The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

I've read several of James Patterson's books but I didn't intend to read The Dangerous Days of Daniel X.  It didn't appeal to me and frankly it didn't get great reviews.  This one won't be great either.

The book centers on Daniel.  He's a fifteen year old orphan that comes from a long line of alien hunters - outer space not illegal.  He is also an alien himself, just a good alien.  This gives him super speed, the ability to change form, and a few other unique gifts.  Daniel has a list of the twenty bad aliens.  The worst of the worst.  They apparently are wreaking havoc on earth, of course. Think Men in Black but even sillier.  Daniel's goal is to destroy each of those bad aliens.

The best thing I can say is that the book was a very quick read.  Patterson's typical quick pacing and short paragraphs moved things along.  While I never became invested in the character, I was at least slightly entertained by him.  He was completely on his own in the world and yet he made the best of it.  I give him credit for that.

From what I understand this is going to be a series, but I doubt I will go any further.  It might appeal to teens, particularly young boys.  It isn't horrible, it's just not very good.

The X Files: Ground Zero by Kevin J. Anderson

I chose The X Files; Ground Zero, by Kevin J. Anderson, because it started with an "X". That's the only reason I would have ever picked this up as I'm not a big fan of books based on TV shows or movies. I was, however, a fan of the show so I'm aware of the characters and mythology. This book was fairly stand alone plot-wise. You don't need to know anything about the show in order to understand the book.

The story is all about nuclear weapons. A reader might be able to debate whether the author had any particular political statements to make. It was clearly portraying the nuclear weapons industry in a negative light, but I don't want to get into that. Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate the bizarre death of a nuclear physicist. He was killed in a flash fire, which could only be compared to that of a nuclear weapon. The fire was contained in his office and nobody else was injured.

A few more similar deaths occurred before Mulder and Scully tie the pieces together. They are eventually led to a small island in the Marshall Island chain where a new weapon is about to be tested. I don't want to give any more away but this is where the typical supernatural explanation takes place.

It wasn't a bad read overall. I found it to be a quick, easy read. The subject matter bored me a bit and it read like fan fiction, but overall, the author captured the characters voices and created a decent story. I'm not going to recommend this to the world but certain readers will enjoy it.