Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Title: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Author: James Patterson

Length: 413 p.

Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Science Fiction

Brief Summary:
Maximum Ride isn't like other fourteen year old girls. Sure, she's smart, funny, pretty, but one thing sets her apart from the rest of 'em. She has wings. She, along with the rest of her "flock" were the results of avian DNA being grafted with human cells. Four years prior to the opening of the book, these six kids had escaped from the nightmarish test facility of their youth, also known as the School. Ever since then, they have been living in peace, undisturbed, and relatively happy. This doesn't last long, as almost immediately things go wrong. Angel, the youngest of the flock, is kidnapped by their old enemies--the Erasers, men that can morph into wolves. Friends are rescued, feelings are betrayed, tails are whooped, and secrets are revealed. Full of humor and page-turning action, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a great, great read.

What I thought:
Maximum Ride can be compared to a roller coaster. Immediately, you start going uphill, building up to something that quickly becomes a fast and furious ride. Buckle up, because it gets intense. I absolutely love the character of Max, who is the one telling the story form her point of view. She's the leader of her flock, and is one tuff gal. However, between whaling on Erasers and saving innocents from the common bully, she finds time to love and take of her flock, something that I as a reader find very refreshing and admirable.

I once had a writing teacher that said that a truly masterful author is one that sneaks up on you. His greatness isn't obvious, but when you stop to smell the roses, you realize that they are sweeter than you thought. James Patterson certainly shows his excellence by not being obvious about it. I was completely unable to put down Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, and I suggest it to anyone looking for an unconventional adventure.

What I thought later:
(This isn't a normal section that I'll include in my reviews, but I just thought you should be aware...)
The Maximum Ride series is one that I liked at the beginning, got hooked on, but then went down hill from there. Basically, in the end, I was just reading to find out what happened next, not because I was enjoying what I was reading. The books move really fast, and the characters are life-like and well developed, so I wouldn't say they're a waste of time. I just think it's really sad that it turned in a direction that seemed, oh, anticlimactic compared to the beginning of the books.