Daniel X - Alien Hunter

Daniel X, at the tender age of three, discovered his incredible ability to create. With the death of his parents, Daniel was left with the daunting task of carrying out his parents work (hunting down illegal aliens...of the extra-terrestrial kind). Fast forward a dozen years, and we catch up with the teenage alien hunter in the sewers of Portland, Oregon. It seems the tenacious young hunter has honed his craft, engaging in battles against ferocious (top ten most wanted) opponents.

In The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, James Patterson creates an interesting story that has crossover appeal. The story was intended to engage teenage boys with characters and escapades that would appeal to them. Because this demographic has the least interest in reading, Patterson provides a platform that may involve an audience that does the least amount of reading. Although geared towards this group, the story is interesting enough to appeal to other demographics.

Because the attention span of young teen readers tends to be short, Patterson capsulizes his story segments in short bursts that feel like scenes from a blockbuster movie. Opening with action and moving forward with suspenseful events, the chapters quickly bleed into each other as readers skip from scene to scene anxious to see what will happen next. The format makes for a quick, easy read.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X consists of 220 pages, broken up into 92 chapters. Quick math demonstrates that the chapters average just over two pages per chapter. The body of the book is followed by a Reader's Guide intended to stimulate questions. This allows parents to interact with younger readers regarding major themes in the book to aid in comprehension and further reinforce the reading experience. The book also contains several chapters from the next book in this series Watch the Skies as well as a new series, Witch and Wizard crafted similarly to the Daniel X books.

The characters in The Dangerous Days of Daniel X are interesting, described in gruesome but interesting detail. The major players are believable within the context of the far-fetched story. It is a fun, tall tale, that makes the characters larger than life yet somehow believable. The plot is carefully strung together in order to create enough suspense to propel readers forward without compromising the major themes. The story covers a lot of ground, but manages to do it within the framework of an expertly woven tale.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is an inexpensive book that would be an excellent way to interest young family members in reading. It is formatted to allow interaction with parents, with a simple action-packed structure that will grasp the attention of children (or adults) with short attention spans. The book is very inexpensive...I paid about four dollars for my copy at Wal-Mart. For the cost of a movie rental, you can provide young readers with a portal to the world of reading. I would highly recommend this book for teenage boys who are certain to enjoy this series.