The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (Daniel X, 1)

I Love James Patterson's books, except when he goes afield of the volume of his work. This is his adventure into science fiction or fantasy and it took me more than half way through the book to settle down and understand what was going on. It was a good read eventually, I was just lost for the first half.

This book was, well...strange, to say the least. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. This is my first James Patterson "family" book, but really, no one over twelve would find this very interesting. It's like the authors are writing eight-year-olds, at most. Some of my main concerns with this novel are:

1. The Short Chapters. In his adult thrillers, the two or three page chapters are used very nicely. They're all like mini cliffhangers, and make you want to read on. In this book, though, the chapters end at the most awkward places. Here's an example on page 31: (Daniel's "Mom" is speaking) "Oh, I'm sorry, officers. My husband is a jokester sometimes. And slow to get to the point. Daniel doesn't need to go to school anymore." -NEXT CHAPTER- Was that supposed to be a dramatic cutoff point? It's almost as if JP is using the blank spaces between the chapters to take up space, so he can put a $20 price tag on this already very short book.

2. The "Bad Guy." The alien antagonist (named Seth? Seriously?) really got on my nerves. For one, he is terribly immature and bland in his "comebacks." And really, what was his point? There wasn't really any suspenseful buildup of his character before the "climax" (if you can call it that) of the novel.

3. The Pop Culture Remarks. I hope JP and ML aren't throwing in these awkwardly placed blurbs about famous electronics, movie stars, etc. to sound more "with it." Let's reference page 156: (Daniel is narrarating) "'I should have listened to you,' I moaned, crying. Shia LaBeouf couldn't have done a better acting job, not even with Steven Spielberg directing." Bravo, guys. That paragraph made such a great visual image and made the book that much cooler.

4. Daniel Himself. I didn't feel one bit of sympathy for him throughout this book. Neither does anyone else in his world, since he needs to create his own friends. And he probably has more superpowers than any other character created. Did I mention I can read minds? Flip through books in my head and ace every single test? Easily overcome a blow to the stomach? Create humans based on my memory of them? Talk telepathically with elephants? Oh yeah, he definitely has some in-depth conversations with elephants. Enough said.

So, all in all, it was not my favorite book. Hopefully the Maximum Ride series is better, because I've purchased the first three books in that series already. Oh yeah, and since I bought both Daniel X books at the same time, I guess I'm going to have to read one more volume in his oh-so-interesting life. Let's hope it gets better.

This review is not meant to mean or inappropriate, it's just the facts as I see them, and I DO realize how subjective that is; Daniel X, what do you say about a book that was almost painful to get through? If you are a tween boy, who has been fed a steady diet of Power Rangers, Pokemon, and McDonalds' Happy Meal Toys, you might find this book somewhat entertaining. This book is a bad rip off of Men in Black and Ben 10, if James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge don't get sued for copyright infringement, they should at least be hung by their thumbs and forced to watch Teletubbies for an extended period of time, though I fear that would be too kind, and an insult to Teletubbies. In short, if you are stuck on a desert island with this as your only book, you are better off burning it for warmth than ever reading it.

There is this THING going on whereby famous authors in the mystery-thriller genre are writing truly awful stuff using barely acknowleged "ghost writers".

Some would say these co-authors are learning from the master.

That's the polite way of saying they are being USED for their own good.

Absurd.

Whereas I was a loyal Patterson fan, his takeoffs in other directions, using/abusing "ghost writers", has moved me to avoid any further purchase of his books.

I would merely be echoing other reviewers as to the depressingly low quality/value of "Daniel X", so I will stop here.

This is an awesome book.My mother bought me the whole set delivered to me at my correctional
Institute.Loved them.

I bought this book for my daughter. She loves it.

I think this would be a good stocking stuffer for someone who is 12 or younger. Not a good read beyond that. Very short and choppy chapters reflecting that there is really not much of a story here. Felt like more of a foundation for starting another cult amongst young adults and generating a lot of money from same.

I read this book in one day and found it much along the lines of Harry Potter in the respect that Daniel X is a 15 year old super hero. It reads fast and well. I put it in the mail to my grandson today and suggest to all of you that expected a "regular" James Patterson book to send it to a boy you love. He'll thank you for it. (I "expected" a regular James Patterson book too, but am so happy I didn't read these reviews first.... the book is fun.)

It was purchased as a gift, but I received it in great condition.

I picked up this book one morning and didn't get out of bed til I finished it. I couldn't really tell if it was out of sheer boredom or a somewhat mind numbingly intriguing story. The story is definately aimed at younger teenagers and I would have enjoyed it around the same time as Goosebumps. This would make a good gift for any 9-12 yr old nephews or cousins.

BL: Good for kids, interesting enough for adults who like alien-esque stories, short read