I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore. Book 18

This is a very new release and is about to to be released as a film. I am keen to see it after reading this, I'm hoping they can jazz it up a bit more.
Pittacus Lore is a collaboration between Jobie Hughes and James Frey. There isn't much out there on Jobie. He is 30 years old, he lives in New York city, attended University and has an MFA in creative writing. He's got his own website with a rather smoochy-looking picture on it. Maybe I should start putting up studio shots of me looking all cleavage and saucy... come on, call yourself a writer? The interesting facts section about him includes as a highlight that he did wrestling in high school - yup that's pretty much the apex right there.
But I think Mr Frey might be a little more well-known to the tv-watching world. The man of 'A Million Little Pieces' fame. Personally I don't give a damn that he made some of it up. Nothing in this world is literal truth and if you enjoyed the story, then you enjoyed the story. People don't start screaming at the Coen brothers over their liberality with 'True Stories'. Did anyone pull up W when it was clear his version of weapons of mass destruction was a fabrication in order to get public attention??? Hmmm.
So James is still writing other titles and has is doing quite well out of all that publicity, thank you very much. He has signed a deal with HarperCollins for three books and a tidy sum - the world goes on.

So, the much-hyped I am Number Four.
(I am currently writing this while listening to one of the worst freakin comedy shows I have ever EVER heard on Triple R - I've never heard anything so crap. They're called 'Lime Champions'. I seriously have never heard anything so unfunny and talentless: WTF, Triple R? It may be affecting my opinion of the book as I progress - interesting phenomenon...)
This is the first title in the Lorien Legacies series.
Number Four is one of a number of aliens who have escaped their homeworld of Lorien (hmmm, really. I just don't think that's a coincidence and for goodness' sake, find your own names) to Earth. Lorien was under siege by the evil Mogadorians (and for some reason, this is reminiscent of something else) and the only way to save the race was for the nine Garde (guards of Lorien) and their Keepers (called Cepans) to flee. The Mogadorians hail from Mogadore and attacked Lorien, causing a genocide of catastrophic proportions. The nine dispersed without throughout Earth, each accompanied by their personal Cepan. They carry a chest that is locked to each Garde until their powers begin to develop. It is only when they begin to hit their 'teens' that their powers, or legacies, develop.
The natives of Lorien to all purposes look human. But they all possess super strength and tattoos that denote their number in the 'chain'. Each time another Garde is murdered by the Mogadorians, another tattoo appears on each of the remaining Gardes to let them know. The Nine can only be killed in numerical order due to certain spells that have been cast. Three are dead. Number Four's number is now up.
Number Four has spent the last ten years travelling from town to town, adopting new personas with his Cepan in order to avoid identification. He is beginning to get very fed up with the impermanence of it. But at this latest stop, where he has taken on the identity John Smith, he begins to settle into High School and finds a friend and a rather tasty girl. There are the usual bullies who don't like new kids and he has to figure out how to deal with them without revealing what he is.
It is during this stint that his first power develops - he can emit heat or light. So he now gets to learn about his legacy, what other powers he might develop and he begins to remember what happened on Lorien.
He soon becomes identified and the dark forces from Mogadore track him. So begins a battle of humungous proportions and another refugee Garde turns up to help John and his gang. Also composed of a dog who John has named Bernie Kosar. Turns out (and this is a no brainer to figure out) Bernie also hails from Lorien and is a Chimaera. The Chimaera were secretly shipped out, only John had a memory of them leaving - hmmm. Bit convenient.
So the battle rages in and out of the high school. I found this section to be badly written. It was dark, messy, and most of the time the spacial logistics were impenetrable. People are moving everywhere, in and out of the school and the nearby woods. And strangely enough, no one else in this SMALL TOWN notices a thing. I've lived in one of those towns: everyone notices everything. That's how it works. So the gang are spewing light, bullets and crap everywhere in an effort to stop the seeming hordes and hordes of Mogadorians and their gigantic creatures. John develops another legacy during the fight and uses that to quell the anger of the creatures.
They don't necessarily win, but they survive and live to fight another sequel.
I'm not keen to read this again unless it's to try and make my way into what can be very dense scenes at times so as to understand it better.
I will go see the film as it had better have some damn good effects.
I give it 6/10 for YA sci fi.