Max by James Patterson

Title: Max: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson

Pages: 309

How it was obtained: I bought it with Susan.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 6 months.

Days spent reading it: 2 days.

Why I read it: It is the next book in the apparently unending Maximum Ride series.

Brief review: This fifth installment of the Maximum Ride series goes back to the heart of the first few books. It's style and content were more akin to the origins of the series. It was definitely an improvement over the last two books (Saving the World…, and The Final Warning), but it still does not quite recapture the magic of the first two books. I guess we can't have everything.

The best part about this book, the EXCESSIVE talk about Global Warming has been dropped. Max and her flock still deal with environmental issues, but it's not as blatant or forced as it was in books 3 and 4. On the down side, I think Patterson still cannot quite figure out who his antagonist is in this series. Is it a faceless corporation? Or do we have a specific mastermind behind the scenes? And as he struggles to find a main antagonist he struggles with the henchmen that have been changing in the last few books as well. He just cannot seem to find the right kind of bad people because he keeps creating and discarding them. Although you won't hear me complaining that he did not bring back "The Uber-director" from The Final Warning (he was just plain silly). But I believe that if this series is going to change from mediocre to great, Patterson must find an antagonist worthy of Max and her flock. They are such great characters, there has to be an equally great foil to oppose them.

This book almost makes me believe that this series could get better. I am almost convinced, but it just was not quite as great as I was hoping. Actually, I thought it was going to conclude the series, but it definitely did not do that. There is plenty of space to continue this series for a long, long time. Let's just hope it keeps getting better and not getting worse like The Final Warning.

Favorite quote: "It's a real, living creature, and according to our telepath, it's full of rage and a desire to kill." We all looked around for a minute until we realized that the 'telepath' was Angel. Well, 'telepath' sounds better than 'creepy little mind-reading kid,' so I was cool with it.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5.

Final Word: Better.