warning-- is really quite short, and MAX is much, much better, perhaps the second best in the series.

The book, which is named after the main character, is about the Flock, a group of six kids who are a whopping 98% human. The other 2%? Well, that's what all the fuss is about, isn't it. The rest is avian DNA. You see, the Flock is being hunted by a number of detestable baddies who will stop at nothing to keep them silent (with a short detour into Global Warming land in Book 4). The latest is Mr. Chu, a temperamental Chinese businessman with a few dangerous secrets. He represents a group of wealthy, powerful people who hate the Flock with a passion.

So they kidnap Max's mom, taking her off the coast of Hawaii, where thousands of fish are mysteriously dying. It's up to Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel (those lovable bird kids) to rescue her and get to the bottom of Mr. Chu's crimes. Oh, and the Voice inside Max's head has gone almost silent.

Wow, it's good to read a quality Maximum Ride book again. While this is still a bit shorter than the first three, it's a good step up from #4. The book is loaded down with action and suspense of every kind-- read the book and see what I mean-- and some loose ends from the other books get resolved nicely. And the Global Warming stuff pretty much stayed in the last book. It's refreshing to see Patterson is on his A-game again. We can only hope it lasts approximately forever.

The best part is: I'm really looking forward to the inevitable sequel. It'll be fun to see where Patterson goes from here.

My rating: 9.5/10