I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

So it must be said that Pittacus Lore is a pseudonym (and I’m sure you figured that one out for yourself) but you may not have known it is a pseudonym for a very well known author. One might even call him infamous. In fact, thinking about it, that is exactly what one would call him. Readers, it is none other than James Frey of manufactured memoir fame. What is even funnier is that he name checks his book. One of the characters smashes something (a mirror) and I kid you not, it smashes into a "million little pieces." I could have just died. Was it intentional? Perhaps not. But a funny coincidence, no?

There are a few other similarities. The main character is full of tough guy machismo, which isn’t entirely unearned as he is an alien with developing super-powers. And I am not implying that our main character is a jerk – he isn’t. There is just a certain macho-confidence-type-thing that is similar to Frey’s memoir (which if you haven’t read it is full of puking and toughing it out – none of which really is pertinent to this post, but I wanted to share). Also short, terse action sentences are peppered throughout the book, just like in the memoir.

As for the story? I thought it was really fun. The writing was sometimes a bit clumsy and repetitive, the romance a bit melodramatic, it could have been edited down some, but I thought all in all the story made up for that.

So what is the story about? 9 aliens, the last of their kind escaped to earth ten years ago. The aliens that destroyed them are hunting the 9 down. They must be killed in a certain order due to a protection charm and three are already dead. John is number 4 and this is his story. Full of action and super-powers and conspiracies.

And boy is it cinematic, it reads like a movie. I don’t think it is any accident that this has already been picked up to be filmed.

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Book Source = ARC snagged off of a staff shelf