How Ornithology Saved My Life picks up one year after the end of the first book. Max has now found his soul-mate and the two are living comfortably off the treasure Max unearthed in Dhaka. Four of the six ex-spies are still alive and seeking to settle the score – and retrieve the treasure. They murder Max’s parents to flush him out. Max and his partner take refuge on a small Dutch island where they’re attacked twice by the ex-spies. The final battle takes place in a small plane at 19,000’, with Max at the controls – after a sixteen year hiatus from flying – and his partner going into labor.