YAY
Denver Nuckolls
4/23/10
Maximum Ride: FANG
James Patterson
Where: Colorado, Malibu, a secret lab in Malibu When: Present Day
Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel, Dylan, Dr. Gunther-Hagen
309 Pages
Fiction
Entertain
Maximum Ride and her group of bird-kids, or "flock" as they call themselves, are back and on another mission. This time, they are traveling to the country of Chad in southern Africa on a mission with the CSM.
When Max met her biological mom, a new rival, Mr. Chu, had surfaced. He had been dumping nuclear waste into the waters off the coast of Hawaii. They had traveled there, and they stopped Mr. Chu, keeping him in a special containment facility. Max and her mom, disgusted at how he could kill so much of the natural population in those waters, started an organization that wanted to keep people from doing stuff like this.
The Coalition to Stop Madness (CSM) is traveling to Africa, so they can bring over some medications for people with diseases. Their main focus is HIV, but they also give assistance to some of the people with other diseases, like Malaria.
While relaxing after a medical benefit, though, Angel makes a shocking pronouncement.
"Fang will be the first to die." She said, and the flock's entire world came crumbling down around them. Angel had never been wrong, for she had special powers that allowed her to see the future and to read other people's thoughts.
However, as if it was meant to happen, a new winged boy, Dylan, comes along, and he is said to be Max's "Perfect other half". Even though this could be true, the flock doesn't trust Dylan, nor do they trust the doctor that introduced him to them.
Dr. Gunther-Hagen is what you would call an evil genius. He's made strides in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals that are created Dylan, he made him flawlessly, and he's even created a serum that, if injected, can regenerate lost appendages, nerves, or even whole limbs.
He proposes his plan to the flock. He wants Max and Fang, the leaders of the flock, for genetic experimentation. They refuse, but Dr. Gunther-Hagen insists that this could help mankind survive the apocalypse.
He claims that post-apocalyptic Earth will be a replica of primitive Earth. Huge animals will be running around, preying on the humans who are not genetically adapted to survive.
However, the flock continues to refuse, and they make their way back to the states. The CSM provides a safe-house for the flock, and they live there for a while.
Until the Erasers, half-man half-wolf creatures, attack the house. The flock and Dylan fight off the repulsive-smelling beasts, while Max and Fang are nowhere to be found.
Max and Fang return to a ransacked house and beaten, bloody bird-kids. The flock and Dylan are sitting in the living room when they arrive.
Max tries to explain why they weren't there when the Erasers attacked, but they don't listen.
Angel tells the others how Max and Fang only see each other now-a-days, that they're not a flock of six anymore. Now they're a flock of four and a sub-flock of two. Angel says that the flock would be better off without them, and they take a vote on whether or not to kick Max and Fang out of the flock.
Their vote beats Max and Fang's votes, and they leave the flock.
They try to decide what to do, and they decide to go to Las Vegas. There are plenty of weird people, they can blend in well, and it's fun.
They arrive in Vegas, and they decide to go to The Trojan Horse, a casino. There, they meet Dr. Gunther-Hagen, who asks where the rest of the flock is. Max doesn't answer, and they make there way past him after refusing his genetic experimentation offer again. But he says it won't be their final answer.
Meanwhile, back in Hollywood, Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, Angel, and Dylan are getting ready for an appearance at a party.
While they are there, though, some suspicious-looking people approach them and point guns at them. Everyone stops what they're doing, except for Max and Fang, who swoop in and knock the gun out of one of the guys' hands. It skids across the floor, and Angel picks it up and points it at Max and threatens to shoot if they don't leave them alone.
She uses mind-control to get the other guy to drop his gun and leave. The flock re-accepts Max and Fang, and they travel back to Colorado to do some research on how they can stop Dr. Gunther-Hagen.
They discover he lives in Malibu, which is only a couple of hours flying from their safe-house. They pack their bags, and head for Malibu.
They recognize his house from a picture they found on the internet. They enter it, but as soon as they enter, they are shot with tranquilizer darts, and pass out. They all wake up in containment chambers. All except for Fang, who is in a lab with an IV inserted into his arm.
His chest feels heavy, and he sees Dr. Gunther-Hagen looming over him. He tries to speak, but the pressure on his chest becomes too much, and he closes his eyes. He can hear a steady beep in the background. He was flat-lining.
The flock breaks free, and they run into a lab room to see Dr. Gunther-Hagen standing, looking sad, and they see Fang, one eye slightly open, his heart monitor with no blips on it. Only a straight line.
They go after Gunther-Hagen, but his "henchmen", try to defend the doctor. The flock easily takes them out, and they turn to Fang's aid. They don't know what to do, so Max picks up a hypodermic needle filled with artificial adrenaline, and she plunges it into Fang's heart.
After a couple of seconds, they hear a faint beep. Then another. Then another. Then Fang opens his eyes slightly.
The whole flock is so relieved, and they make it back to Colorado without anymore problems. They put Dr. Gunther-Hagen into a cooling chamber before they leave, so he won't be bothering them anytime soon.
My favorite part was the final fight with the henchmen and Gunther-hagen. It was very descriptive, and you could develop images in your brain of what was going on.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has either read the Maximum Ride series before, or that likes action-packed science-fiction books.
5 out of 5
R&R!