The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, #3)

by James Patterson

While on a mission to Antarctica to save the world from global warming, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of the Flock--a band of genetically modified children who can fly--are pursued by their creator, the Uber-Director, who wants to auction them off to the highest bidder.

• ISBN10: 0446194050
• ISBN13: 9780446194051
• Publish Date: 1 February 2009 (first published 1 January 2008)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Time Warner Trade Publishing
• Imprint: Warner Books Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

This is one of the laziest and preachiest books I've read. It wouldn't be so bad if Patterson seem to make an effort, but it really feels more like a Mad Lib where he's taking one of his favorite political messages and has thrown some of his characters and it just to get people to read about it.

New characters are flat. Old characters are weakly written and poorly developed. The plot? Well he jumps around the idea of a plot, but considering the fact that this is a person with dozens of books on the New York Times bestseller list, one would expect a little bit more focus and direction. And that's being kind.

Elements you might've liked from the first three books are all but completely missing. His attempt to develop a love story is weak and pathetic. I almost never give books one star, especially if I can finish them, but this one is just awful. In my opinion. Maybe I'm too old for the series, or maybe I've always been a little judgmental of them from the start, but this book was not for me.

[ladygrey]

Maximum Ride was clearly a trilogy. But [a:James Patterson|3780|James Patterson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1198342084p2/3780.jpg] created great characters that apparently young adults can relate to. So, why not use those characters to good effect and use them to inform kids about global warming, encourage them to do something to make the world better. It's a great idea for a book, but doesn't make for a great story.

There are of course good moments in it. The characters are fun and quirky as always. But there's less emotional interplay between them (except for Fang and Max), there's less action and the plot is a lot of "message" and a few robots (which are a weaker villain than the School or Erasers). I'd have like to have seen more story and the message woven in more subtly, but I'm also not the intended demographic. Maybe it's really effective for teenagers.