My Urban Fantasies: Review: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Title: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Author: James Patterson

Series: Maximum Ride, #1

•Source: Purchased
•Publisher: Little, Brown And Company
•Publication Date: April 11, 2005

Opening Line: Congratulations. The fact that you're reading this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday.

Welcome To My Nightmare.

Do not put this book down. I'm dead serious - your life could depend on it. I'm risking everything by telling you - but you need to know.

Strap Yourself In for the thrill ride you'll want to take again and again! From Death Valley, California, to the bowels of the New York City subway system, you're about to take off on a heart-stopping adventure that will blow you away...

Your Faithful Companions: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Six kids who are pretty normal in most ways - except that they're 98 percent human, 2 percent bird. They grew up in a lab, living like rats in cages, but now they're free. Aside, of course, from the fact that they're prime prey for Erasers - wicked wolflike creatures with a taste for flying humans.

The Missions: Rescue Angel from malicious mutants. Infiltrate a secret facility to track down the flock's missing parents. Scavenge for sustenance. Get revenge on an evil traitor. And save the world. If there's time.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is about six kids who escaped from a lab where their DNA has been genetically altered. They are 98% human and 2% bird. What does one get from being genetically altered with bird DNA? You get to be a fourteen year old girl with a thirteen foot wingspan that has visions. That right, wings that you can actually use to fly!

Max is the leader of the flock and the oldest, if you can consider fourteen old. Fang is four months younger than Max, Iggy is two months younger than Fang, Nudge is eleven, Gazzy is eight and Angel is six. Four years ago a scientist, Jeb Batchelder, helped these six unique kids escape from an evil lab called the School. Two years ago Jeb disappeared, Max has been taking care of the flock alone ever since.

The Angel Experiment is a great easy read. I'd love to give more details, unfortunately I cannot without giving away spoilers. The book is mainly told from Max's point of view. It sometimes switches to another of the flock, but only when Max is not with them. While it is fast paced and exciting, I do not think this book will appeal to most adults unless they are huge YA fans.

I realize that this is a YA book but some parts just seemed over simplified. I do not think Patterson has given his younger readers enough credit, seriously, he could not do better than the School or whitecoats? Still, it's perfect for a lazy afternoon if you are looking for book that does not require huge amounts of brain power.

Favorite Quotes

The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.

Actually, more like, let's all try to forget when we were at the mercy of sadistic spawns of Satan in a place that's a total, hellish abomination and ought to be firebombed.