Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Lore & Background

The story follows the Flock, led by Maximum 'Max' Ride, a group of kids genetically altered to have wings. They live in hiding in a house in the woods after being freed by scientist Jeb Batchelder, now presumed deceased. The youngest member, Angel, is abducted by wolf-human hybrid Erasers and taken back to the School, the lab where the Flock was created. Max, Fang, and Nudge set out to rescue her, while Iggy and the Gasman stay behind. During the journey, Max rescues a girl named Ella, is shot in the shoulder, and has a microchip discovered in her arm by Ella's mother, vet Dr. Valencia Martinez. Iggy and the Gasman booby-trap their home and blow it up in a battle with Erasers. Nudge and Fang follow a lead to Nudge's biological mother, but it is a trap set by Ari, the Eraser leader—physically mature but only seven years old, and Jeb's son, who resents the Flock. The Flock reunites but is captured and brought to the School, where they find Angel and discover Jeb is alive and working for the School. They break out, and Max receives a vision guiding her to the Institute for Higher Living in New York. There, they free other experiments, Angel adopts a genetically altered dog named Total, and Max accidentally kills Ari. Jeb tells Max she has killed her own brother. The Flock flies off to Washington D.C. in search of their parents.

Reader's Guide

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment received generally positive reviews. The Cleveland Plain Dealer described it as 'like the best sort of video game or action movie, in book form' and compared it to the Boxcar Children series. The School Library Journal called it an 'exciting SF thriller that's not wholly original but still a compelling read.' Booklist described it as 'an action-packed cross between Gertrude Chandler Warner's Boxcar Children and Marvel Comics' X-Men,' noting that Patterson 'occasionally forgets his audience' with sardonic tone and adult asides, but praised him for stepping out of his adult-genre books into a 'comfortable formula (orphans protecting one another and making a home together).' The book's significance lies in launching a bestselling young-adult series that combined genetic experimentation, action, and found-family themes. A film adaptation, first announced in January 2007, lingered in development for years and was released on Digital HD in August 2016, covering only the first half of the book and ending with the Flock escaping the School, omitting the New York events.

Did You Know?

• The Flock are 98% human and 2% bird, genetically altered to have wings.
• The Eraser leader Ari is physically mature but only seven years old, and is the son of scientist Jeb Batchelder.