DEAR; Book Review

Maximum Ride; Saving the world and other extreme sports

Posted by Mallory's on Oct 21, '07 5:49 PM for everyone

Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	James Patterson

This is Patterson's third installment in his mutant teen series. As usual, Patterson is an excellent writer, this book is action packed, fast and funny. Sounds like he has a fourth book coming out next Spring. According to an article in Variety, Patterson plans 12 books in total. The entertainment newspaper also reports on a Maximum Ride movie (or three), targeted for release in 2010 and 2011. They will be released by Sony Pictures Animation or Columbia Pictures. Sony Imageworks is responsible for Spiderman and the Polar Express.

Now, as much as I enjoyed "Saving the world and other extreme sports," it isn't absolutely without problems. You could easily read the second book without having read the first one- but I don't think that people who haven't read either of the first two books will get this third one. I also wonder a little bit about whether or not Patterson kind of pushed it a little too far this time, kind of "jumped the shark," as they say in Hollywood. The ending is a last third or so is a little contrived and the ending just a little anticlimactic. But then again, it isn't written for adults and after all, it is about a group of mutant bird-kids trying to save the world from NAZI style mad scientists. How can you possibly push that too far?

So it's guilty escapist pleasure, so what. Why shouldn't reading be fun?
If you did read either of the first two books then you've developed a connection with the characters. I really love and care about Patterson's most famous character Alex Cross, from books like 'London Bridges' and movies like 'Kiss the Girls' (Morgan Freeman make a perfect Cross), so readers who already know the kids in the flock, will LOVE this book. Patterson continues to develop Max's role as a leader/surrogate parent. He also heats things up a little between Max and Fang, and he shows us a lot more about Fang's character. We even find out more about Ari, the wicked 'Eraser' who Max thought she had killed. Fans can continue to follow the flock on the internet by reading Fang's Blog. Patterson also gives us a peek into who Max's mom is, and what the deal is with Jeb and the voice inside her head.

Read more of my book reviews at http://tmal.multiply.com/reviews