Nevermore

"Nevermore" is the eighth and final book in James Patterson's best selling series, "Maximum Ride."          It's all come down to this, hasn't it?  A final battle between good and evil.  A final chance for Maximum Ride to save the world.  A final decision that could raise or raze civilization.  But what is there to fight? With the whitecoats secretly perfecting their 99% plan in some hidden laboratory, though, the Flock busy trying to be "normal" mutants, and Fang's gang trying to do something, anything, to make the difference, the battlefield seems nearly empty. 
       But Jeb and "Dr. God" have other plans.  And bringing back the dead is only one of their strategies.  As everything goes haywire, the Voice issuing warnings and assignments, multiple betrayals, the start of the end of the world, Max has just two questions.  What's the catch?  And can Fang and Dylan ever stop tearing her heart apart, even as the foundation of all that's known crumbles at their feet?

This book wasn't as bad as "The Final Warning," another book in the series.  Actually, it was the best one in a while.  Which may not be saying much.  I stopped liking them around "Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports," but I was hooked:  I wanted to know what happened to Max and the rest of the Flock.  I mean, come on.  Who wouldn't?  But I'm sort of glad that it's over, so I can quite with my crazy obsession.
     Of course, James Patterson milked the Fang/Dylan dynamic for all it was worth.  Hey, I'm not blaming him.  It was the only thing that was keeping me on for quite a bit of "Fang."  But it was really just . . . dramatic.  More end-of-the-world, less candle-lit dinners.  Please?
      I'm not happy with the ending.  Am I ever?  But, really.  It could've used more action and movement and, I don't know, but it was missing something.  Oh, here it is:  Tension.  And, well, I've heard the saying "surprising, yet inevitable," relating to books, or really all literature.  So . . . It was surprising, yes, but not inevitable.  It came completely and totally out of the blue.  As most of the things come in this series. 
      I liked the characters in this book.  I mean, they were no different from the characters in the rest of the books, but there was something about them here that made them seem more likable.  Max isn't as cranky, and she seems like she's a nicer person to be around.  Less self-absorbed.  You know, things like that.  It wasn't a dramatic change, or anything, it was just in the way that they were written. 
      The whole problem is, I think, is that "The Angel Experiment" was an amazing book.  It was fast paced, it was catchy, and it was new.  But as the series went on, the story either went too slow or too fast, stopped being catchy and started being annoying, and got old.  James Patterson never manages to capture the energy as he did in that first book.  You keep expecting an "Angel Experiment," but you don't really get it.  Even "Nevermore" only captures a little bit of that energy. 
     The series started cornering itself during "Final Warning," when James Patterson made the end of the world be about global warming.  Yes, that is a big problem in today's society.  But one bird kid cannot change the problem.  One bird kid cannot save the world from global warming, no matter how determined she is.  He could've done so much more with the series, James Patterson could've, but he hemmed himself in.  And even within the parameters he set himself, he could've made "Nevermore" so much better. 
       The series, in order, are "The Angel Experiment," "School's Out--Forever," "Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports," "The Final Warning," "Max," "Fang," "Angel," and last, but certainly not least, "Nevermore." 
         It was quite a ride, Max.  It might not have been the maximum ride, but you can't argue with a good story, so I took what you gave me.  And I might just remember you and you're struggle after you've flown off into the sunset.   

And, as if you need it again  (it seems like I've written this out a dozen times on this site, though it's only been three), the URL.  www.max-dan-wiz.com You can read the first 16 chapters free.