The Final Warning by James Patterson

Max and the flock are back again in another wild adventure. Unknown enemies are still trying to kill and/or capture them to use the flying mutants to gain power, and other influential people want to control them. But lately things have been calmer. Max and the flock join up with a team of scientists in Antarctica studying the effects of global warming. But even from the remotest place on earth, Max and her flock are still targets – because whoever controls the flock controls the world.

I was hesitant to read the fourth book in the Maximum Ride series because of mixed reviews that I read and also because I had thought the story was over after the third book. For me, The Final Warning was pretty disappointing. The plot was just not as exciting as in the previous books and sadly, Max’s snarkiness got a bit annoying. I also felt that the rest of the flock wasn’t as important an element in this novel as in the previous ones. Everything was too centered on “saving the world” and global warming, which although it is a good cause, it didn’t make for a fantastic story. I really thought the series should’ve ended with Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, the third book, because by the fourth, everything just started to get too repetitive.

Dedicated fans of James Patterson and the Maximum Ride series may want to check out this fourth installment, but I would not recommend it. I think if you stick with the first three, you’re all good.

Rating: 2.75

Review copy from library