The Angel Experiment（ISBN=） 英文原版

From Publishers Weekly
Themes from
Patterson’s popular adult titles When the Wind Blows and The Lake
House waft through this YA thriller, the author’s first in the
genre. Wood stars as Maximum Ride, 14-year-old leader of a band of
kids who have escaped the lab where they were bred as 98% human and
2% bird (wings being a key component) and developed a variety of
other-worldly talents. In Patterson’s unusual universe, Max and her
young cohorts are soon forced to rescue one of their own—a girl
named Angel—from a pack of mutant wolf-humans called Erasers. Wood
nails Patterson’s often adult-beyond-their-years dialogue with a
jaded tone. But the result of this pairing makes Max sound more
off-putting than cool or intriguing. The listening experience is
stalled in the starting gate, keeping the action-adventure
earthbound rather than high-flying. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Audio CD
edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–A group of genetically enhanced kids who can fly and
have other unique talents are on the run from part-human, part-wolf
predators called Erasers in this exciting SF thriller that’s not
wholly original but is still a compelling read. Max, 14, and her
adopted family–Fang and Iggy, both 13, Nudge, 11, Gazzy, 8, and
Angel, 6–were all created as experiments in a lab called the
School. Jeb, a sympathetic scientist, helped them escape and, since
then, they’ve been living on their own. The Erasers have orders to
kill them so the world will never find out they exist. Max’s old
childhood friend, Ari, now an Eraser leader, tracks them down,
kidnaps Angel, and transports her back to the School to live like a
lab rat again. The youngsters are forced to use their special
talents to rescue her as they attempt to learn about their pasts
and their destinies. The novel ends with the promise that this
journey will continue in the sequel. As with Patterson’s adult
mystery thrillers, in-depth characterization is secondary to the
fast-moving plot. The narrative alternates between Max’s
first-person point-of-view and that of the others in the third
person, but readers don’t get to know Max very well. The only major
flaw is that the children sound like adults most of the time. This
novel is reminiscent of David Lubar’s Hidden Talents (Tor, 1999)
and Ann Halam’s Dr. Franklin’s Island (Random, 2002).–Sharon
Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the
Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Gr. 7—9. Patterson, best known for his dark, gritty thrillers
featuring psychologist Alex Cross, first dipped his toes in the
waters of children’s literature with SantaKid (2004). Aiming at an
older youth readership this time and reworking ideas and characters
that appeared first in his adult novels When the Wind Blows (1998)
and The Lake House (2003), he delivers an action-packed cross
between Gertrude Chandler Warner’s Boxcar Children and Marvel
Comics’ X-Men. Fourteen-year-old Max (short for Maximum Ride) leads
an usual group of children, escapees from an institution that
designed them by “grafting avian DNA onto human genes.” Yup, these
kids have wings. When Angel, the smallest of the group, is
kidnapped by mutants and taken back to the “school,” Max and her
family determine to get her back–no matter what. Patterson
occasionally forgets his audience here, as evidenced by his
sardonic tone and such glib adult asides as “they found their prey:
moi,” but he’s picked a comfortable formula (orphans protecting one
another and making a home together), which he’s cushioned with an
abundance of slavering beasts, childhood heartaches, and unresolved
issues–all in preparation for the sequel in 2006, in which Max
will, presumably, assume the role she’s been assigned here: savior
of the world. Expect the Patterson name to attract a crossover
audience of both adults and youth. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights
reserved –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

In James Patterson’s blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old
Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it’s like to soar
above the world. She and all the members of the “flock”–Fang,
Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel–are just like ordinary kids–only
they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to
some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any
time…like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is
kidnapped and taken back to the “School” where she and the others
were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a
journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon
enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare–this one
involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf “Erasers” in New
York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels
of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the
ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old
friend and father-figure Jeb–now her betrayed and greatest
enemy–that her purpose is save the world–but can she?

James Patterson is the author of the highly praised Maximum Ride
novels and of bestselling detective series featuring Alex Cross and
the Women’s Murder Club. His novels have sold more than 140 million
copies worldwide. He lives in Florida.