Customer Reviews

The Maze

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

From the first page, I was hooked on this book. A few pages later, I laughed at Killian's "literary appetite" and pitied his situation. Soon, you learn about Rick's problems. Because his life was endangered in a juvenile detention center, he embarked on a journey across the Southwest. He met Lon, a bird biologist who became like a father to him. I'm not a "nature girl" who often reads stories with male protagonists, but I immensely enjoyed "Maze". There were beautiful descriptions of the majestic landscape and an engaging plot. I wonder what'll happen to Rick in the future; however, dreaming up the outcome of a character's situation is part of the fun of reading a cliffhanger book. To anyone who loves tales of adventure with edge-of-your-seat suspense, I reccomend this book. My New Year's resolution: read more Will Hobbs books.

I'm reading some of Will Hobbs' books for a graduate class I am taking. The Maze is so full of adventure and excitement, I couldn't put it down! Young adults will love the Canyonlands setting which is perfect for the elements of exploration and danger. What I loved most about the book was how 14 yr. old Rick's interests were so similar to Lon's, the bird biologist he befriends. The releasing and tracking of the endangered condors, and the hang-gliding lessons, were a real plus to the storyline. I particularly appreciated the author notes at the end, which included a websight for those who want further information on condors. An excellent read!

My mom bought this book for me at a book fair at her work. I'm not sure why, but i'm glad. When i first got it I threw it on my bookshelf and never gave it a second glance, I didn't even read the back. But I was drawn to it, after i'd read everything else in my house two times over. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I am happy to say that this is my favorite book. I reccommend it to all young adults, even if it takes time....READ IT!

This book kept my interest all the way through, mostly because I liked the character Rick and saw how unfairly everyone had treated him. Plus, you learn a lot about condors and hang gliding when Rick solves a mystery involving two vicious intruders. I really liked the suspense and all the action.

A Review by Sam

I read the book The Maze which was about a 14 year-old boy named Rick that lived in various foster homes. But that all changes when he went sent to Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center down by Las Vegas for throwing rocks repeatedly at a stop sign. Rick was sent there six months on probation and hated it, Rick hated it so much he decided to escape and run. Rick plans to run as far as he can, even by hitch hiking. He meets a man named Lon that teaches him about life.

I like how this book has good pacing. It keeps you in suspense so that you want to keep reading. Also it had some good high points, such as when Rick had escaped from the detention center and when he learned how to hang glide. Rick had always dreamt about flying. When he learned how to hang glide he discovers he was a natural. During Rick's stay at Lon's camp he learns about saving Condors, which are very large birds. What I liked the most is the realism and the descriptions in this book. When the author tells the story he gives details that make you feel what the character is feeling and doing. This story could very well happen in today's place and time.

I would give this book a strong four, because of its high points and good pacing. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes adventure, and that likes to have two or more main characters that bond together and learn from each other.

When we were reading The Maze by Will Hobbs we were blown away. The characteristics of the characters and the deep description of the plot were stellar. In our opinion, Will Hobbs who is the author of Far North, is a spectacular author who has won many awards.
The main characters of the book are Lon Peregrino and Rick Walker. Lon is a middle-aged man that grew up with no parents. His job is to work for the Condor Project supported by the government. His job is at Canyonlands National Park, which is where the Maze is located. The Maze is a group of canyons that join together to make a large confusing array of twists and turns. Rick is a 14-year-old boy with no parents. He was arrested for vigorously whipping rocks at a stop sign. The whole cause for this was the death of his grandmother and he obviously took it hard. He went to court and ended up going to the strictest confines in America, Blue Canyon Detention Center. When he was in juvenile he worked out and became strong. He also read about flying a lot. That is his dream, to fly. He received a message that his name was on the cigarettes. In jail terms that means you are going to be beaten because sometimes people say that they will kill for a cigarette and that's how the saying came about. Rick was frightened. He had to do something. He decided to try to escape. At night he hopped over the fence and on the way down he slashed his face on the wicked barbed wire. It created a large white scar. He hitchhiked with three people and ended up at Canyonlands. He was at Lon's campsite. He immediately got in trouble by stealing Lon's car. But he didn't get very far on that rough terrain. He had to turn around and go reason with Lon. After Lon learned a little about him and noticed how similar their lives were. Lon let him stay. Rick was going to help Lon with his job. Everything was going well except for one thing. Carlile, Gundersen, and their pit bull were up to no good. When Rick and Lon were out teaching Rick how to fly a hang glider Carlile and his crew came to Lon's site and stole many objects. But that is not all their up to. Rick finds something illegal about them and Carlile finds out. They will do anything to keep out of jail. They will steal any communication devices, kill condors, and maybe even murder Rick and Lon. But to find out what Carlile and Gundersen will do and if Rick will ever make it home you must read The Maze. If you like adventure stories, action stories, hang gliding, or even just hanging around outdoors this book is for you! The main point the author tries to tell us is to always follow you dreams and life is a maze, it takes to many twists and unexpected turns.(...)

Will Hobbs does and excellent job in writing the book, The Maze. He fully explains everything and is very detailed. It is an extremely interesting adventure story with a superb storyline. The fiction in this book makes you think it actually happened. Overall, I think it was one of the best books that I have read since I learned to read! It could easily be yours too.
In this book, a 14 year old boy named Rick Walter is convicted of a small crime. He has to go to a Juvenile Prison out in the middle of a desert. He is scared because he feels that someone is going to hurt or even kill him so he escapes in the middle of the night. As he keeps running, there is nothing until a gas station appears gracefully in his sight. Moments later he hops into the bed of a pick-up and experiences a long drive into the Maze, a very large grouping of canyons.
Lon was the driver of the truck and catches Rick, but after a while they become very good friends. In Rick's stay, he and Lon do many adventurous things like hang gliding. Also, they have to cheat death from many horrifying things. Will they survive? Read it and find out!

"The Maze" takes place in Canyonland National Park, Utah probably around the time of hurricane season. An orphan named Rick is sent to a youth detention center for throwing rocks at a a stop sign. After finding out that he may be murdered by other teens Rick escapes and hitches a ride in the back of a truck to a remote canyonland where he is discovered by a bird bioligist, Lon Peregino, who is setting endangered condors back into the wild. After making friends with Lon, Rick stays to help Lon not only with the birds but with an angry ex-"owner" of one of the canyons, Nuke Carlile, who plans to destroy the "Condor Project" by killing Rick and Lon after trapping them in the "Maze." In order to save the condors and themselves, Rick and Lon must escape Jasper Canyon and reconnect with the outside world to arrest Nuke and his partner Gunderson.

Stuck in the middle of nowhere no food, no shelter how will fourteen year old Rick Walker survive. The book The Maze, by Will Hobbs is a both a survival story along with helping other people and wildlife. This is a good book to read when you have finished Gary Paulsen's eppic journeys one that I loved such as The Hobbit. In my mind this book was average or a liitle bit above as you can see from my rating, it might depend on what types of books you enjoy to read, this book is action packed in a desert in California filled with many trenches, canyons, rocks and other exotic things.
This book shows the journey of a teenager, 14 year old, Rick Walker who suddenly after taking ride in a truck is lost in the middle of nowhere, where he will try to survive by finding a food and shelter. As you can see this book is a man vs. nature moral and you will soon find it is also becomes man vs. man because of some incidents.
This book overall is over average. The Maze has quite a few exciting parts one being Rick Walker trys to survive in somewhere in California with danger lurking around the corner, what hapens is for you to find out, like any other review I'm not going to spoil the ending. As I said before this book can be interesting and sometimes boring book but is enough to grab a readers attention.
As far as reccomendations go this book would be too challenging and some terms would not be understood for anybody under grade 6 or not in middle school and his good for some young adults or even adults if they like survival stories, the one bad thing about reccomendations is you don't know what type of books people like. All in all, if you like both survival and action Will Hobbs has written the book for you.

Utah's natural beauty is the setting for Will Hobbs'The Maze, a story of a 90's wondering teen who must find who he is and what to make of himself.Hobbs'descriptive imagery and similarity to real life makes the book come to life to the reader. Rick Walker was abandoned by his mother and raised by his grandma,who died recently of illness. Rick was tossed around from foster homes to a foster school untill he ended up in court and was sent to Blue Canyon, a detention center. But his stay was cut short after he discovered life threatening corruption by his superiors. He escaped into the desert only to stumble onto a series of canyons called The Maze and Lon Peregrino a bird biologist who raises and releases the endangered Condor. Rick becomes amazed at the birds' beauty and befriends the strange yet kind man. Lon becomes like Rick's father for the few weeks he is with him. Everything goes smoothly for a while and Rick even learns how to hang glide, until a group of mysterious men show up. Lon says that they come to search for Native American pottery, but soon it turns into more than just a search for treasure. All of Lon and Rick's radios to communicate to the out side world disappear and one of the Condors gets attacked by the treasure hunters' dog. An intent to get rid of Lon and Rick in order to have the entire canyon to scearch for pottery. The suppense-drama identifies with youth who don't know who they are or how to get by, and is recommended to all of thoses who can relate to this type of life.