I am number four - Lorien Legacies - By Pittacus Lore

"They caught the number one in Malaysia.

At number two in England.

At number three in Kenya.

They were all killed.

I'm number four.

I'm next .."

 Summary 

This follows the story of John Smith, a 15-year-old alien from the planet Lorien, and Henri, his guardian Cêpan, as they run from the Mogadorians, another alien race that is hunting John and eight other teenage Lorics residing on the planet Earth. These nine teens are members of the Garde, a group of Loric people gifted with special powers called "Legacies." Cêpans, who are also Loric, do not acquire legacies and most often become protectors and mentors for young members of the Garde. The teenagers are protected by a spell or charm that only allows them to be killed in numeric order. The first three have been killed, and John is Number Four.

 Genre 

Lorien Legacies is a series of young adult science fiction books.

 Pittacus Lore 

This book write by James Frey and Jobie Hughes under the collective pseudonym Pittacus Lore.

 James Christopher Frey 

(born September 12, 1969) is an American writer. His books A Million Little Pieces (2003) and My Friend Leonard (2005), as well as Bright Shiny Morning (2008),were bestsellers. He was the subject of a scandal when investigators discovered that major elements of A Million Little Pieces, a purportedly autobiographical account of the author's struggle with addiction, were untrue.

 Career 

Frey graduated from Denison University in Granville, Ohio in 1992. Before Frey began his writing career, he held several jobs in the Chicago area while studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. Frey then moved to Los Angeles and found work as a screenwriter, director, and producer. In the spring of 1996, Frey started writing A Million Little Pieces, originally presented as a memoir of his experiences during his treatment for alcohol and drug addiction at a rehabilitation center in Minnesota.

Frey also wrote the screenplays to the films Kissing a Fool and Sugar: The Fall of the West. Both were produced in 1998, the latter of which he directed as well.

Doubleday published A Million Little Pieces in April 2003, and Amazon.com editors selected it as their favorite book of that year. The New Yorker praised the book as “A frenzied, electrifying description of the experience.”

In 2004, Frey wrote My Friend Leonard, which continued where A Million Little Pieces left off, and centered on the father-son relationship which Frey and his friend Leonard, from Hazelden, shared. My Friend Leonard was published in June 2005 by Riverhead, and became a bestseller. Amazon.com editors selected My Friend Leonard as their No.5 favorite book of 2005.

In 2007, Frey wrote Bright Shiny Morning, which was published in May 2008 by HarperCollins.

Frey's books have been published in thirty-one languages worldwide.

In 2010, Frey collaborated with Jobie Hughes on the books I Am Number Four and The Power of Six.

 Jobie Hughes 

(born July 9, 1980) is an American writer and the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of I Am Number Four and The Power of Six, which were collaborations with writer James Frey. Both of the novels, published by HarperCollins under pseudonym Pittacus Lore, collectively spent ten weeks at #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list. A film adaptation of I Am Number Four was released by DreamWorks Studios on February 18, 2011, and starred Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant and Teresa Palmer. It was produced by Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg and directed by D.J. Caruso. With a production budget of $60 million, the film grossed nearly $146 million at the worldwide box office.

Hughes's books have been translated into 26 languages and published in 48 countries. To date, over a million copies have been sold. His debut literary novel, At Dawn, will be released on October 16, 2012 by Counterpoint Press.

 Education and personal life 

Hughes was born in Renton, Washington, but raised from the age of three in Spencer, Ohio, a small town forty miles southwest of Cleveland. In 1998, while attending Black River High School in Sullivan, Ohio, he became a state champion in wrestling at the 119 pound weight class. He attended Ohio University on an athletic scholarship, graduated in 2002 with a business degree in Management Information Systems, and earned an MFA degree in Creative Writing from The Columbia University School of the Arts in 2009. He currently lives in Michigan.

 Controversy 

On November 12, 2010, it was reported by both Katherine Rosman of The Wall Street Journal and Suzanne Mozes of New York Magazine that, after a dispute concerning the direction of The Lorien Legacies, Hughes and James Frey ended their collaborative agreement and Hughes stepped away from the series after finishing the second novel, titled The Power of Six. It is unclear who will write the remaining four novels.

 Review 

"What I liked/disliked about the book: I have to say, I really did enjoy the book and there were times I had trouble putting it down. I'm not normally a big fan of young adult book, but this is one that was well done, with a very interesting plot. I was happy to see something that wasn't vampires for once too - I like vampires, but it's starting to become a little boring, so it was refreshing to see this lean to a completely different topic. 

The plot was what really grab my attention, I wanted to learn more about Lorien and its former inhabitants, and as the reader, we're only given small bits of information of the past life on the planet. I also enjoyed just reading about how John aka number four worked to just survive - and the climax of the book had me hooked to the last few pages - and there were a few characters who were more to meet the eye, I wonder if more will be revealed in the next book. 

I had my issues with the book as well. The characters were good, some development throughout the book, but they were fairly cliche. Which is what you see in high school, all the groups (jocks, cheerleaders etc) but I wish it was a little less obvious. I also found myself bored with any young adult romanticism. I found it didn't move the plot at all, in fact, I found that the plot came to a standstill when the author wrote about it and there was too much of it. I think having it helps the plot, but it should have been toned down and put more in the background than it was. 

Overall, it was a good young adult book some pretty good action, a different type of paranormal/sci-fi book than what I've read (or heard about), and I will be reading the next book in the series at some point. "