The angel experiment

The Angel Experiment James Patterson. Warner, $6.99 ISBN 0-446-61779-2. Thriller writer Patterson takes characters that first appeared in his adult novels When the Wind Blows and its sequel, The Lake House, and places them in a story pitched at young adults. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 7 Up-Non-stop thrills keep listeners on the edge of their seats as they enter the world of 14-year-old Maximum Ride and her "sibling" clan of genetically-enhanced children. In best-selling adult author James Patterson's fantasy (Little, 2005), the six children were experiments created in a lab called the School, but they've been living on their own since a scientist helped them escape. Now they're being tracked down by wolf-human predators who have been programmed to destroy the kids at all costs. The danger never lets up for a second as the kids are kidnapped, hunted, and must flee across the continent to escape. Fortunately for them, they have the power to fly with the help of wings that were grafted onto their bodies. Some scenes take a long time to develop and others seem like offshoots of the main plot, but narrators Nancy Ku and Ed Sala create a myriad of voices for the cast of characters. Short, fast-paced chapters keep this lengthy novel from becoming tiresome for listeners. Readers and listeners will eagerly await the sequel. A good choice for school and public libraries; Patterson's adult fans will probably want to borrow it as well.-Casey Rondini, Hartford Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.