Product Description

Maximum Ride and the other members of the flock have barely recovered from their last Arctic adventure, when they are confronted by the most frightening catastrophe yet. Millions of fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii and someone--or something--is destroying hundreds of ships. Unable to discover the cause, the government enlists the flock to help them get to the bottom of the disaster before it is too late.

While Max and her team are exploring the depths of the ocean, their every move is being carefully tracked by Mr. Chu--a criminal mastermind with his own plans for the flock. Can they protect themselves from Mr. Chu's army of mercenaries and save the ocean from utter destruction?

A James Patterson Pageturner
In the spirit of the most enduring hit movies and books, James Patterson has written this story for readers from 10 to 110. Special care has been taken with the language and content of WATER WINGS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2717 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-16
• Released on: 2009-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780316002899
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
The fifth entry in Patterson's all-ages Maximum Ride fantasy/thriller series finds the teenaged title character facing her greatest challenge yet. Max, leading her flock of virtually indestructible part-human/part-bird hybrids, must rescue her human mom, kidnapped by a criminal mastermind with an elaborate plan to wreak worldwide ecological catastrophe. But in order to rescue her, 14-year-old Max and the five younger members of her flock (genetically developed by an environmental group) must team up with the U.S. Navy to determine why millions of fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii. All this, and Max is falling in love, too. Patterson doesn't spend much time on character development, opting to propel his wild story with quick action scenes, plenty of dialogue and chapters seldom longer than three or four pages; unfortunately, though, life-and-death situations are often solved by implausible plot turns. Max narrates with a precocious, snarky voice, but makes it relatively easy to jump into her complicated tale midstream. Not surprisingly, the open-ended conclusion begs for a follow-up; it's also little wonder that a movie franchise is in the works.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Grade 7–9—In this installment in the series, Max, the super-spunky, flying, mutant bird-girl and "kick butt warrior," and her flock battle evil, ecologically thoughtless foes. Fast-paced thrills spill from the pages and pull readers in, starting on page one when a suicide sniper cyborg/human aims his automatic pistol at Max as she flies in an air show over Los Angeles. To help publicize her mother's environmental group, Coalition to Stop the Madness, Max has agreed to lead the flying flock in these touring shows. Performing soon endangers her life, however, by bringing her identity and relationship with the CSM to the immediate attention of Mr. Chu, whose business has dumped radioactive material into the ocean around Hawaii. These toxins are killing millions of fish and causing grisly mutations to other sea creatures. Mr. Chu almost kills Max and then kidnaps her mother, holding her for ransom in a submarine. With the flock members' extraordinary abilities—Gazzy's inventiveness, Max's strength and intuitive "voice" in her head, and Angel's telepathy and her ability to speak to some helpful mutant sea creatures, Max rescues her mother. Patterson weaves humor into the dramatic action. In addition, Max's romantic relationship with Fang ripens to a more serious level than in the previous books. Hints of an approaching apocalypse, repeated references to Max's "mission in saving the world," and a few lingering questions such as her precarious relationship with her father all leave open the possibility of a sequel.—James K. Irwin, Sandy Library, UT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"This book is a masterpiece. It will be some movie." (Avi Arad, producer of Iron Man and Spiderman )

"Action and attitude fill the fifth in James Patterson's best-selling Maximum Ride." (USA Today Bob Minzesheimer )

Customer Reviews

Maximum Ride is Back on Track.
Picking up this book, I was skeptical. Can anyone remember the fourth book, The Final Warning, and how much we all disliked it? I was ready for another 309 pages of disappointment.

But boy, was I wrong. This book is great, and the series is one its way to redemption. The story starts out slow, and actually, the whole first 50 pages don't make sense. But later on, the plot gets fast paced and exciting, and the romance will make your heart flutter (there's a lot more of it this time around and, in my opinion, I loved it... you can guess between who!).

There are messages about global warming, but there's so small and subtle that you have to squint to see them. It actually leaves you with a feeling that, "Oh, yeah, it does exist, and I feel bad," instead of, "Stop shoving it in my face, book!"

My only complaint was this: did there seem to be some favoritism in the characters? Like, I noticed the Gasman was centralized in the story and always there, of course in addition to first-person narrator Max. So was Angel and Fang. But there seemed to be a huge limited amount of Iggy and Nudge. Maybe it was just me, and if you happen to like those four characters, great. But I am an Iggy fan, and he barely had, like, four lines.

Anyway, the ending of this book was such a cliffhanger. I can't give away much without spoiling it, but please just go and read it. I cannot absolutely wait for the next one, now that I know the series is back on track and likely won't pull a huge flop like The Final Warning. Can the next book come any sooner?

Bravo, James Patterson, Max is glad to have to back on track!

Not great, not bad.
Like a lot of other readers, I was skeptical picking up this book. The 4th book was about global warming and it was one giant political message. This book wasn't nearly as bad. There was still some global warming and pollution messages however, it's not nearly as bad. Unlike the 4th book, they had a purpose in this book. I don't want to spoil anything from the book, but this time around, the flock was working to actually save something important to them.
This book isn't perfect though. The book is focused around Max, Fang, and Angel. Some of the other characters, such as Iggy and the Gasman, were almost ignored.
Also, the flock seems to have a change in personality. Before, they were kids trying to survive, now they're brats. The flock was still sarcastic and funny, but they were mean to almost all of the adults in the book. All of the characters seemed a little off, like their personality changed between books.
There is definetly more romance in this book. I won't spoil anything. But, I can assure you that romance lovers won't be dissapointed.
Overall, it's not a bad book. Not great either. It's an improvement over the 4th Maximum Ride book. But the political message is still there. The characters seem a little different as well. But the book is still exciting and entertaining. I recommend this book to any of the Maximum Ride fans, you might want to save your money and wait for it to show up at the library.

A fresh breath to a stale series.
I must admit, I had my reservations when it came to Patterson's 5th book in the MAXIMUM RIDE series. I mean, FINAL WARNING wasn't exactly Patt's A game....but once I sat down with the book, my feelings toward the series were renewed. Maximum Ride is a young woman who had become a science experiment under the cruel hands of twisted scientists. After experiments and studies and tests, her DNA is genetically altered with a bird -- this produced a hawkgirl. While being held captive, an kindly member of the demented scientist's core helps her and the other hawkkids escape. Max now leads this group of lost children who help her fight the evil organization, save the world, and reunite with her lost mother and sister.

When they do finally reunite, the hawkcrew is asked to perform some aerial stunts to raise money for a charitable organization -- they agree, and now the plot is set. Mr. Chu sends his cyborgs to snatch Max's mother and deliver a warning -- this warning comes in the form of a sniper's bullet. Well, after narrowly missing, Mr. Chu plants a message for the crew revealing Max's mother is hidden aboard a Navy Sub of the coast of Hawaii. This is merely a ploy, however, as he traps the crew inside the sub which is surrounded by unrecognizable monsters. I'll stop there, but book 5 definitely breathes life back into the series, that, let's face it, was getting stale. The action is non-stop, the twist and turns whip around at break-neck speeds. Patterson has a knack for delivering well-written action scenes while throwing in some of beat humor, and that is exactly what Max is.