464 pages
English language
Published May 1, 2006 by Warner.
Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the “flock”—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel—are just like ordinary kids—only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time... like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the “School” where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs.
Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare—this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf “Erasers” in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take …
Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the “flock”—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel—are just like ordinary kids—only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time... like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the “School” where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs.
Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare—this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf “Erasers” in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb—now her betrayed and greatest enemy—that her purpose is save the world—but can she?
An OK book, I thought it was a bit slow in parts and think the pacing could be better.
Why the hell did I read this? I’m a 25 year old bitter adult with a grudge against hack writers like Patterson. This book isn’t for me. I’m not the audience. Teenagers are.
If there’s one thing I’ve always hated about Patterson’s work, it’s his trademark two page chapters. It makes the pacing of an already bloated and overwrought book unbearable to slog through. And on top of all that, the reader has to endure the most precocious and obnoxious narrators.
“Maximum Rider” reads like a 40 year old trying to take on the voice of a teen. Said narrator is surrounded by a gaggle of misfits including the black-clad edgily names ‘Fang’.
Reluctant readers in the pre teen age range would probably enjoy this ‘kid power’ story. Not me though, definitely not me.
