FANG (book)

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## FANG (book)

### **ISBN**

9780316036191

***FANG*** is the 6th *Maximum Ride* novel and the fourth book of The Protectors arc.

## Plot

ANGEL SAYS FANG WILL BE THE FIRST TO DIE ... BUT I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN.

The novel begins with the Flock traveling to Africa. They are there to help the residents of Chad as part of the CSM project, but are attacked by local rebel Africans on camels, who are opposed to receiving help from outsiders, before carrying out volunteer work such as distributing food and water.

On the second night, Angel reveals that "Fang will be the first to die," causing a stir in the Flock—especially upsetting Max, before a man mysteriously interrupts the commotion. Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen, a former Itexicon worker, invites Max and Angel to breakfast, and introduces them to his new experiment, Dylan.

At breakfast, it is revealed that Dr. Hans plans on forcing the human race to have evolve by using the Flock as evolutionary templates. He tries to enlists Max’s help by showing her the advancements he has currently made, the most extreme being cutting off his finger, putting it back on, and healing himself like he never sliced himself. She, however, refuses to help, and quickly returns to the Flock where she instructs them to leave after seeing Mr. Chu in camp.

Back in America, in a house on the cliff of a canyon—where the Flock resided at the beginning of *The Angel Experiment*—the members of the Flock are safe. Total is back with them after staying with Max’s mother, Dr. Martinez, and Max and Angel still haven’t spoken. Max, after deliberation, blackmails the Flock into a self-taught home school, because they needed to learn things in order to understand the enemy.

This leads to a trip to an unnamed museum where Iggy, for the first time, expresses that he wishes he wasn't blind.

Returning home, the Flock fights, and Max decides that the flock should celebrate their birthdays, as they don't know their real dates of birth and it seems to have been around a year since their last "birthdays". A party is planned for all of them the following day. During the party, Angel receives a camera and Max receives a ring, both of which came from Fang. While Gazzy is setting of celebratory fireworks, Jeb Batchelder arrives with Dylan in a black four wheel drive jeep.

It is revealed that Dylan is unable to fly, and so Max teaches him, first by pushing him off of the roof.

Arriving at the house, the rest of the Flock are still mad at Max. Angry at Jeb, Max flies away, and Fang goes after her. During this time, the others are attacked by Erasers, who were supposedly "retired" in *Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports*. It is also revealed that Dylan has been trained to fight, and can heal his wounds with his own saliva.

When Max and Fang return, the Flock vote her out, since her relationship with Fang is keeping her from protecting the Flock. The couple leaves for Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the water supply to the house is tainted with a genetic accelerator that induces mutations. Angel replaces Max as Flock leader, and takes the new group to a celebrity party in Hollywood at a restaurant known as Furioso. They are suffering from the side effects of the genetic accelerator by the time Max and Fang find them.

Jeb is shot while protecting the Flock, and Max finally forgives him for abandoning them.

After recovering, Angel leaves to join Dr. Hans as Max resumes leadership. Later, Max finds a vague letter from Fang warning her not to follow him. Fang finds Angel and Dr. Hans, but is shot with a tranquilizer dart, and he passes out. When Fang comes to consciousness, he is badly beaten and restrained to a bed. Dr. Hans plans to experiment his genetic accelerator drug on Fang and injects him with it. However, the drug ends up causing Fang's heart to stop beating. Angel telepathically calls Max to rescue him, but the Flock arrives too late. Max desperately tries to bring Fang around to no avail. She finally stabs a needle of adrenaline into his chest and after a few moments, Fang revives. Dylan then tries to kill Dr. Hans with a needle he finds, but when he realizes it is against the Flock's way to kill in cold blood he stabs himself with it in a suicide attempt. However, the attempt is unsuccessful, and he lives.

The epilogue shows Total and Akila getting married. Fang leaves early and when the Flock arrives back home after the reception, Max goes looking for him. Instead, she finds a letter addressed to her. Max reads the letter aloud to the others. In the letter, Fang explains that he loves her more than anything, but it's because of their love that he is leaving. The rest of the Flock still needs her to be a leader and she can't do that with him around. He also tells her that he doesn't know where he's going and asks her not to look for him. In 20 years, if both of them are still alive and the world is still in one piece, then he will meet her at the top of the cliff where they first learned to fly like the hawks in *The Angel Experiment*.

## New Character(s)

* Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen
* Dylan
* Jeanne
* Madeline Hammond
* Joe Harkins

## Trivia

* The original name for *FANG* was "***The Sky is Falling***."
* The extra materials at the end of the book include a "Chapter 35.5," which was the winner of a fan-fiction contest. It is a reader's idea of what Max teaching Dylan to fly might've looked like.
* Also included in the extra materials are files from Fang's old laptop: various notes and blog post drafts. The final note is a recruitment call for mutants, hinting at the existence of Gen77 kids and the creation of Fang's Gang.

## International Editions

FANG (Australia).jpgFANG (Australia)Fang (Italy).jpgFANG (Italy)FANG (UK).jpgFANG (United Kingdom)