Maximum Ride: The Final Warning

Maximum Ride: The Final Warning
The UK cover of Maximum Ride: The Final Warning.
Author(s)	James Patterson
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Maximum Ride
Genre(s)	Young Adult Fiction
Publisher	Little, Brown
Publication date	March 17, 2008
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	272 pp (first edition, hardback) 288 (paperback)[1]
ISBN	ISBN 0-316-00286-0 (first edition, hardback)
Preceded by	Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
Followed by	MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel

The Final Warning is the fourth novel in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. It was released in the US and in the UK on March 17, 2008.

Plot

The story begins with Jeb, Max the oldest of the siblings, and the Flock holding a funeral for Ari, Max’s half-brother, and Jeb’s son. The next day they go to a private conference with the Danning Administration in Washington who are trying to decide what would be best for the Flock. The meeting does not go smoothly and ends with the Flock flying away to Dr. Martinez’s home where they are currently staying. But soon the short period of bliss is ended for the Flock when they forced to leave when an unexpected bomb in the form of a pizza arrives at their doorstep shortly after attending the government meeting. They flee to a safer place and there Max is thrown into a world of longing and confusion as she is kissed by Fang on a dock when they snuck out of their hotel during the night when everyone was asleep. Because Max runs from him, afraid to display her feelings, the atmosphere between the two grows cold and unfriendly.

Then her mom or Dr. Martinez calls them and tells them she has a surprise for them. The surprise is that they're going to go on a special mission – all the way to Antarctica, the point of the mission being to record data on how the world was changing due to global warming and pollution and how they could help stop global warming. After agreeing to take part in the mission, the flock meet up with a crew on the polar research vessel, The Wendy K. There, the meet the crew including an attractive 21 year old scientist named Brigid Dwyer, who immediately starts to find a liking in Fang, even though Max is getting even more jealous the more Bridgid talks to Fang. Certain members of the Flock gain more skills – Iggy can see things if surrounded by white, Nudge can attract metal, Gazzy develops a wting even to release almost toxic gas, Fang gains the ability to blend in with his surroundings and Angel gets yet another skill – she can change her appearance. And much to the group's surprise, Total, the talking dog the Flock rescued in Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment starts to grow wings!

While in Antarctica a member of the research team is attacked by a leopard seal and killed. It is discovered later however that she is a mechanical impostor created by an unknown group of enemies attempting to capture the Flock. All the while, Max and Fang’s relationship gets steadily more and more strained and the Flock faces big problems when Angel goes to find a baby penguin in the middle of the blizzard and they are captured by a mutated group of genetically enhanced humans.

After being kidnapped, the Flock awakes in an office building located in Miami which has been evacuated due to the threat of a hurricane. The Flock faces the emotionless Uber-Director (who is described as having many of his internal organs connected via plastic "boxes" which his head sits upon). As they make an attempt to escape, they find themselves trapped by the Uber-Director's mutated body guard. When all hope seems lost, the windows to the skyscraper shatter due to the high speed winds, throwing all of the Flock, the Uber-Director, and his bodyguard into the eye of the hurricane where they both plummet to the earth. After the events, the Flock returns to the home of Dr. Martinez where they are offered the opportunity to attend the Lerner School for Gifted Children (a.k.a mutants). As Max declines the offer, she and the Flock take off amidst the circle of reporters, ushering the fact that their existence and genetic mutations have gone public.

References

1. ^ Amazon.co.uk: Maximum Ride: The Final Warning: James Patterson: Books