Frannie O'Neill's life turned upside down when six incredible children blew in on the wind. Rescuing them from the school that created them took all her courage and cunning, but the children captured her heart. Now the young flock wants to go back to the couple it regards as parents, and Frannie and FBI maverick Kit Brennan are suing for custody. But when the case involves the most extraordinary creatures ever to land on this earth, someone will ensure there is no happy ending. Only Max, the oldest and most remarkable of the winged children, knows that another, terrifying biological experiment is taking place. Somewhere in America, a brilliant but evil surgeon, Dr Ethan Kane, is secretly researching - performing a cruel travesty of an operation as he scoops the life from people hoping for a better future. But to complete his experiment he needs the ultimate prize - Max herself. And as the children dream of returning to the happy safety of the lake house, where for a few precious months they flew free, Kane moves ever closer...