The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

 

When the good folks over at Mom Central asked me to review The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, I was excited because it is by one of my favorite pulp fiction authors, James Patterson. It is being billed as part of his 'page-turners' series. The book was written with the intent to interest boys in reading. Patterson has a 10-year old son. I quickly sat down and read the first couple of chapters and have to tell you it was easy to set it aside to focus on other things.

I picked it back up recently to finish it and to give you my unbiased opinion. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is entertaining and up to date. Daniel X is a unique kid, he has telepathy and transformation abilities; he's never gone to school yet he is a walking encyclopedia. And he's out for revenge!  Daniel witnesses his parents' horrific death at the hands of a monstrous alien. Following his parents' death Daniel makes it his life's goal to hunt down The Prayer, the alien who murdered his parents. The story picks up twelve years later with Daniel now a true alien hunter, searching out not just The Prayer, a praying mantis who is the main protagonist,  but all aliens intent on destroying the Earth.

Readers can expect plenty of pop culture references such as ipods, Play-station 3s, Star Wars, the Simpsons, etc; all qualities one would expect from James Patterson.  But because the book is aimed at a younger audience, the writing is also noticeably lighthearted, clean, and often illogical.  Specifically, the book is plagued with numerous coincidences and inconsistencies. Since it is directed at younger readers the author can probably get away with these writing 'sins'.  But be aware that Daniel does watch his parents be murdered by aliens so some parts of the book may be too intense for sensitive readers.

In the end I found this book to be entertaining and think it will delight most boys and some girls. If your child likes SciFi or murder mysteries or just reading about kids solving problems using 'other worldly powers' then I think they will enjoy this book.

Give it a read.

~K!

Comments

[DotBlogger]

I think I'll leave that book for someone else, but good job with your review. I would know exactly what to expect if I DID read it.

But I'm not going to.